Letters to the editor are a very important way to increase the
public’s awareness and comprehension of the issue of U.S.-sponsored
torture. All effective community organizing begins with basic
informational and educational efforts, and the media is a key tool.
A letter to the editor should be very short and to the point. Each
newspaper will have its own rules about the length of letters, as
well as other guidelines. Before you write, you should call the
editorial department and ask about these. You also can ask if they
would prefer the piece to be sent by e-mail, regular mail, or fax.
Some common guidelines are:
- There will be a very short word limit, which is strictly enforced. A
general guideline would be 200-250 words.
- You must not submit the same letter to more than one publication at
the same time.
- Whenever possible, the letter should refer to a specific article
recently published by that paper or magazine.
- There may be a strict deadline for responding to a given article.
The sooner you respond to a specific article, the more likely it is
that your letter will be published. A good standard is to send a
letter no later than seven days after the date of the article to
which you are responding.
- Many newspapers ask for a daytime phone number (not for publication)
so they can call you with questions or for confirmation.
A sample letter is provided below. Please feel free to edit or
rewrite as you see fit.
Sample letter to the editor
Dear editor,
As a citizen of the United States, I vigorously protest the use of
torture in the name of national security. "(Headline from the
article in your local paper)," p. 1, Feb. 17, 2006.
On the same day as the publication of new photographs of abuse at
Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, a United Nations report calls for the
closing of the Guantánamo Bay detention facility because it is
effectively a torture camp. How much more evidence does anyone need
that the torture of the detainees under U.S. control is not an
aberration, but rather a policy of our government’s intelligence
agencies?
In December, Congress put aside partisan political interests to
agree on a new law that
clearly prohibits the use of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment
of detainees. However, the president issued a signing statement
suggesting he is bound by the law only if it does not interfere with
his authority as commander in chief to protect the United States
from further terrorist attacks.
The president isn’t getting the message, no matter how often it is
repeated. The use of torture is antithetical to our nation’s
cherished ideals and puts our own soldiers more at risk if they
should become prisoners. Moreover, U.S.-sponsored torture clearly
encourages reciprocal treatment against our own troops and spreads
hatred against American citizens.
Sincerely,
Name
Address
City, State, ZIP
Daytime phone number
See Charlie
Clements'
letter to the Boston Globe (pdf)
