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Letters to the Editor |
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Writing a letter to the editor is a great way to (1) correct
a mistake, misquote, or distortion in a recent news story; (2) a letter to
support your candidate; (3) illuminate one or both sides of a controversy;
or (4) comment on how proposed regulations or policies may effect the
public.
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State the argument you're rebutting or responding to, as
briefly as possible, in the letter's introduction. Newspapers commonly
recommend a length of 200 word or less, which translates to about 20 lines
of text.
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Try to view the letter from the reader's perspective. Will
the arguments make sense to someone without a special background on this
issue. Did you use technical terms not familiar to the average reader?
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If you are responding to a published article, refer to the
title, author, page number, and date of publication. Use facts and examples
to support your argument or point of view.
Sign your name. As a general rule, don't ask that your name
be withheld for privacy reasons or any other reason. For one thing, you'd
lose the publicity benefit. For another thing, anonymous opinions are often
perceived as the mark of a coward. If you're not proud of your viewpoint,
reconsider it
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Most important - WRITE! Do not try to do a
perfect letter. Just give it a good effort and send it off. Letter writing
is the one thing that any one of us can do on our own without the need to
work through a group. No committees are necessary. Just do it!
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