New Year's gun rights resolution: Write letters to the editor
Reposted from 2009 Gun Rights Examiner article retreived from Internet Archive, soin ternal links may not work.
New Year's gun rights resolution: Write letters to the editor
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This is the third in my series where I participate in Examiner.com's special "New Year's resolution" project.
Today's earlier post demonstrates for all to see how the so-called "mainstream press" exploits manipulative and deceptive anti-gun information. The folks I call "Authorized Journalists" are overwhelmingly anti-gun, and we routinely find supposedly "straight news" stories reflecting bias and ignorance--or see other important information ignored, if not suppressed.
Because their reach is so wide, it's important that we do what we can to let their readership know there is more information out there than they have been told. Thus today's suggested resolution:
I will write letters to the editor of my local paper to educate, to correct anti-gun misinformation and to bring their readership the truth.
First, of course, you'll need to read the paper's submission policy, to know where to send it to (email or "snail" mail), and also to know what their editorial guidelines are. For instance, if they specify a 250 word limit, your chances of seeing your points in print are reduced with each word going over that limit, and can increase by making your letter substantially shorter.
A couple other tips to increase the likelihood that yours will be among the letters they select:
Don't be insulting or tell them they probably won't print your letter because...it's fine to appeal to their sense of journalistic fairness--if that's the topic you choose--but otherwise, just stick to the points or corrections you wish to make.
Stay on topic--pick one or two points you wish to make and don't wander from them. The more topics you throw in, the more confusing and less powerful and persuasive your letter will be.
Be sure of your facts. That means relying on an unsourced chain email about SB 2099 or Fred Maslack of Vermont's "new bill" does not do "the cause" any good, and in fact, hurts your credibility. Also, providing attribution is the proper thing to do.
Don't overwhelm them. That means wait a month or so before sending your next submission.
Going through these simple steps should produce a credible and persuasive letter, and it will help make you a more knowledgeable and effective advocate. That's a "win" in and of itself. If you look at it that way, seeing your letter in print is icing on the cake.
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