Frequently asked questions about letters
One letter writer who wrote quite regularly during the Clinton years, suddenly stopped. After several months, I wondered whether she had fallen ill or worse had died. Then after a two-year hiatus, a letter arrived with her familiar style and handwriting. Rather than have a clerk call for confirmation, I dialed her to say we were delighted to hear from her again and asked if there was a reason that silenced her pen. Had she been ill? “Nope,” she replied. “I just didn’t have anything to say.”
I have much to say. How often can I write?
You can write daily, but we are only going to publish a letter from you at the most every 30 days. We have some letter writers mailing their thoughts quite often. They understand that letters from a particular author can appear no closer than 30 days. Most of them respect this. However, on occasion we will have a regular writer who attempts to circumvent the rules by writing under a pseudonym.
We might have let some slip by undetected, but we like to think that we can spot them.
What information do you need?
Letter writers are required to submit their names, addresses and phone numbers. We do all that we can to confirm each letter, establish that the name on the letter is indeed the author and that someone isn’t trying to fool us. I suspect on occasion someone is sly enough to do so. But at least the letter writer, who thinks that adopting a pen name gives him more chances for publication, writes his own letters.
Are form letters OK?
No way. Increasingly the mail, especially e-mail, is littered with astroturf. These are letters that fake a grassroots effort. Organizations, particularly political groups, provide their supporters with “talking points” or “sample letters” that they can send to their newspaper by doing little more than a couple of clicks of the mouse. We get more turf on any particular day than we do legitimate letters to the editor. What is surprising is the number of people who don’t understand that they can’t pass off someone else’s words as their own. That’s plagiarism. We want no part of it, no matter how desperately one pleas that the form letter mirrors their thoughts. If they feel that passionately about a particular issue, then they can certainly take the time to write their own letter.
What if I lack writing skills?
I’m often asked by letter writers to help clean up their spelling, grammar, syntax. That is a task I gladly embrace. The last thing that we want is for letter writers to be criticized for how they wrote something. However, what they have to say is fair game. Which brings up another rule.
What if I don’t like a response to my letter?
Letter writers should make their best shot at the outset. If the topic is controversial, expect that there will be letters of criticism coming in. Sometimes the original writer wants to respond to each one of those. But the letter columns are not the forum for a back and forth argument between two letter writers. The columns are intended to provide space for community debate. A place where diversity of thought and informed conversation is welcome. If the original letter needs defended, often someone else will come forward to do so, adding more things to think about.
I’m a candidate and need to get my message out.
No disrespect, but buy an ad. This time of year, election letters start stacking up. We do not publish any letters from candidates for office unless the letter is in direct response to an editorial that cast the candidate in an unfavorable light.
Even then the letter is considered only if the candidate had not had the opportunity to have voiced his side in a news story.
We also do not publish letters that claim candidate Blowhard cheats on his taxes, beats his wife and kicks his dog – unless of course its been proven in court that he has. To do otherwise opens us up to a libel suit.
Nor will we publish letters that say candidate Goodcitizen helps old ladies across the street, cuts his neighbor’s grass and never misses his kid’s soccer game.
Election letters must contain substance, and speak to candidate’s stands on the issues. A candidate’s record and platform is open for criticism; personal attacks on his character generally are not.
We accept letters regarding the election until two weeks prior to the election, although we may continue to publish those that we received prior to the deadline. This allows time to verify and process the letter and prevents 11th hour attempts to attack a candidate without allowing for a response.
I need my letter to run Sunday.
Another frequent request by letter writers is that their letters must run on a certain date – usually the next day’s edition. That isn’t going to happen. Generally it takes a week to turn around a letter, sometimes the process is faster, sometimes a little slower. If identifying information isn’t included, or if we are given a phone number that goes unanswered for a couple of days, the process grinds to a halt. Letters aren’t published until verified. Once in the system, we attempt to use them with a view toward timeliness and toward which ones came in first.
What can I do to increase my chance of speedy publicaton?
Write short. We suggest keeping letters to no more than 300 words. If a letter is unduly long it takes much longer to see print, simply because our space is limited. We would much rather run three shorter letters than one longer one, as our aim is to give as many people as possible a voice.
I wrote this great poem…
That’s nice, but a poem no matter how nicely the meter bounces or the words rhyme, isn’t a letter to the editor.
My doctor is really great or the service at a restaurant was lousy. I want others to know.
Sorry, we aren’t going to help you do that. The Better Business Bureau is the place for complaints. A personal note of thanks addressed to some to a business is always welcome by them.
But you run some thank you notes.
Yes, we do. Those that speak to a public event or actions by a public agency or official.
What if I have more questions?
Feel free to call me, 724-439-7635.
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Luanne Traud is the Herald-Standard’s editorial page editor. E-mail: ltraud@heraldstandard.com.