Intended for healthcare professionals

Editorials

Welcome to BMJ Opinion

BMJ 2017; 356 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j631 (Published 07 February 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;356:j631
  1. Juliet Dobson, digital content editor,
  2. Kamran Abbasi, executive editor
  1. The BMJ, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to: J Dobson jdobson{at}bmj.com

A new space for informed debate about facts

In this age of rampant populism, one person’s fact is another person’s opinion. Facts were once sacred. Now they are faked, twisted, and ignored. If we don’t like your fact it becomes an opinion. If we like your opinion it becomes a fact. While we hope that our love of facts is established at The BMJ, we have sometimes taken a sceptical view of opinion.

But the world has changed. Opinion is no longer the domain of the ranting egotist with snake oil to sell. Opinion is now respectable, valuable, and essential. When we’re struggling to make sense of these maddening times, an opinion piece can separate fact from fake fact. It can inform, inflame, and …

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