What Good Does it do to Write a Letter to the Editor?

Over 260,000 people read the Ventura County Star. That’s over half the number of registered voters in Ventura County! That’s many times more than the number of people that decide elections!

Compare marching to writing a letter. The influence on the media and the elected is potentially incomparable from writing a letter. Those who can only march, organize a march. Those who can write a letter need to write. It’s not hard, costs nothing and you don’t even have to leave home.

Even if our letters are not published, they inform the newspaper that we care.

If you have never written a Letter to the Editor, the following link is a 4 ½-minute how-to recording from CCL Communications Director Steve Valk:

Podcast: How to Construct a Letter to the Editor

VC Star

Civic leaders and elected officials read the VC Star to learn what the community is doing and what it cares about. Most of the VC Star‘s letters  to the editor being printed right now have a conservative slant, often on relatively trivial subjects, sometimes supportive of all of the injustices flowing from the new administration, replete with the lamest arguments.

The editor wants better letters! They cannot print them if we don’t write them. Community leaders may think nobody cares enough about issues to write a couple hundred words why it’s important.

  • VC Star’s Letter to the Editor Guidelines
  • Keep letters short. No more than 300 words.
  • Address only one topic in the letter. This will help keep it short.
  • If the letter is in response to something published in The Star, please include the date the item appeared and the headline on the item.
  • Most important, include your full name (not partial initials), full home street address and phone number on each letter you submit.
  • E-mail addresses also are welcome. If your letter is published, you will only be identified by your name and city of residence.
  • All letters are subject to editing.

Other newpapers