{"id":411,"date":"2019-08-25T17:19:01","date_gmt":"2019-08-25T21:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.350.org\/triangle\/?page_id=411"},"modified":"2019-08-25T22:58:07","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T02:58:07","slug":"how-to-write-a-letter-to-the-editor","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/world.350.org\/triangle\/how-to-write-a-letter-to-the-editor\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a Letter to the Editor"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\"><span class=\"\">Before you begin writing<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"\">\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Pay attention to submission requirements<\/span><span class=\"\"> (word length, how to submit). You can find this information on the news outlets\u2019 website.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Read other opinion\/LTEs<\/span><span class=\"\"> in that news outlet to get a sense of the pieces they publish and the criteria they use.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">If you have a relationship, <\/span><span class=\"\">call or discuss the opinion piece with the editor<\/span><span class=\"\"> before submitting. For example, sometimes editors feel a story or particular angle has been exhausted and may indicate the need for a fresh angle (See <\/span><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/trainings.350.org\/resource\/build_positive_relationship_with_press\/\"><span class=\"\">How to Build a Positive Relationship with Press<\/span><\/a><span class=\"\">).<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\"><span class=\"\">How to write an attractive letter to the editor\/op-ed<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"\">\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Connect it with something that is already happening in the news<\/span><span class=\"\">. Reference a former article that the newspaper wrote, or an event that happened in the community. Then link it to what you want to talk about (See <\/span><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/trainings.350.org\/resource\/framing-climate-change-as-news-lessons-from-the-guardian\/\"><span class=\"\">Framing Climate Change as News: Lessons from The Guardian<\/span><\/a><span class=\"\">).<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Keep your key message at the top.<\/span><span class=\"\"> This allows readers to understand your position early on, and sometimes editors may cut out the last part of your letter.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Make sure each sentence has its own purpose.<\/span><span class=\"\"> Since we don\u2019t have all the space in the world to explain ourselves, make sure every sentence makes its own statement and avoids being repetitive.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Make sure you know your message<\/span><span class=\"\">, what you want to say, and use clear and simple language\u2014short words and sentences go a long way!<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">If you have a strong personal story, include it! <\/span><span class=\"\">A compelling human story helps to hook editors and readers.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Proofread!<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\"><span class=\"\">Letters To the Editor (LTEs)<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"\">\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Typically short piece (&lt; 300 words); can be used as a comment on a piece the outlet already published.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\"><span class=\"\">Opinion-editorials (op-eds):\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"\">\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Might be longer than an LTE, 800 &#8211; 1200 words<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><span class=\"\">Examples<\/span><\/div>\n<ul class=\"\">\n<li class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"\"><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2019\/mar\/15\/school-climate-strike-greta-thunberg\"><span class=\"\">Think we should be at school?<\/span><\/a><span class=\"\"> School striker opinion piece 15th March 2019<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\"><\/h2>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\">Local References:<\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The News and Observer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/opinion\/letters-to-the-editor\/submit-letter\/\">https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/opinion\/letters-to-the-editor\/submit-letter\/<\/a>,\u00a0 The Indy: <a href=\"mailto:editors@indyweek.com\">editors@indyweek.com<\/a>, WUNC: <a href=\"mailto:wunc@wunc.org\">wunc@wunc.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Want to do more? Join NC WARN\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncwarn.org\/our-work\/press-the-press-2\/\">Press the Press<\/a> team.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before you begin writing Pay attention to submission requirements (word length, how to submit). You can find this information on<span class=\"text-cutoff\">&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":474,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-411","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.350.org\/triangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.350.org\/triangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.350.org\/triangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.350.org\/triangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/474"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.350.org\/triangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/world.350.org\/triangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.350.org\/triangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}