THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609070013
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LYNN FEIGENBAUM
LENGTH: 97 lines
Sure, there are two sides to every story. But when it comes to letters to the editor, you hear only one: the writer's.
That's the whole idea. The newspaper has had its say, either reporting or editorializing. Now it's someone else's turn.
But often, there's a ``someone else'' after that.
Take the letter that ran Tuesday from a steamed-up motorist who was stuck for two hours in the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. The writer, frustrated, put the blame on the ``morons'' who work for the Virginia Department of Transportation.
I wince just repeating that.
Two traffic controllers responded - one has written her own letter to the editor that will run Monday.
Their side of the story: There was a serious accident at the bridge-tunnel plus a truck that caught fire. The backup was made worse by the need to get emergency vehicles to the scene and by the usual rubberneckers.
Frances Murray, a traffic-control supervisor at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, wished those facts had been told before we ran such a ``scathing'' letter.
Well, quite honestly, if we fact-checked every issue or item that surfaces in letters to the editor, there wouldn't be time to get any in the paper.
But I have to agree with Murray's implied criticism that name-calling has no place in the paper, whether it's in letters or articles or editorials.
The blame for letting that one slide by falls right on my own shoulders, since I've started handling letters to the editor. The idea is to free up associate editor Glenn Allen Scott, our letters expert, to have more time to write editorials, and to pave the way for getting more reader voices into the newspaper.
Scott and editorial page editor Keith Monroe offer some advice that both you (the letter writer) and I, on the receiving end, ought to keep in mind:
Write about public issues. Monroe wants the editorial page - that includes letters as well as other commentaries - to offer a ``lively debate on issues of public interest.''
Our motto, he added: ``More light, less heat.''
Don't use letters as a forum to insult people, public officials included. Stick to the issues. No expletives or epithets, please.
Keep letters short and to the point. That's about 200 words, if you're counting. Long letters get cut or put in the round file.
Don't send the same letter to various departments of the newspaper. It just gets confusing. Directions for mailing, e-mailing or faxing a letter appear on the editorial page.
Type your letter, or at least write clearly. I've learned this week that I'm not the only one with an illegible handwriting!
Limit letters to once every six months. That's a hardship for some writers, but it's only fair to let other folks get their voices heard, too.
Still confused? Call Beth Williams in editorial, 446-2305. She knows all the rules!
Scott estimates that The Pilot editorial department gets 800-1,000 letters a month. Some are forwarded to the community sections like the Beacon or Compass, if mainsheet space is tight and the issues are city oriented. Other letters are forwarded to reporters or editors.
The volume of letters is ever increasing as people fax and e-mail their opinions. But we hope, in the weeks ahead, to make space for more of them.
P.S. There is an exception to the length rule mentioned above. If you have expertise (i.e., informed opinions) on a public-policy issue, think about submitting an Another View column.
These can be 500-750 words and should be sent to:
Virginia Views
c/o Pat Lackey
The Virginian-Pilot
P.O. Box 449
Norfolk, Va. 23501-0449
Fax: 757-446-2051
E-mail: letters(AT)infi.net
Or call Lackey, an editorial associate, at 446-2251.
Drawing a blank. On Thursday, Aug. 29, The Pilot ran a unique editorial about Virginia Beach being caught dumping newspapers for recycling into its sanitary landfill.
The editorial had headlines (``Virginia Beach's newspaper dumping caper. . white space around the quote.
The problem was one of those technical things that has happened during transmission of pages. In fact, it's the second time that a Virginia Beach editorial has been zapped into the ozone - a blank editorial ran last December.
Although most copies of the Aug. 29 paper did not have the editorial text, only a handful of readers called to mention the omission, and all thought it was done on purpose!
And when a full-text version was reprinted the next day, several more readers gave us high scores for the wordless version - it was an ``attention grabber'' and a ``bold statement.''
Oliver M. Whipple Jr. of Virginia Beach was among those who lauded the ``one-sentence'' editorial - he found it the ``essence of simplicity, truth and a scathing commentary.''
``You need not have written another word,'' he said, ``and all Virginia Beach residents could relate to your succinct verbalism. Then you had to go and spoil it . . . by saying it was all in error.''
What's next - blank letters to the editor?
by CNB