Here recently there has been an influx of letters to the editor here at the Telegram. I wanted to take this opportunity to explain to you the policy we have in place for you to share your opinion with our readers.
Because we want to make sure that everyone can share their letters, submissions are limited to one letter per person per month. Those letters should be 400 words or less and any letters that are over the word limit will be cut at the editor’s discretion however occasionally I may contact you and ask you to revise your letter based on our policies word count.
Here at the Telegram we strive to be appropriate for all ages so that means letters containing blatantly offensive material or inappropriate subject matters will not be published.
All letters must be signed by the writer and all letters must be signed with address and phone number provided for verification only. We do not accept letters that are written by groups. Letters will be printed with the author’s name and city of residence only we do not publish anonymous letters.
Letters containing statements that are libelous we’re slanderous will not be published.
Letters written in response to other letter writers should address the issue at hand rather than mentioning the writer by name and should refer to the headline and date the original letter was published. If you’re referring to a new story the headline and date of publication should also be mentioned in your letter for reference.
Complaints or compliments about businesses or individuals that deal with private matters will not be used.
“Thank you” letters will be published only when they are of public interest.
As I’ve addressed previously, we enjoy receiving feedback and we enjoy when our readers get involved. However as you have imagined there are rules for everything and in order to keep things running smoothly it’s important that we all follow those rules.
