Things Your Media Watchdog Wants You to Know About Writing Letters to the Editor (Part 3)
August 7, 2011 9:03 by Pesach Benson
Keep your letter exclusive to one newspaper.
Exclusive content is what gives each newspaper its unique character. So editors publish content that hasn’t been published anywhere else. The letters to the editor page is no different.
Sending one letter to several newspapers is like dating two girls simultaneously. It betrays the the expectation of an exclusive relationship between the letter and the newspaper. It’s low-brow and wrong, even if the letter gets published multiple times at various papers and web sites.
This is also why many editors frown on letters CCed to long lists of family, friends, politicians, activists, organizations, or mailing lists. Including so many people in the correspondence turns an exclusive letter to the editor into something more akin to a public statement.
There’s nothing wrong with making public statements, but be honest with yourself. If your goal is to get your letter to the editor published, treat it like a letter and not a press release. Once you’re published, you’ll see the exclusiveness is worth it.
For more effective letter-writing tips, see parts one and two of this series.
Roger G. Bensman
7:50 pm
Aug 08, 2011
This writer has no interest whatsoever in getting some letter to the editor in that column arena. It does some good but very little.
What does do some good are confrontational letters to a specific reporter, elected official, ngo head, folks like that. Thus, I sent a personal one to the CEO of AARP and you can guess the subject matter involved. Also, one or two directly to this Johann Hari creep who I see got suspended(don’t worry, he’ll be back—-they’re like cockroaches). I also send emails letters to members of Congress, to Knesset, to specific people with very specific content. Some are positive and some are negative. You can probably guess who gets what. And I get either responses or confirmations of reception.
Letters to Reader Fora are OK but are next to useless. Who really pays attention? I stopped doing that long time ago. On the other hand, a really nervy letter to my undergrad university with statements of my displeasure did get a rather frightened response. Maybe they won’t be so communist leftwing, or nothing. Who cares; I got the response I wanted. Did I change policy regarding their love of their IsraelApartheitWeek celebrations? No telling. They know they are being watched and by a cadre right on campus and inside their classrooms. Have a nice day.
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Adam
6:49 am
Sep 09, 2011
This is a sick Israelie propiganda machine evil,
EVIL Israel
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