When there’s controversy, a competitive race for public office, or an idea for an uncommon solution to a community problem, Press readers take to their keyboards to share their opinions with the Press in Letters to the Editor.
We welcome them, because they contribute to one of the paper’s core missions, which is to provide a forum for public criticism and compromise. With the recent burst of letters related to Verizon’s request to erect a new cell tower on private land, this seems like a good time to explain the the thinking that informs our letters policy.
First and foremost, amid the din of social media, we try every week to make our Letters to the Editor section a place for reasoned opinion on local matters. We’re inclined to accept most letters sent to the Press provided they are civil in tone, constructive, of interest to the community, and, as near as we can determine, factually true. Our mantra is: Attack the problem, not the person, who, in our small town, may be your neighbor.
That’s our policy. However, the job of vetting letters is not easy these days. How should we handle the few that fail to meet our criteria, letters that are personal in their attacks, calling out neighbors by name, or whose factual claims are unattributed and beyond verification?
Media law holds a newspaper, unlike social media sites, responsible for material that appears on its pages, whether it’s a letter or a news story. When a letter is defamatory, the Press can be held liable. Nevertheless, we value lively discourse, so we often work with letter writers to suggest ways they might rephrase too-personal attacks or verify claims that we question, rather than reject a letter outright. We cannot be a place to resolve conflicts between neighbors, but we are mindful of our role as a monitor of local government and our civic obligation to give voice to opinions from all corners of our community.
In short, public discussion in a newspaper, we believe, must be built on the same principles as the rest of our journalism—starting with truthfulness, facts, and verification. In our letters section as well as our news reporting, it’s a standard we strive to maintain.
How are we doing? We’d like to hear your thoughts. Write a letter to the editor and share them.
