Letters To The Editor

[Gasworker]

Newspapers have been hit hard by social media giants aggregating paid content and siphoning off advertising revenues leading to downsizing and a lot of closure. A lot of members here are prolific in posting opinion and experiences. Since content is king in newspapers I was wondering if members here participate in their communities through the Letters to the Editor section of your local newspapers?

[RP]

I frequently add my two cents to AOL online articles but not newspapers...

[Fretboard Phil]

No. I can go out and bark at the moon, getting the same result while using less time!

[srick]

Great question. Back when we had local and regional newspapers, I did try to contribute regularly. And then, when local Blogs became a thing, I started contributing, but was quickly turned off.

The primary issue that I faced was the lack of curation and the anonymity of the posts. Blatant lies were put forth along with statements bordering on slander. Reasoned arguments and discussions of pros and cons were missing.

So now I talk about guitars. There aren't any major controversies there, right? After all, they're all just guitars.....



Rick

PS - I still will add commentary on a local Facebook page to help my neighbors understand legalities and realities that they are discussing. The page is heavily moderated and I find that refreshing. (Much like AGF)

[KenL]

I still read my hometown newspaper. Online, since I don't live there anymore. I've been reading it for 45 years.

The letters to the editor are in a section called the "Public Pulse." It is comical to read them. I see the same names (letters must be signed) over and over. The writers all have strong opinions, and the level of kookiness is pretty high.

They seem to think that they have the power to change people's minds with just a letter.

[Puddleglum]

I've not read a newspaper in over 25 years. I don't watch the news either, and yet I still manage to keep up on things. There seems to be no way around it.

Letters to the editor are a thing leftover from a bygone era where the common man still believed his voice mattered and could make a change. I think that used to be true in this country. There is a famous Norman Rockwell painting of a fellow standing up in a public council meeting that captures this spirit well. I believe those days are over and have been for a long time.

[Fretboard Phil]

^^^. That's what I mean, "bark at the moon", but Puddlegum said it more clearly and less cynically.

[The Watchman]

Like many other things, the value of the public discourse has been destroyed by politics. People get death threats for saying the wrong thing.

Our once great newspaper, The Kansas City Star (where Hemingway once was a writer), is now only published 6 days a week (and in Des Moines) and the Letters section only appears once a week. The readership is too shrunken and polarized for it to be a common meeting ground.

I think it's been replaced locally by the Next Door app and similar social media. And those forums are struggling with the same issues of name-calling, fact-free righteousness and downright hatred.

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by The Watchman

Like many other things, the value of the public discourse has been destroyed by politics. People get death threats for saying the wrong thing.

Our once great newspaper, The Kansas City Star (where Hemingway once was a writer), is now only published 6 days a week (and in Des Moines) and the Letters section only appears once a week. The readership is too shrunken and polarized for it to be a common meeting ground.

I think it's been replaced locally by the Next Door app and similar social media. And those forums are struggling with the same issues of name-calling, fact-free righteousness and downright hatred.

NextDoor genuinely cracks me up. Around here it's mostly nosy women constantly posting and asking: "Did anyone hear gushots on so-and-so street?" or "What's going on over on so-and-so street?" The best ones are about how someone "keeps driving by my house" or "someone knocked on my door that I don't know!" People seem to be driving themselves nuts.

[Gasworker]

Interesting opinions so far. I think the anonymity of Social Media platforms has made it really easy for people to just be instantly cynical and only complain. Facebook drives me batty. The Letters to the Editor in a newspaper force respondents to be a little more thoughtful and creative or they don’t get published.

[Bob Womack]

Back in my childhood and yoot, the local newspaper (Knoxville News Sentinel, Knoxville, TN) had two such columns, a letters to the editor and a "Letters to General Knox" where you could write a letter to the city or county government and the editors would use their pull to send published letters to the proper official. Both of these were well-moderated and never degenerated to fist fights.

After we married, my wife and I moved to a new area and the newspaper a) was a flagrantly partisan affair that HATED the place where I worked and tried to smear us at every opportunity and b) rant he letters to the editor like a Jerry Springer show. Every posted letter degenerated into a partisan firing squad. Any chance of a reasonable discussion was quashed in favor of fiery screeds. There wasn't a chance in the world that I was going to participate in that mess.

Bob

[DCCougar]

Originally Posted by Gasworker

...I was wondering if members here participate in their communities through the Letters to the Editor section of your local newspapers?

Ha. The population of my town is 200. I like to get a little wider group of listeners, so I subscribe to the NY Times online. Most newspapers have comment sections after news or opinion articles these days. That's where I add my 2 cents every day or so.

[Merak]

Used to until our local paper consolidated with other towns, the only local coverage they have for our town is sports. No longer care what anyone else thinks, 50% are nuts and I don’t know anyone of the other 50%.

[cyberdog]

I don't watch TV, I don't do facebork, but I do like to keep myself informed and I do so by reading newspapers online. Letters to the editor is my favorite section of any newspaper. My local paper publishes them sparingly, maybe a few per week but the Globe and Mail has a well curated selection of thoughtful responses of the news of the day seven days per week. Highly recommended.

[blackie51]

Back in my childhood and yoot

I believe the correct spelling it yout.

Tom