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Letter to the Editor Template
What Is a Letter to the Editor?
A Letter to the Editor is a means of communication between a newspaper and the public. If an individual would like to share their opinion on a particular matter, they can compile this type of letter and send it to the newspaper's editor. The purpose of the document is to share the individual's outlook on certain articles published in the newspaper.
There are no specific Letter to the Editor topics, therefore, you can comment on anything that you have an opinion about. Unlike the majority of other letters, while writing this one you can be emotive, especially if you find the subject appealing or interesting to you. A Letter to the Editor template can be downloaded below.
With this type of letter, you can reach out to the public and share your view on different situations. You can ask the newspaper to fix the information they presented in their article, address social or cultural issues, question things, try to convince people, and many more. If the newspaper will publish your letter, it will be read and acknowledged by a large audience hence the importance of making your letter easy-to-read and engaging.
How to Write a Letter to the Editor?
Writing a Letter to the Editor can be a challenge and might take a lot of your time, therefore, it can be a good idea to make a draft first. Your letter can include the following parts:
- Introduction. You can start your letter by saluting the editor. Generally, individuals use "Dear Sir/Madam," as well as "Dear Editor." After that, you can present them with an opening statement in which you will explain the reasons for writing this letter. It can be a reference to a particular article that has been published by the newspaper, or you can refer to a well-known event, a story from the news, and similar. The issue you are addressing in your letter should be recognizable, understandable, and more or less recent.
- The Opinion. In this part of your letter, you can describe in detail the opinion you would like to share. When you write a Letter to the Editor you should not be afraid to express your point of view as this is the main goal - to share your ideas with others.
- Arguments. After you have stated your point of view, you can prove it with a few examples or arguments. It can be your personal experiences or experiences of your friends, family, or just people you know. Here, you can include stories from your life, different statistic data, well-known facts that do need any proof, and many more. The information you present here should always be correct and valid since no idea should be based on wrongful facts.
- Conclusion. Depending on what kind of goal you are pursuing with your letter, you can finish it by encouraging the readers to take action in something, make a change, asking the newspaper to fix information in their article, etc.
If you want you can add more parts to your letter, as long as it feels appropriate and will not lead the readers away from the main idea of your letter. All segments of your letter are supposed to easily come together and form a quality piece that the editor would like to publish.
How Long Should a Letter to the Editor Be?
Generally, your letter should not be too long, however, it depends on the subject you decided to write about. Try to keep it no longer than a page, or look through the other letters to editors that the newspaper you are writing to has published in the past - it will give you a rough estimation of how long your letter should be.
Before writing and submitting your letter you can check out if the newspaper has any guidelines for the letters they consider publishing. There you may find a Letter to the Editor format that you should follow to increase your chances to be published in the newspaper.
How to Submit a Letter to the Editor?
Different newspapers offer their readers to submit their letters in various ways. You can look for the instructions on how to send your letter to the editor in the newspaper itself, on their official website, or simply by contacting their representative.
Commonly, you can submit your Letter to the Editor through the newspaper's website where you can upload it. Another way of doing it is to send the letter via email, the newspaper is likely to have a separate email address for this purpose. Some newspapers accept submissions by post, so you can print your letter and mail it to their postal address or post box.
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