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Letter writers who yearn to be published in the Star-Telegram should note that, beginning today, the Opinion page has an updated Letters to the Editor policy.
The changes, although undramatic, are designed to get more "voices" in the paper while also stating as policy the desire for greater civility from writers when debating the important issues of the day.The verification information needed from letter writers hasn’t changed: Printed full name, address and day and home phone numbers. We don’t publish addresses or phone numbers, but they are useful for verifying that authors are who they say they are. The frequency of publication hasn’t changed, either. Writers are limited to one letter a month. Letter content has new wording."Content: Must be the author’s original words. Suggested length is 200 words or less. Letters may be edited for space, clarity, civility and accuracy.""Author’s original words" means form letters pulled from an advocacy group’s Web site or something that’s been circulating on the Internet to which the author has added his or her name will not be accepted. Among opinion page editors it’s known as AstroTurf, as in artificial grass roots. Rob Bignell, a veteran editor at a number of newspapers, offered the best description of "turf" I’ve ever read. "Turf is the scum that floats on the ocean of public opinion," Bignell wrote in a National Conference of Editorial Writers listserv discussion. "It is spewed from the effluent pipes of PR agencies and political action committees. By reducing available sunlight, turf kills independent thinking, personal integrity and creativity."If you feel strongly about an issue, expressing those thoughts in your own words should be easy. Expressing those views with passion is encouraged; resorting to name-calling or using derogatory personal remarks is not. Uncivil remarks will be edited or cause a letter to be rejected completely.The most noticeable policy change is the addition of a suggested word limit. We’ve refrained from imposing a limit in the past, but the decrease in the amount of newspaper space available for letters necessitates a limit. We strive to publish as many letters as possible each day. When writers keep them short and to the point — one point, please — we can achieve that.On occasion a longer letter may appear, but that will be an exception. Our online letters’ fans will notice another change beginning today. We have a new way to read and comment on Letters to the Editor. They can be accessed directly on the Star-Telegram Web site’s opinion page at star-telegram.com/opinions. As a result, letters won’t be posted to the Passionate Prose blog any longer. Finally, a word about one of the most popular features in the Opinion section: Cheers and Jeers. Readers never seem to tire of good Samaritans, bad dogs and lost cellphones found. The Star-Telegram receives scores of submissions each week. Even with a full page devoted each Saturday to these 50-word wonders of gratitude or ire, it still takes two to three weeks from the time an item is submitted to when it will be considered for publication.We generally don’t publish Cheers from one family member about another unless the thanks are for something extraordinary, like donation of a kidney. As much as they are events to celebrate, engagement, wedding, anniversary and birthday wishes aren’t accepted.And then there are the Jeers, everyone’s guilty pleasure. Many of the Jeers are he-said, she-said situations in which a person alleges bad service or shoddy workmanship or boorish behavior on the part of another. The time and staff needed to validate every allegation and allow the alleged transgressor an opportunity to respond is prohibitive, which is why specific business names or personal identifiers are removed from Jeers. Now turn on your computer and get to writing! We love to hear from you.Jill "J.R." Labbe is editorial director of the Star-Telegram . 817-390-7599
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