Letter to the Editor

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Dear Editor,

There are a few issues with the Letters to the Editor segment of your paper. First is the publication of anonymous letters. No serious newspaper prints unattributed letters. The identity of the writer is known to you, but is anonymous to the public. There is no room for anonymity in public discourse. If potential contributors wish to keep their name to themselves, then they should also keep their thoughts to themselves. Second is length. Far too many letters are far too long and meandering. Major papers edit for length. I can understand that a small community paper may lack the time and staff to edit for length, but you should impose a reasonable word count limit and require the writers to do their own editing. Third is frequent contributors. There are a few who treat it as their personal opinion column. Major papers limit the number of letters printed from any single writer over a given period. You have a good and important local paper, but your letters garden needs some serious weeding.

William Vanveen
Kemptville

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