How to Write a Letter to the Editor

Writing a letter to the editor would seem to be fairly self-explanatory. But it's actually something of a science. Imagine that you are the letters editor for a major paper. You get hundreds of letters a day from around the world. Which ones do you publish? In short, you publish the ones that 1) get there first and 2) are brief, pointed and punchy. In most cases, it's as simple as that.

1. Respond the same day or not at all.
   When you read an article that really makes you hot under the collar, write the response that very minute. If you choked on your coffee over an op-ed or a quote from a government official, write a two paragraph response that morning. This is the same for an article with a factual error, though most papers catch those on their own. You might feel better stewing for a couple of days and firing off a lengthy response, but the odds are you will do the work and your efforts will never be published. Send it in overnight even -- they will get it first thing in the morning.

2. Identify yourself and why you are qualified to comment.
   "I was in Chile when General Pinochet took power...." or "I have just returned from a mission to the Ivory Coast...." are good opening sentences. Be sure to include your title and contact number at the end of the letter.

3. Keep it short.
   Editors cut from the bottom, so put your main point up top. Letters should have short sentences and ideally, be no more than a couple of paragraphs long, no matter how ticked off you are about an article. Do not assume that because a piece is long, you must respond at the same length. The best advice I ever got from an editor (who cut my letter down to a single terse paragraph) is that short letters show confidence in your position -- and long letters do the opposite. No one wants to read a long letter -- and a point by point recitation of errors in an article only looks whiny and insecure.

4. Style.
   In terms of style, the best letters are punchy -- and if possible, brief, wry and sharp. Some people are pre-disposed to think human rights types are annoying, humorless complainers anyway (of course we know this is not the case), but we don't need to reinforce that particular stereotype. Readers hate nit-pickers. Moreover, a point made with humor is one that people will remember. Did the author of that nasty National Review piece mis-spell your name six times? Make that point and gently imply that he is equally mistaken about the ICCPR.

5. Know the style and format of where you are sending your letter.
   A letter to the Economist has a distinctive (British) style ("Sir:"..). You can occasionally respond at 1000 words in the New Republic or Commentary. Count yourself lucky to get a letter to the New York Times in at 150 words (including your title or self description). The NYT will still edit, even if you send in at this length, but it's better (and better form) to give them something short to work with.

The general form for letters is:

To the editor:

Your December 10 editorial (or give page number) article on (describe the article here), totally missed the point.

Second paragraph: Explain why and give a couple of terse examples.

Close with a punchy one-liner. "Putin's putative concern is simply unconvincing in the face of thousands of civilian casualties."

Note: Some times a super letter will not have a prayer for reasons totally unrelated to the excellence of your writing: perfectly good letters to the New York Times on Pakistan and Chechnya were dinged recently purely because we had one in on Haiti that week and the letters editors want "diversity" on their letters pages.

Most letters editors prefer to get submissions by e-mail (it means they don't have to re-enter the text and cutting is easier) directly from the person who wrote the letter (reminder: ALWAYS include your title as you want it published and direct telephone number at the end of the letter). If a paper decides to publish a letter, they prefer to get it from the author so they can call or contact you directly with any proposed changes.

Good luck.

For additional tips see FAIR's Media Activism guide.

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