One of the big news stories today is the New York Times rejection of Senator John McCain’s essay defending his Iraq war policy, an intended response to Senator Barack Obama’s op-ed that the paper published last week. From CNN:

In an e-mail to the McCain campaign, Opinion Page Editor David Shipley said he could not accept the piece as written, but would be “pleased, though, to look at another draft.”

“Let me suggest an approach,” he wrote Friday. “The Obama piece worked for me because it offered new information (it appeared before his speech); while Senator Obama discussed Senator McCain, he also went into detail about his own plans. It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama’s piece.”

In a statement released Monday, The New York Times said it is “standard procedure on our Op-Ed page, and that of other newspapers, to go back and forth with an author on his or her submission.”

You can read McCain’s rejected piece here. Want to learn how all of this works firsthand? David Shipley (pictured) will be at the Y in January with his Times colleague, letters editor Thomas Feyer, to discuss “The Art and Science of Opinion Pieces” and to share the secrets of getting your opinion pieces published.