One of the parts of this job that I’ve always enjoyed the most has been dealing with letters to the editor. Letters offer a real-time look at what readers think about the issues of the day and our coverage. Some letters offer commentary, some advice, others criticism, and it’s all a reflection of what's on the readership's minds.
At my previous newspaper, we were able to publish letters almost every day. That hasn’t been the case here for a while but it’s something I want to change immediately. And we're off to a good start; I’ve received a few letters already. One appears in this week’s print edition.
We’re still working out the details of how we’ll present letters each week, but they will soon start to be a regular part of our paper and website.
This is a big part of newspaper tradition. Letter-writing, once the primary form of long-distance communication, became part of newspapers in the early 18th century and the tradition has remained strong.
Letters are meant to do one of several things:
- Support or oppose a position taken by the newspaper in its editorials or by its opinion writers;
- Comment on elements of recent or ongoing news stories;
- Attempt to sway elected officials making decisions on governance, the use of public funds, crime and social issues.
- Correcting a perceived error or misrepresentation. This last one will often require me to investigate the situation to determine whether an error has been made.
There are some old misconceptions about letters to the editor.
Newspapers are legally required to print every letter they receive: This is not true, but I’ve heard it for years. Newspapers are under no obligation to print a letter just because it’s been submitted. Each letter selected for publication is vetted for accuracy, timeliness and legalities, and edited for spelling, grammar and clarity.
“Freedom of the press” and “freedom of speech” mean there are no boundaries to what a letter can contain: This is also not true. Letter-writers are responsible for what they write, but so is the newspaper if that letter runs in print. We are very careful to avoid publishing letters that may be libelous or defamatory or that may run afoul of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
I’ve used a straightforward set of rules for letters at my previous newspapers and intend to keep that going here.
- Letters can’t be longer than 300 words. Shorter is better. We don’t have the space to run long letters, and readers usually don’t appreciate them. If you think that what you have to say will require a higher word count, reach out to me and we can talk about including it as a guest column.
- Keep it clear and straightforward. Tell us the story you’re writing about first, then dive into the point you want to make.
- Letters must be about a single topic that has recently appeared in The Citizen or is of community interest. If you have thoughts on several stories, write each as a separate letter.
- There will be a three-week gap between letters from the same writer to ensure variety. There is one exception to this: If another letter-writer responds to your letter, you can write an immediate followup, but that’s where it stops. We want to avoid weeks-long back-and-forth on one topic, as the letters should reflect the news and issues of the day, and we don’t want a small group of frequent letter-writers to dominate the page.
- We’ll edit your letter, as noted above. If major changes are required, we will reach out to suggest the edits or do them ourselves, with the letter-writer signing off on the new version before it runs.
- If we receive several letters on the same topic, we will select the examples that we feel best sum up the public opinion on the issue. In some rare cases, you may see a day where all the letters are on one topic if it’s of sufficient importance.
- Letters of thanks are welcome but we will publish them sparingly. Readers are more interested in what their neighbours think about major current events but there are time when someone goes above and beyond and they should be recognized for that.
- We won’t publish poetry, personal attacks, prayers, customer complaints, allegations of crime or fraud without charges or claims that can’t be verified.
- We do not publish letters containing hate speech or discriminatory language.
- We do not publish anonymous letters, and we confirm the authorship of each letter before publication.
As we reintroduce letters to The Citizen, we will maintain our current Comments section, where we share some of the more interesting things people say about our online stories. These are less formal than letters, and often run without people’s real names. They’re very much a reflection of anonymous online commentary. Letters, on the other hand, become part of the paper’s record, so we require real names. For that reason, chosen letters will run in print and online; you won't see a letter on the website if it hasn't been printed in the paper.
Unfortunately, not every letter will be able to be published. Sometimes it’s because they run up against the rules listed above. Other times it’s just because of available space. I’d love to print them all, but that isn’t possible. Until I start receiving more letters I can't tell you the percentage that we'll publish but at my last paper, a daily, I ran about 30 per cent of letters received. Many of those letters would have been perfectly acceptable but we just didn't have the space.
Send your letters to [email protected] or by mail at Letters to the Editor, The Prince George Citizen, 505 4th Avenue, Prince George, B.C., V2L 3H2. Please include your first and last name, your address and your phone number for verification. We won’t publish your address or number, just the name of the municipality where you live or the organization you represent if that’s part of your letter.
I look forward to reading your letters.
Reach Citizen managing editor Kennedy Gordon at [email protected]
