New Tacoma | Hall Pass

This article was written by Jessica Roberts. Jessica is the former metro area advocate for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and she is now a planner for Alta Planning and Design. It was originally published by BikePortland.org who has kindly allowed its use in the New Tacoma Neighborhood Council web site.

In the article below, she offers insights on how to write effective letters-to-the-editor, and more importantly, how get them published.

Effective Writing 101

I know this may shock you, but I don’t get all my news from BikePortland.

“If you’re not writing letters, you’re letting the bad guys have the last word.”

In fact, I’m one of those people who reads the paper every morning. There are plenty of other folks who read the daily paper as well, and research tells us that they’re relatively well-educated, well-informed, and likely to participate in elections and public process.

In fact, these are exactly the people we need to get on our side.

After the front page, the opinion section is one of the most-read sections of the paper. This is great news because it’s not difficult to write a letter to the editor that has a good chance of being published. Every bike-friendly letter to the editor sends a message that bicyclists are educated and paying attention, and that Portland cares about bike issues.

Besides, anti-bike letters get published all the time, so if you’re not writing letters, you’re letting the bad guys have the last word.

I love writing letters to the editor. You have the chance to craft the perfect appeal to your neighbor, your boss, that guy who didn’t look for you at the stop sign yesterday. It’s one of the best tools bicycle advocates have to quit talking to ourselves and reach all those Portlanders who aren’t bicyclists (yet).

Over the years I’ve learned a few tips that make it more likely for a letter to get published.

Don’t delay
Keep it short
Show some character
Make Miss Manners proud
Include your contact info

Don’t delay
Letters to the editor should always be about a timely issue—a recent happening, an article in this morning’s paper, or the hot issue of the week. You’re more likely to get printed if yours is one of the first letters they receive on the subject. And I’ve found that if I delay at all in writing the letter, I never get around to it. If I have something I want to write about, I sit down and dash something out in 5 or 10 minutes, proofread, and send it off. It’s better to write something imperfect than never get around to writing your perfect letter.

Keep it short
“It’s one of the best tools bicycle advocates have to quit talking to ourselves and reach all those Portlanders who aren’t bicyclists (yet)”

You don’t want the editor to decide which of your points is the most important. Do them the favor of staying within their length guidelines. Besides, newspaper readers are as busy as you are – three perfect sentences are more likely to be read than seventeen rambling ones. Figure out what your one main point is, and stick to it.

Show some character
If you haven’t hooked your reader by the time they’ve finished your first sentence, they’ll skip it. Make sure your opening line has some punch to it. And make sure the rest isn’t boring either–tell a story, use expressive language, use powerful words, dare to be funny, show your passion.

Make Miss Manners proud
Be excruciatingly polite. Follow letter formatting. Proofread (and if you’re bad at this, have a friend proofread it for you).

Include your contact info
Submit your full name, home address, and daytime telephone number. This is to help the editors make sure you are a real person; they will only print your name. Follow the submission guidelines exactly. The editor receives many submissions, so if you make them have to track you down online, they probably won’t bother. Expect a call (or sometimes an email) before they print your letter.

Now that you know how to write the letter, here are some contacts and letters to the editor requirements for a few local media outlets.

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The News Tribune
The News Tribune welcomes your comments. If you want to voice your opinion about a particular subject, you may do so by writing a letter to the editor.

Please sign your name and for verification purposes include your address and daytime phone number.

Letters are subject to condensation and may be edited for clarity. Letters should be limited to 250 words; those less than 150 words will be given priority. Writers are limited to one letter per 30-day period.

All letters submitted become the property of The News Tribune. Letters may be edited and republished in any format by The News Tribune.

Write to:
The Editor
The News Tribune
PO Box 11000
Tacoma, Wa. 98411
Fax: 597-8451
You can also send letters via email at letters@thenewstribune.com or submit them online with this form: click here.

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The Business Examiner
The Business Examiner accepts letters to the editor that involve business issues, particularly those in the South Sound. All letters must include a name, location or business name and title, if applicable and a contact phone number for clarification and verification purposes only.

Letters are subject editing for clarity, grammar, style and brevity. Letters should be limited to 300 to 500 words.

Write to:
The Editor
Business Examiner
1702 Tacoma Ave. S.
Tacoma, Wa. 98403
Fax: 253 404-0891
You can also send letters by email at news@BusinessExaminer.com

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Tacoma Weekly
There is a 450 word limit. Anonymous letters will not be published. Tacoma Weekly reserves the right to edit leters for length, content and potentially libelous material.

Submit online to the Tacoma Weekly.

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Don’t feel like you have to stop with just the local paper, either! Magazines print letters as well, and letters from Portlanders have been published in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and even the Economist.

This article was written by Jessica Roberts.