College of Letters
I have been meaning to write a "how to" write a letter to the editor column for a long time. I hope this one helps. (see www.pasadenastarnews.com or www.sgvtribune.com or www.whittierdailynews.com or any of those newspapers on Sat. Aug. 19 "From The Editor's Desk" column by Steve Scauzillo.
You can post comments here on this blog.
Also, I'm reviving the Letter Of The Week (it used to say, I think, Letter of the Day). It will be fun to collect submissions here on this blog. Post the actual letters here on this blog and I'll read them. I'll publish them on our Web site and newspapers if I feel they measure up. For all you regulars out there, this should be a piece of cake. All you newbies, this is your chance to shine on the rosetta stone of democracy.
posted by Steve Scauzillo @ 4:18 PM
6 Comments:
Leave your "LETTER OF THE WEEK" submissions here.
http://nreply2-wmjr.blogspot.com/
Mr. Scauzillo requests letters be no more than 100 words and then projects a good guy image for allowing more. Exceeding a speed limit, if left unchecked, will only encourage more excessive speed and this is what his policy is promoting. I myself believe there can/should be a little leeway here, up to 25%, but in no way is acceptance of 200 to 600 word letters proper. A letter to the editor is not an editorial. I feel pretty certain that the SGVT blue ribbon editorials were not written in 100 words or less, but this letter was.
8/31/06 Wmn responds - So what makes a letter get published?
Most readers are aware of the media's control of information to the public. Controversy sells.
Letters for the most part are about timely issues of the day or week, and it is just as important that a reply letters publication is also timely.
The "no facts" scenario presented by the editor is for liability reasons. Still, one should always research and present fact not hearsay, especially if referring to politics or historical truths.
Mr.Scauzillo says he detests letters that respond to another letter writer who was responding to their letter. Yet, a letter published only a few days later refutes that. (Whittier Daily News 08/31/2006)
Complete impartiality to one viewpoint or another is nigh to impossible even for an editor.
Quoting and promoting a private or public business, church, school, office, or religion, should not be included in letters to the editor section. There are more appropriate areas for those.
The Tribune currently has a blog/forum for sports. Why limit on line use to sports? Many papers are now posting a number of blogs or forums to cover many topics.
This allows for much more reader activity, as space, even content is not as critical.
A Reflection on
Scam Artists and Ex-cons
Our system of justice works most of the time “commit a crime go to jail.” But what happens to criminals after they have paid their debt to society by serving time in jail and/or paying restitution? Do these people regain their positions in society and go on to lead productive lives? For the majority of ex-cons the answer is a resounding “No!”
It is true that almost everyone makes a major mistake or two in their lifetimes, yet it is also true that ex-cons (or felons if you prefer) even if they have attempted to turn their lives around after incarceration; live out the rest of their lives under a cloud of suspicion and mistrust. The ferocity of public outcry against people who have committed crimes extends beyond court mandated sentences. Even the fact that we inhabit a Christian society where “vengeance is Mine saith the Lord,” pales as a concept when Christians encounter ex-cons and their families.
Ex-cons find it almost impossible to pursue “decent lives” after committing a crime and paying their debt to society because society wants more than the court ordered punishment. Ex-cons re-enter society with the proverbial red “X” slashed across their foreheads and once an ex-con is identified by that “X” society steps back in horror and disgust as if exposed to the plague.
So, in the great land of “the free and home of the brave” to commit a crime and to get caught and prosecuted is the greatest sin of all and the American justice system is just a myth, purely a modern fairy tale because few Americans have the ability to truly forgive another for past indiscretions.
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