Writing a Letter to the Editor is Easier Than You Think!
Letters to the editor are great advocacy tools. After you write letters to
your members of Congress, sending letters to the editor can achieve other
advocacy goals because they:
- Reach a large audience.
- Are often monitored by elected officials.
- Can bring up information not addressed in a news article.
- Create an impression of widespread support or opposition to an issue.
Tips on Writing Letters to the Editor
Keep it short and on one subject.Many
newspapers have strict limits on the length of letters and have limited space to
publish them. Keeping your letter brief will help assure that your important
points are not cut out by the newspaper. Use the "Tips
on Writing to Your Elected Officials" as a guide.
Make it legible.Your letter doesn't have
to be fancy, but you should use a typewriter or computer word processor if your
handwriting is difficult to read.
Send letters to weekly community newspapers too.
The smaller the newspaper's circulation, the easier it is to get your letter
printed.
Be sure to include your contact information. Many
newspapers will only print a letter to the editor after calling the author to
verify his or her identity and address. Newspapers will not give out that
information, and will usually only print your name and city should your letter
be published.
Make references to the newspaper.While
some papers print general commentary, many will only print letters that refer to
a specific article. Here are some examples of easy ways to refer to articles in
your opening sentence:
- I was disappointed to see that The Post's May 18 editorial "Patients
Rights Bill Costs Jobs" omitted some of the key facts in the debate.
- I strongly agree with (author's name) views on mental health parity.
("Name of Op-Ed," date) As a psychologist….
- I am deeply saddened to read that Congressman Doe opposes legislation that
would require health plans to have real legal accountability to their
subscribers. ("Title of Article," date)
