Who we are
The Opinist is a unique collaboration between unheard opinion and journalists that in a decade has become the world’s leading publisher of research-based opinions and analysis.
Everything you read on our site is created by the public opinist and journalists working together, supported by a team of digital experts. Our professional editors work with the public to turn knowledge and insights into easy-to-read articles, and make them accessible to general readers.
We place a high value on trust. All authors and editors sign up to our Editorial Charter and Guidelines. Contributors must abide by our Community Standards policy and be commissioned by editors before embarking on a written project for The Opinist. We only ask authors to write on subjects on which they have expertise. Potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed.
The founder of The Opinist wanted to create a magazine that would be indispensable for the kind of reader who was deeply engaged with the most consequential issues of the day.
The men and women who contributed to this magazine had an overarching, prophetic vision—they were fierce opponents of slavery—but they were also moved to overcome what they saw as the limits, believing that the free exchange of ideas across ideological lines was crucial to the society. Their goal was to publish the most urgent essays, the most vital literature; they wanted to pursue truth and disrupt consensus without regard for party or clique.
The core principles of the founder are core principles for us: reason should always guide opinion; ideas have consequences, sometimes world-historical consequences; the knowledge we have about the world is partial and provisional, and subject to analysis, scrutiny, and revision.