Letter Writing Tips
Tips on Writing Letters to:
Newspaper Editors
- Include your full name, title/organization, address, daytime phone number, email address and signature.
- Be concise - Keep it short; 200 words maximum.
- Keep to one or two points. Ideally, state them in the first sentence.
- Refer to the article/item - identify its title/date – or mention the specific event.
- Don't get emotional - Stick to the facts. Refute or support specific points, address relevant facts that are ignored, avoid attacking the media/newspaper. Do not make personal attacks on the reporter/columnist, but rather his/her views.
- Keep your audience in mind. Who reads this source? What arguments are likely to resonate with them? Remember, you are trying to convince others.
- Be timely. It can take a week before a letter is published – respond while the issue is hot.
- Be witty but avoid clichés.
- Respond while the issue is still current. Send a letter within a day of broadcast or article.
Elected Officials
- Be Brief: Limit your letter to 350 words.
- Be Clear and Concise: State your position in the opening sentences of your letter. What do you want your representative to do, and why should he/she do it? Edit your letter before you send it in, deleting unnecessary phrases or words.
- Be Focused: Concentrate on the Resolution to create one very forceful and convincing point. Branching off on other topics will dilute your message
- Be Factual: Facts, quotes, and statistics strengthen your letter's credibility and educate the Representative. Personal opinions lacking evidence sound vague and are easily dismissed by the representative and his/her staff.
- Be Rational: Be credible. Revealing hostility or bitterness will undermine your integrity. Do not use angry tones.
- Be Gracious. Thank the Representative or Senator for their consideration of this Resolution.
Sample Letters
Dear Editor:
Iran's refusal to cooperate with the United Nations Security Council and the Iranian drive to obtain nuclear weapons is a cause for great concern. Iran is violating a UN Security Council demand for the suspension of all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities. A nuclear-armed Iran will have profound implications for the Middle East and the rest of the free world.
Iran is willing to wreak havoc across borders as demonstrated by its financial and military support for Islamic fundamentalists in Russia, China, Lebanon, Argentina and elsewhere. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that Iran has already enriched uranium and will not stop. He denies that the Holocaust occurred and talks about wiping Israel off the map. Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khameini has threatened to use nuclear weapons in a first-strike attack. Lastly, Iran actively recruits and maintains large groups of suicide bombers as part of its national military strategy; so nuclear terrorism is a frightening possibility. With Europe in range of Iranian missiles, the international community must prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Dear Editor:
UN Security Council Resolution 1701 was overwhelmingly accepted by Israel, despite the lack of commitment by Hezbollah, Syria or Iran to respect Israel’s right to exist and Lebanon’s right to sovereignty. The UN action brings a welcome end to the violence and recalls Resolution 1559 which requires disarming Hezbollah. Unfortunately, the resolution does not act on behalf of the initial victims of Hezbollah’s terrorist attack.
The current crisis started when Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers on July 12. Since then, Israel exercised her right to self-defense and withstood malicious attacks across the blue line - the UN certified border. Lebanese civilians (Muslims and Christians) and innocent Israelis (Arabs and Jews) have suffered long enough from Hezbollah’s aggression. The cease fire is a good start, but Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser deserve to go home.
Dear Editor:
Thank you for your editorial (December 14) condemning Iran's "The Holocaust: A World Prospect" conference, where the regime gathered some 70 Holocaust deniers from 30 countries. The conference comes after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim that the Holocaust was 'a myth,' and the sponsoring of an international Holocaust cartoon contest in Tehran earlier this year.
We must all continue to speak out against the desecration of the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Denial cannot go unanswered. The eleven million Jews and Gentiles murdered during the Holocaust, and those who survived after enduring its torture deserve our outcry. Silence allowed the Holocaust to occur; we should not be silent when Iran defaces its memory.
For more information about Iran click here.
Dear Editor:
I am writing to comment on the article that appeared in The Patriot Ledger on August 19, 2006. "In the News" weekly section of the paper featured a piece titled "Evolution of Israel," which was meant to explain the process of the creation of the State of Israel.
To my complete disbelief, the article included a photograph of a masked man posing with a pistol. As you probably understand very well, photographs of this nature have explicit connotations with terrorism and extremism and therefore, have no relevance whatsoever to the history of the Jewish people or of the State of Israel. In my view, the photograph was a gross misrepresentation of the article's topic and should not have been published.
Moreover, the text itself constituted an incomplete narrative of Jewish history and of Jewish immigration to Israel. Although the source for the feature (Mideast.org) was reliable and trustworthy, the information you presented was selective and a number of significant historical facts, which appear on the source's web site, were omitted. Among others, these include: "The Jewish Kingdom of Ancient Judah and Israel" section, which establishes the direct historical and cultural link of the Jewish people to the land of Israel, and the mentioning of the British Mandate's objective, which was the creation of a "Jewish National home." The article also does not emphasize the Arab Nationalists' responsibility for the incitement of violence that erupted in the area and fails to mention that Jews welcomed the United Nations plan to partition Palestine, while Arabs rejected it.
This kind of historical distortion is highly misleading and has no place in section that should help to "make sense of the news."
