TOP TEN TIPS ON PUBLISHING LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

[chicagoexpat]

Want to help but don't want to canvass?

Really, no one is affected by anything you send by e-mail or post on a blog or put on a forum. If you don't want to leave your computer and do the real work that campaigns need done to affect the election, why not WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR on behalf of your candidate?

TOP TEN TIPS ON PUBLISHING LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

1) It is best to keep the letter short, to the point, and polite. Remember you are trying to persuade your undecided neighbors to vote for Barack Obama for President.
a) Newspapers generally don't print anything over 200 words, or about 20 lines
b) Stay on message, and stay with one message per letter

2) Write informally and conversationally in tone, you’re writing for your neighbors. Use your own language, don't try to sound like a reporter or an editorial essay writer. Be yourself.

You can appeal to people’s emotions with your own style, imagery, phrasing, or varied sentence structure if you want. Passion is fine, but be polite. A letter from a young person, noting their age or grade, is also very effective.

Also, successful "letters to the editor" are often based on a strong news hook or a timely response to a current issue covered by your news outlet (like the political conventions, or when Obama comes to your state for an event, or an article about the campaign, or when the Presidential debates are held).

But if you want to write a letter, you don't have to wait for this to happen: JUST DO IT!

3) You can personalize it with something specific that happened to you or something in your community. Did you hear the Obama give a speech somewhere?

The important thing is to write about something that matters to you about supporting Barack Obama for President.

4) Send it on appropriate letterhead. That is, if you're speaking only for yourself, don't use your business or organization letterhead but only your personal letterhead (if you have any).

If you're announcing an endorsement or official position of your organization or business, then you can use organization letterhead (check with the boss though!).

5) Include your contact information to verify you wrote the letter; some outlets do not publish letters until they verify who wrote the letters sent to them.

6) As a general rule, letters should be typed up (newspaper editors will not want to decipher anyone’s handwriting). Also proofread and spell check your letter before sending it.

7) Choose the newspaper to send it to. Check your local paper for the correct address and editor to send it to. Many papers now have on-line, internet access for sending letters-to-the editor.

Don't forget weekly community newspapers. The major daily newspapers in your area have the most readers, but the smaller, weekly community newspapers are also important. They are also usually more likely to print your letter than a major newspaper.

One site list newspapers across the nation, broken down by state and locality, at http://www.newslink.org/

You can find others by using any web search engine. For finding addresses for community weekly papers, e.g., you can go to a search engine like Google and type in your metro area and keyword, like "Pullman, Washington, news media" or "Vancouver, Washington, news media."

8) If you don't get your letter published, it may not have been published simply for space or deadline reasons. You can always send it again, or send it to a different daily, weekly, or community newspaper.

9) Please send a copy of your letter to your local party HQ or Obama campaign, it will lift their spirits.

10) Example of letters people have already written include:

"Another Pro-Obama Letter To the Editor" that was published as a blog post.
(at http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/dobrocat/gGx42L )

Posted at http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/chicagoexpat/gG5dz5

[holiday]

1. I just go a confirmation today from my newspaper

I wrote a letter to the editor and it was about Sarah Palin. Because I know my area, and they probably do not know the dirt on Palin.

[crispini]

2. K&R

:kick:

[protect our future]

3. Thank you, thank you! n/t

[justiceischeap]

4. LTTE--living in a very blue state, is there a way to write to swing states? (eom)

[chicagoexpat]

5. Go to barackobama.com

Go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/actioncenter

and follow their suggestions.

Make calls to swing states.

Host a fundraising party and donate to the campaign.

Or you can write to newspapers in swing states, they're just far more interested in publishing letters from their own constituents.

[justiceischeap]

7. I took your suggestion. Here's my LTTE

One of the things I've found amazing about the election cycle is how the mainstream press has been quick to talk about or publish information regarding candidate Barack Obama that is factually untrue (lies) . Over and over again we heard about Jeremiah Wright, we heard about Obama's supposed Muslim faith (as if some of us can't notice a scare tactic when we see one) or something as simple as Obama's weddi ng date. Jerome Corsi is a large instigator of these falsehoods, or as people in my circle call them, lies.

In contrast we have the other side; John McCain chooses Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate and we have heard virtually nothing about the ties to her church, which can arguably be called extremist. It's amazing we've heard nothing about the lies she tells repeatedly along with the GOP surrogates that repeat those lies. For example that 'Bridge to Nowhere,' she only said 'no thanks' when the national attention made it unsafe to keep supporting it. Of course, she kept the money. We hear claims she's against pork-barrel spending but then find out she obtained $27 million for a city of 6,000. The chef she fired who wasn't, the plane she sold on eBay that didn't. The lies keep coming and the mainstream press keeps letting them slide on by.

When is the media going to stop playing favorites and actually do what they are supposed to do and judge these candidates fairly? Why is it okay for a campaign to say, "No, the media cannot talk to our VP candidate," and not be called on it by the press? Why are none of you asking, "What is she hiding?"

In my opinion, if you repeat nonsense that I, as an average American knows is nonsense (lies), does that give you the right to continue calling yourselves journalists? If you keep reprinting the lies without calling the candidates on them, then really your paper is a source of fiction and should be billed as such.

[justinaforjustice]

6. Use Congress.org to Send Letters To Media

Go to www.congress.org, click on their media link. This will bring up a page that allows you to enter a zip code for the area you want to write to. The site will bring up all the newspapers, radio and tv stations within 100 miles of your chosen zip code and allows you to choose up to 5 media sources to send your letter to, then it directs you to the composition page where you can write your letter. Once you write the page, you can save it if you want to use it to send to additional media outlets. To send out additional letters, you will need to start over with the zip code process, but simply paste your letter into the new message form.

If you do not know the zip code for the area you want to write, I suggest you use congress.org to locate the address of congressional reps in or near the area, then just use the zip code for the congressional representatives offices.

This web site allows you to write one letter to many different news sources virtually all at once. Of course, not all your letters are likely to be printed, but many local newspapers will use it if it is brief and interesting.