Print media remains vital amid tsunami of digital information

Over the last five years I have had more than 400 letters-to-the-editor published in local, national and international newspapers, with countless more not making it into print, and whenever it's appropriate I try to comment or make a point in a satirical fashion — although I have learned that there are only a couple of publications that appreciate such submissions.

Through all of my efforts I have learned what subjects and content will likely be considered or ignored by different publications, how easily one's comments can be misinterpreted or misconstrued by those who aren't inclined to objectively assess or try to fully comprehend the implications of what they're reading, how even a seemingly insignificant offering such as a letter-to-the-editor can actually influence or even change some people's perspectives about important issues and how frustrating it can be when those letters that you believe to be your most carefully considered and most effectively articulated never make it into print.

I still strongly believe in the importance of print media, and writing letters-to-the-editor is my small way of trying to support this under-siege source of information and opinion.

In an age where `trust' and `media' seem to be increasingly antithetical notions, newspapers still dedicated to the principles of objectivity in their information-gathering and reporting can help readers to maintain a degree of focus not always possible when surfing the tsunami of digitally available information that threatens to totally capsize our attempts to determine what is true and who and what can or can't be trusted (assuming of course that they're not muzzled and/or controlled by the government, are not thereby used as tools of propaganda and aren't entirely dedicated to promoting a particular ideology — as is unfortunately the case in a number of countries around the world).

Ray Arnold, Richmond