Our Mission

To explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity; to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.

Writing a Letter to the Editor

Why Not Sit Down and Write and Letter to the Editor?

Compiled by Charley Wilson

A letter to the editor of a newspaper or magazine is one effective way to tell others about important environmental issues. Here are a few strategies for getting your letter published

Check each individual editorial page for guidelines on length and content. Letters to the Winston-Salem Journal should not exceed 200 words, and may be emailed to Letters@wsjournal.com. Or, you may prefer to hand-deliver a letter to a local paper.

If you write to a national publication, you can reach a larger readership, but the odds of publication are lower. You beat the odds by being persistent if the issue remains unsolved.

Email is a useful tool, since the original letter can easily be altered and resubmitted if your first try is rejected. Be sure to sign your letter and add your address and daytime telephone number so that the editor can verify the source.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) offers tips and tools for writing letters to the editor and leveraging the media. UCS notes that contributing to the news is a crucial means of affecting public policy and getting traction on an issue. Not an expert? No matter, you are one of the most knowledgeable on the issue. Write the letter. Share your views and expertise. Below are UCS’s tips on writing letters to the editor, a simple and effective way to get a message to both the public and policy makers.

Writing a letter-to-the-editor (LTE) to your local or regional newspaper is easy. LTEs are printed on the editorial page, which is one of the most read pages in the paper. Congressional staffers also tell us that congress members keep a close eye on media coverage, including LTEs, in their local papers. This media monitoring helps members keep a 'pulse' on issues of importance to their constituents. So having a strong LTE published is a 'twofer'—you reach both a wide public and your elected officials with the same effort. Our local elected and appointed officials read the paper too. Even if your letter is not published, it is important for educating and persuading editors. The more letters they receive on a given topic, the more likely they are to dedicate more time in their newspaper to that issue—both on the editorial page and in news articles. It clearly expresses the issue’s importance to the community.

If possible, respond to an article in the paper. Many papers require that LTEs reference an article that ran in the paper. Some papers do occasionally print LTEs noting a lack of coverage. However, it is best that your letter be in response to an article in the paper. Follow the paper’s directions. Information on how and to whom to submit a LTE is usually found right on the letters page in your paper. This often includes guidelines on what the paper looks for in LTEs. Follow these guidelines to increase the likelihood that your letter will be printed. If you can’t find the information you need, simply call the paper and ask how to go about submitting a letter in response to a recently published article.

Be timely. Respond to an article in two or three days. Refer to the legislator you are trying to influence by name. If the letter includes a legislator’s name, in almost all cases staff will give him or her the letter to read personally.

Be concise and focus on one or two ideas. Keep your letter short, focused, and interesting. In general, letters should be under 200 words; stay focused. If possible, include interesting facts, relevant personal experience, and any local connections to the issue. If you letter is too wordy, it will likely be edited or not printed. If it must be long, consider an OP-ED opinion essay. Editors want letters in their papers to be original and from a reader. Be sure that you take the time to write the letter in your own words.

Take the body of your letter-to-the-editor and mail or email it to your councilperson or state or national decision-maker. When the letter appears in a paper, clip out your printed letter and send it to your legislator with a brief cover note so you are sure that he or she sees it.