Writers and Editors

Letters to the Editor are written by members of the public (not newspaper or magazine staff), generally expressing a reader's opinion about a current issue.

• Seven Tips for Crafting a Compelling Letter to the Editor from Media Matters: The Complete Guide to Getting Positive Media Attention (PDF Advocacy & Communication Solutions) Free download here.

• This "Dear IRS" letter Ed Barnett wrote to the Wichita Falls Times Record News in 2009 went viral.

• Letter to the Editor Template (NAEYC)

• Letters to the Editor (The New York Times)

• Letters to the Editor (Washington Post)

     For example: Opinion: Only one party’s policies are increasing U.S. mortality (Guess which one.)

• In the age of social media blasts, what’s the point of letters to the editor? (Marina Bolotnikova, Poynter, 3-18-22) Publishing readers’ letters sends a message that they are equal participants and that reader criticism is a necessary part of how the news is made. “Our older readers will write letters, but younger folks need to be invited and told that the thing that they just published on the internet is also a letter, and can be integrated into the conversation that the magazine is having.”

      If editors want letters to remain a live tradition, they can’t just wait for letters to come to them. Like Arielle Angel of Jewish Currents, Thornton solicits letters from readers who post strong reactions to the Los Angeles Times’ work on Twitter. “Half the time I don’t get any replies. But the times that I do, it elevates me, because seeing this occasionally vicious criticism on Twitter turn into a well-thought-out, well-argued letter to the editor is quite wonderful.”

• Letters to the Editor (The Guardian, UK) An intelligent letter-writing readership.
• The Top Letters to the Editor of 2021 (Dallas Morning News)
• The Best Letters to the Editor in New Republic History (Woolf, Updike, and Nabokov)

• Flintstones to Lance Armstrong: 8 of the Best Letters to the Editor (posted on Time, 11-28-14) Some of the best letters to the editor make us laugh.

• From the editor: Statesman Journal stops publishing traditional opinion content (Cherrill Crosby, Salem Statesman Journal, 5-8-22) "We've learned via focus groups and feedback that this content does not resonate as it once did with audiences. It is among the least-read content that we produce, both online and in print. We know Statesman Journal readers want to be educated about the facts so they can make up their own minds as opposed to being told what to do....And because it is some of the least publicly understood as far as the difference between news and opinion content, opinion content also is tied to perceived problems of journalistic credibility, trust, objectivity and fairness."

• Disgraced British Columbia politician seeks redemption. Former legislator Paul Reitsma who resigned in disgrace for writing letters to newspapers under fake names hopes to revive his political career on Vancouver Island.

What other great letters to the editor are out there? What good tips for writing effective letters to the editor?

Maggie Lynch's helpful response to this question on an Authors Guild discussion forum (published here with her permission):

Do agents prefer manuscripts that have been reviewed by a professional editor?

      Before I start sending out query letters to agents, I'd like advice on whether it's worth the expense of hiring a development editor to evaluate my manuscript. I've received positive feedback from two beta readers, and I feel like the book is ready to go after 5 years work on it. 

Maggie's response:

Espionage and whistleblowing are two very different things.

• The Part of the Espionage Act That Matters (Jan Lodal, a longtime defense and intelligence official, in a guest post on James Fallows blog, Breaking the News) "Trump’s violation of this Subparagraph (d) of the Espionage Act could not be clearer. Unlike all other crimes being considered for prosecution, Subsection (d) requires no probing of intent or consequence. It defines as criminal a clear process violation -- “failing to return” classified documents when properly asked to do so."  Read More 

Inside the SCOTUS Case on School Library Censorship

(podcast, Brooke Gladstone, On the Media, NYC Studios, 2-4-22)

I apologize for going beyond 'fair use' in providing a digest of this program. It's the only Supreme Court decision about removing "banned books" from school libraries, and it is a good discussion of issues in the case. I strongly recommend listening to the recording.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Island Trees School District vs Pico, the first and only time the Supreme Court considered the question of book removal in school libraries.

After this first excellent section for scientists are links to advice for other disciplines.

For scientists speaking to reporters:

These four sets of savvy tips from SciLine are excellent and, along with the realistic subtips, are easily transferable to non-science interviews. Click on the sources to get all the points and sub-points. Read More