Letterwriting--Letters to the Editor

An important part of winning the war of ideas is letters to the editor.  Along with phone calls and emails to representatives, personal letters in local papers can influence elected officials.  According to the candidates themselves, they read these letters to get an idea where their constituents stand on the issues.  If we sit by in silence, our politicians will assume we have no opinion.  So please consider writing a letter on any current topic of interest.  Below are the various options for sending in letters to area newspapers.

Assuming you are writing on a computer, it is most convenient to first compose the letter in Microsoft Word, which can spellcheck and keep a word count for you.  Sometimes there can be problems submitting the letter online, and if your only "copy" of the letter was what you typed into a browser, you can lose the whole letter.  When you have the final version complete, just copy and past into the appropriate section of the browser.

Don't get discouraged if your letter(s) don't get published; quite often, if you read the letters that do get published, there is often one that expresses the same ideas as your own that probably got published because they received more than one with that topic.  While not as satisfying, it's good just to see Democratic ideas getting represented.  Depending on what you've written about, you can even send the same letter to multiple papers.

If you would like to be part of a regular rotation of letterwriters, please consider joining the NSDC's letterwriting group, where about every 4-5 weeks you'll receive an email asking you to compose an original letter on a topic currently in the news.  For further information contact Sharon Shucard at 330-425-3234, or by email at steveshucard@hotmail.com.

The Plain Dealer:                                                                                                                                                                      Online: http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/lettertoeditor.ssf                                                                                                Fax: 216-999-6209                                                                                                                                                                      Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Plain Dealer, 1801 Superior Ave., Cleveland 44114                                                       Guidelines: Include your full name, address and daytime telephone number for verification purposes.  Letters must be fewer than 200 words long.

Akron Beacon Journal
Email: vop@thebeaconjournal.com  
Fax: 330-996-3520                                                                                                                                                                      Mail: Voice of the People, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron 44309-0640                                             Guidelines: same as for The Plain Dealer, without any specific word limit

Nordonia Hills Sun and Twinsburg Sun                                                                                                                                    Online: http://www.cleveland.com/mailforms/sunlettertoeditor/                                                                                             Email: sun.east@yahoo.com  (Twinsburg Sun)

Twinsburg Bulletin                                                                                                                                                                                 Email: twinsburgbulletin@recordpub.com                                                                                                                                         Online: http://www.twinsburgbulletin.com/news/template/form_letter_to_the_editor                                                            Fax:  330-688-1588                                                                                                                                                                     Mail: The Twinsburg Bulletin, 1619 Commerce Drive, Stow, OH 44224                                                                      Guidelines: All letters must include a signature, address and daytime telephone number of the writer and be received by noon Monday. Every letter must bear the signature of the author or the representative of a group or organization. Telephone numbers are solely for verification purposes and will not be published. All letters must be verified before publication. Concise letters generally will be given preference. Please limit your letter to no more 300 words. The Twinsburg Bulletin reserves the right to edit or withhold Letters to the Editor. During election periods, no Letters to the Editor will be published concerning the campaigns of candidates running for office. Letters pertaining to election issues will not be published in the issue preceding the election.

News Leader                                                                                                                                                                             Online: http://www.the-news-leader.com/news/template/form_letter_to_the_editor                                                           Email: newsleader@recordpub.com                                                                                                                                          Fax:  330-688-1588                                                                                                                                                                     Mail: The News Leader, 1619 Commerce Drive, Stow, OH 44224                                                                            Guidelines: same as for Twinsburg Bulletin