Rules and advice for “Letters to the Editor”

“Letters to the Editor” are always welcome at SabaNews. So far we have set three conditions:

1. Writers sign their letters with their true name.
2. Writers may express their opinions about authorities and organizations and the individuals that represent them.
3. Writers may not express their opinions about individuals

After all, we live in a constitutional democracy where citizens have the constitutional right to express their opinion freely, but is inappropriate to insult individuals. Please read our position with respect to “Comments” to article HERE

The Editor reserves the right to shorten the Letter. By doing that he will take every care not to change the essence of its content. But some writers are going a bit too far in their enthusiasm, by producing letters of unprecedented length.

Length and format
We do not insist on a specific format or length. We offer the following suggestions for consideration:

Snappy headline
Letters are persuasive, not informative, so give your headline a point. Persuasion is about getting people to make decisions. If they read your letter, what do you want them to do? Put that in the headline.

A letter to the editor is first person and all about message. It’s not an essay or a term paper.

If you want to see bad examples of writing on the opinion page, hold it out at arm’s-length and look for pieces littered with quotes, numbers and acronyms. They’re easy to spot. And nobody will read them.

Your format is also important. If you write a letter to the editor using the inverted pyramid — most important thing first, least important last — it won’t be persuasive. It will be boring. Build up to your conclusion. Think of it as the climax of an action movie: the final showdown with the villain doesn’t come first. It’s the last scene of the movie.

At the end of your letter, put your name and email-address.

We will not  publish your  e-mail. These two things are included when you submit a letter so we can verify that you sent it. You’re going to send it by e-mail, and it’s easy to fake things by e-mail.

Letters to the editor are wonderful
Letters to the editor are underutilized. We are looking forward to learn your views and share these within the community. (61)