Op-ed section a marketplace for ideas
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Ever work really hard on a project and turn it in to a boss or teacher, only to find out you’d completely missed the mark? Maybe the requirements weren’t clearly outlined, or maybe you misinterpreted them. In either case, the situation is frustrating.
I’d like to avoid creating similar frustration for readers when it comes to our opinion-editorial section. It doesn’t happen too often, but when I have to send a letter-to-the-editor back to a reader who simply didn’t follow our submission guidelines, it’s frustrating for both of us. I’d like to be able to print every letter we receive, and we very nearly do. While our policy for letters to the editor is strategically printed on page 10 of every Valley Journal, the guidelines deserve a more detailed explanation.
Sometimes a letter won’t appear in the paper the week it’s received; we print letters and other submissions based on how much space we have available.
When a letter is denied for publication, it’s usually because the content is either potentially damaging to another person — libelous, in newspaper speak — or has too limited a scope of appeal. For example, a letter wishing someone “happy birthday” wouldn’t be appropriate for our opinion section, as it would only interest those who know the birthday boy or girl. Letters that merely demean another person without making a clear point are also inappropriate.
In the interest of fostering a local marketplace of ideas where many voices can be heard, we ask that letters be no longer than 350 words. Sticking with that word limit allows us to print more letters and more Lake County residents’ opinions. We do print longer opinion pieces (around 500 words) from legislators and other public figures as columns. Local residents may arrange to write columns, too, with the caveat that columns are chosen based on their appeal to our readership and how much space we have available in the op-ed section.
I cannot emphasize strongly enough that this newspaper’s opinion section is just that — opinion. Your opinion, your neighbor’s opinion, your mayor’s opinion, your mechanic’s opinion. We print all sorts of opinions, but that doesn’t mean the Valley Journal endorses them. We merely try to provide a neutral zone where readers can express their ideas, solutions, questions and reactions regarding current issues affecting our valley. If you disagree with something you see in our opinion section, you are welcome to respond with a letter to the editor. Please remember that an argument that stands on its own merit is far stronger than one that depends on dismantling the opponent’s character — and such letters won’t be printed.
The Washington Post’s website states, under submission guidelines for letters to the editor, that all letters will be fact-checked. For a newspaper that receives more than 1,000 letters per week, that is a mighty undertaking. Fortunately for the Post, there are more than 1,000 interns clamoring for a chance to do that job.
That’s not the case at the Valley Journal. When we get a letter asserting corruption within a county department or that an employee was treated unfairly at his job at a local supermarket, we can’t immediately check all those facts. In such cases, if the subject is newsworthy, we would look into the matter independently for a possible article, but we might not print the letter.
It’s not easy to put your thoughts on paper for the world to judge, but you should know that your efforts aren’t in vain. Those of us in the newspaper business still believe the pen is mightier than the sword, and even a small weekly’s op-ed section has the power to change the community.
