WE WANT YOUR VIEWS
Anumber of readers have lamented in letters to the editor to The Vancouver Sun that there are fewer letters to the editor published than there were in the past. Their sorrow is ours as well. After all, letters to the editor have been a feature of North American newspapers for more than two centuries. Indeed, by the mid-1800s, letters had not only become the main carrier of news reports and commentaries but were the dominant vehicle of public discourse.
Freedom of expression is fundamental to democracies and letters to the editor have always embodied that freedom. They allow people to share their opinions about the state of their world with other readers.
Perhaps Canada’s most prolific letter-to-theeditor writer was Sen. Eugene Forsey, who had more than 800 of his letters to the press published over six decades. The eloquence and lucidity Forsey brought to the art of letter-writing is sadly lacking in the digital age. Long gone are the days when writing a letter to the editor required thoughtful reflection before committing words to paper through a pen nib or typewriter key.
Often, letters arrive in the sunletters inbox with the appended suffix “Sent from my iPhone.” They sometimes are comprising a single line of insult, often with an expletive, occasionally accompanied by an emoticon, almost always with an exclamation mark.
While the press is an ardent defender of participatory democracy, there are limits on what may be published. A publication is legally responsible for all content that it presents to readers, including the content of letters. Letters will not be published if they contain factual errors, engage in ad hominem attacks or can be construed as defamatory. The Sun also avoids publishing letters that are obviously part of an orchestrated letter-writing campaign.
Media has borne the brunt of disruption caused by technological change. News is now available everywhere at any time and consumers of it no longer need to write a letter to the editor to express their views. They can comment directly on an article posted on a newspaper’s website and share a link to a story along with their criticism of it on social medial platforms.
But our readers tell us they like letters to the editor and so do we. They want more of them and we’d love to be able to oblige. When we have them, we’ll publish them. The rest is up to you.
Keep letters to a maximum of 200 words for the best chance of publication, recognize our legal liability for libel and defamation, and follow the etiquette of civil public discourse. Send your letters to sunletters@vancouversun.com. We look forward to hearing from you.