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Advocacy

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor are great advocacy tools, helping to raise the profile of your organization, its contribution to your community and the issues important to the field. After you write letters to your members of Congress, sending letters to the editor can achieve other advocacy goals because they:

  • reach a large audience
  • are often monitored by elected officials
  • can bring up information not addressed in a news article
  • create an impression of widespread support for or opposition to an issue
  • act as a public education tool

    • Tips on Writing Letters to the Editor

    Keep it short. Many newspapers have strict limits on the length of letters and have limited space to publish them. Keeping your letter brief will help assure that your important points are not cut out by the newspaper.

    Make it legible. Your letter doesn't have to be fancy, but you should use a typewriter or computer word processor if your handwriting is difficult to read.

    Send letters to weekly community newspapers too. The smaller the newspaper's circulation, the easier it is to get your letter printed.

    Be sure to include your contact information. Many newspapers will only print a letter to the editor after calling the author to verify his or her identity and address. Newspapers will not give out that information, and will usually only print your name and city should your letter be published.

    Make references to the newspaper. While some papers print general commentary, many will only print letters that refer to a specific article. Here are some examples of easy ways to refer to articles in your opening sentence:

    I was disappointed to see that The Post's May 18 editorial "State Funds Not Needed" omitted some of the key facts in the debate.

    I strongly disagree with (author's name) narrow view on global cultural exchange ("Name of Op-Ed," date).

    I am deeply saddened to read that Congressman Doe is working to limit federal funding for the arts ("Title of Article," date).

    Mention your Congressman by name. Although your member may not read the specific paper in which your letter is published, they do receive clips from all of the papers in which their name is mentioned. Including their name will help ensure that they read your submission.

    Newspaper Contact Information


    To locate contact information for your area outlets, go to: http://newslink.org/statnews.html

    If you would like additional information or assistance, please contact our Communications staff by phone at 202.207.3856 or e-mail: fbenton@artspresenters.org.

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