Volume 2: Issue 11

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In this issue:  Executive Director Sarah Bauer reflects on a busy fall, Kate Myers gives an update on complaints received by the News Council, read advice to journalists about letters to the editor by Council member Jim Pumarlo, and Erika Roland gives an update from the Development Office. 

You can view Newsworthy Online by clicking here.

Go to http://www.mna.org/mna-resources/911-MNA.html to read the entire issue!  MNA monthly columnist and News Council member Jim Pumarlo talks about letters to the editor.

Editor’s notes on letters – a sure-fire way to squelch the exchange of ideas

by Jim Pumarlo

Letters to the editor truly are the lifeblood of editorial pages. Letters underscore the value of editorial pages and represent an active citizenry.

But the letters column, if it is to serve its greatest purpose, must be monitored or it can quickly become nondescript. The dos and don’ts of letters should be well understood by everyone at the newspaper, and it is equally important to let readers know the ground rules.

Too often, editors give free reign to letters and are hesitant to impose restrictions on “free expression” of ideas. In reality, a letters column without policies may prove more detrimental than beneficial to the exchange of ideas. More »