An editorial, leading article (US) or leader (UK), is an opinion piece written by the senior editorial staff or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document. Editorials may be supposed to reflect the opinion of the periodical.[citation needed] In Australian and major United States newspapers, such as The New York Times[1] and The Boston Globe,[2] editorials are often classified under the heading "opinion".
Illustrated editorials may appear in the form of editorial cartoons.[3]
Typically, a newspaper's editorial board evaluates which issues are important for their readership to know the newspaper's opinion.[4]
Editorials are typically published on a dedicated page, called the editorial page, which often features letters to the editor from members of the public; the page opposite this page is called the op-ed page and frequently contains opinion pieces by writers not directly affiliated with the publication. However, a newspaper may choose to publish an editorial on the front page. In the English language press, this is done rarely and only on topics considered especially important; however, it is more common in some European countries such as Spain, Italy, and France.[5]
In the field of fashion publishing, the term has been adapted to refer to photo-editorials – features with often full-page photographs on a particular theme, designer, model or other single topic, with or (as a photo-essay) without accompanying text.[6]