"When writing about political issues..."
The Letters to the Editor policy of the Arizona Daily Star
In college I switched my major from journalism to English, but then when my children were young, I must have forgotten I switched because I went right on to edit two neighborhood newsletters.
The one in Florida was called the Lake Cane Villa Club Voice. My editorial in March, 1974, argues against a new rule that said all guests at the Club property must be accompanied by an adult member of the Club. I said, “Why not apply it only to troublemakers, and not to everyone?”
The next year I was in Louisiana and editing The Broadmoor Broadcast. Its first Letter to the Editor asked for help in picking up the litter on our four small streets that came from a nearby grocery store. The writer appealed to others to care about our neighborhood as she did.
To look at another neighborhood newspaper, The Village Voice was created in 1955 as a soapbox for the civic opinions being expressed in Greenwich Village, a small community of artists in the middle of New York City. Just as my two newsletters was.
Letters to the Editor are a public, civil way to share ideas freely in our democracy. It’s up to each newspaper to work out how to openly invite these ideas, and at the same time, how to protect them from censorship.
The other day I wrote a Postcard about the Letters to the Editor policy of my local newspaper, The Transylvania Times. In response, a friend commented, saying that every day she reads the letters in The Arizona Daily Star.
I was curious to see the Daily Star’s letter policy when it comes to political issues and candidates. It says,
When writing about political issues, authors should fully disclose their relationship with an issue, campaign or candidate. Facts must be annotated by links shared in the "Notes" field. Notes field text is not included in the letter word count. Letters containing information that cannot be easily verified, libelous statements or name calling will be rejected.
Please include in your letter any expertise or special interest in the topic. For example, "As a professor of mathematics, I know the value of arts education."
Today The Daily Star has ten Letters to the Editor. The writer’s name and region of the city appear at the top of each letter and, in the online edition, ads appear between them. The newspaper limits letters to 160 words.
Are all viewpoints represented? My friend says, “I would say it is pretty balanced. They allow endorsements and criticisms of candidates, elected officials, and all types of issues.” She says her friends who meet on Zoom sometimes discuss these letters. “This group is aware of what is happening in our local, state, and national governments.”
I’d like to add one more part of the Arizona Daily Star’s letters policy. I’m slightly puzzled, as if the Editor has just reached for a red pencil. It says,
Our general guideline is to not publish in print the same writer more than once a month, although exceptions may be made in order to provide readers with a variety of viewpoints.
Exceptions? Representing all viewpoints might be the key to a democratic Letters to the Editor policy. But does making exceptions begin to mask reality in some way? This is a hard one.
Do you have an Opinion on this?