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Share Your Story
Letters to the Editor
How-To
The letters to the editor section of your local paper presents an ideal forum for getting your message to its readers, be they local citizens, members of congress or university administrators. More people read the letters to the editor section than almost any other part of the paper. It is one of the first pages many elected officials turn to. Letters to the editor show that an issue is of concern to the community and are excellent tools for education. Here are a few guidelines for getting your letter to the editor printed.
- Keep your letter short and to the point - 250 words maximum.
- Think about your objective when writing a letter to the editor. Writing on behalf of a state, local or campus organization will give your letter more weight. Writing as an individual citizen will show impression of citizen support for or opposition to an issue.
- Your letter should carry its most important message in the first paragraph.
- Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Editors like to call to confirm that the letter was actually written by the person whose name appears on the letter.
- Avoid rambling sentences and big words.
- Type the letter - double spaced, one page maximum.
- Limit the number of points you make, and stay on the same subject.
- Be as factual as possible without being dull.
- Localize your letter - explain how the issue will affect your area or personalize the letter by mentioning people in your own life or community who will be affected.
- Accentuate the positive. When you criticize, propose a solution to the problem or a better alternative, if possible.
- Don't be disappointed if your letter does not get printed. Newspapers get many letters every day and can't print all of them. Most papers won't print the same writers over and over again. Therefore, if you have had a letter published recently, try to get a friend or member of your group to sign the next one. Have a number of activists submit a letter on the same topic at the same time. Editors are more likely to print letters on 'popular' issues.
- Make the letter timely. Your letter stands the best chance of getting printed when it responds to something recently printed in that newspaper - such as a news story, column, editorial, advertisement, or another letter. You can use the reference to that item as a springboard for stating your case.
- Your letter can support and expand on something already in the news, make a point that was omitted, or disagree with and correct misinformation in whatever form it appeared.
- Don't be afraid to ask for action - tell readers what you want them to do. This includes your elected representatives; you can be sure they read the letters to the editor. By putting their names in the letter and asking for action to call their representatives or speak up in their local church or synagogue on this issue you get their attention fast.
Some Key Points You Can Include In Your Letter
- State who you are and why you oppose this. Are you gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender? Do you have a close family member or friend who is?
- Explain that the FMA is discriminatory and unnecessary
- It is wrong to single out gays and lesbians for discrimination.
- Leading legal scholars agree that the amendment could forever invalidate civil unions or other legal protections for same-sex couples, like the right to partner health benefits or fair taxation upon the death of a partner - even if state legislatures passed them and voters approved them.
…And God is angry with our nation in even tolerating the thought of same-sex marriage.
- Rev. Jerry Falwell, Moral Majority; CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports, 2/24/2004
