The New York Times will no longer be using the term Op-Ed the Opinion articles it publishes. The term, introduced 50 years ago, basically described the location of such articles. They were literally published opposite the editorial. But when most readers have moved online, the term has simply lost its meaning:

In the digital world, in which millions of Times readers absorb the paper’s journalism online, there is no geographical “Op-Ed,” just as there is no geographical “Ed” for Op-Ed to be opposite to. It is a relic of an older age and an older print newspaper design.

Kathleen Kingsbury

The articles written by NY Times staff will be called Editorials while articles written by outside writers will be called Guest Essays.

I like this change for two reasons: it uses consistent labels to describe these articles, focusing on the identity of the author, and it reflect the new ways in which people read today.