Facts and Tips on Writing letters to the Editor (from Curt Bell)

Why Write?

1. Writing a letters to the editor is an effective and easy way for individuals to influence public opinion and debate on an issue.
2. The Letters section is the most widely read part of the paper.
3. The letters are read by Congress persons and others as a way to gauge opinion.
4. Even unpublished letters are important internally to the paper. Newsroom people read the unpublished as well as the published letters.
5. Editors feel obliged to publish letters on a subject when there are many letters on the same subject. So your unpublished letter will influence what does get published.
6. It feels good and is better for you to do something about what troubles you than to just worry or complain to a few people about it.

Tips on writing:

• The most important thing in getting a letter published is to write the letter. If you don’t write it, the letter won’t get published. The more often you write, the better.
• Wherever  possible connect your letter to something in the paper – a news story, an editorial, or an op ed piece. Papers feel obligated to correct errors, to be complete in their coverage, and to be balanced.  Refer to the item by the title and the date it appeared. Summarize what you are referring to in the first sentence or so.
• Write the letter right away.  If possible do it the same day an item appears that you are commenting on.
• Keep it short and focused. You only have space for one big point. The Oregonian has a limit of 150 words. They will only rarely go over that.
• Support the letter with facts.
• Mention your occupation or experience if it is relevant, “As a health care worker….”, “As a veteran ….”
• State your point early in the letter and again at the end (if that works).
• Put your name, address and phone number at the bottom or top of the letter. Papers will call to verify that you are a real person.
• Give a title to the letter. They may not choose to use it, but they might and it will influence them.
• If the letter is about something in the paper, send it to several places in the paper – the writer, the editor, the public editor, and the letters section.
• A special hook, twist, or humor will get your letter chosen over other letters on the same subject.
• Consider sending the same letter to other papers in the state if it is a state issue, or to national papers such as the New York Times if it is a national issue. Contact information for  Oregon’s newspapers can be obtained at: http://www.friends.org/issues/M37/LTE-guide.html, and a document with this information is attached.
• If relevant, suggest some action that the readers can take.
• Read the published letters to get an idea of what sort of thing gets published.

Addresses:

1.      Oregonian: letters@news.oregonian.com

2.      New York Times: letters@nytimes.com

For contacts in the Portland metro area, click here.

Websites with more suggestions:

1.         Unitarian Universalist Washington Office for advocacy: http://www.uua.org/uuawo/new/article.php?id=58

2.         Fairness and accuracy in reporting (FAIR):   http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=122

Media to call:

Don’t neglect to call or write local or national broadcast media if they distort or omit something you think is important. NPR reads letters on the air and some other stations do too. Here are a couple comment lines:

1.      CBS: 1 212 456-1111

2.      CNN: 1 212 275-7800

Sample letters:

Humorous letter  in the Oregonian, Sept 10, 2006.

The president wants us to support his polices on the "war on terror" and to "stay the course," and I think we should. I mean, five years after 9/11, the mastermind of the attacks, Osama bin Laden, has been apprehended and is awaiting justice. Yes?

His organization, al-Qaida, has been eradicated. Right?

The Taliban is in disarray and no longer a factor in Afghanistan. Right?

President Bush has protected us against a country that had targeted the United States with weapons of mass destruction and mushroom clouds. Right? Our troops were met with people throwing flowers and it only took a couple of months! Right?

Best of all, the president's policies have changed that country into a shining example of peaceful democracy. Right?

Due to his work, Americans are safer and have more respect worldwide, we're united as a country as never before, and our constitutional rights are stronger than ever. Right? Right?

Er, never mind.

--CRAIG THOMPSON, Vancouver.

Letter sent to Oregonian about Governor’s race, Sept 15, 2006

Where ARE Ted Kulongoski and Ron Saxton on Iraq?

The Oregonian’s editorial rightly declares that third party candidates for Governor should be included in the debates. An important reason is that all three third party candidates have taken a strong position on an issue of the greatest importance to Oregonians – the US war and occupation of Iraq. But Ted Kulongoski  and Ron Saxton have not.

The US war and occupation of Iraq are not just federal issues. Seventy of our young people have been killed and hundreds have been wounded in body or spirit.  The war has taken  2.5 billion dollars from the state. That money could have paid for 43,000 public school teachers or health care for 1.5 million kids.

Candidates Joe Keating, Mary Sterrett and Richard Morley have called for an end to the occupation of Iraq. Ted Kulongoski and Ron Saxton should do the same or tell us why they won’t.

--CURTIS BELL, Portland