Reclaim Democracy!

Writing Effective Letters to the Editor

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Letters in newspapers and magazines are prime forums for getting your message to a wide audience. These tips will maximize your chances of getting your letters to the editor (LTEs) published and increase their impact.

Do:

  • For large publications, respond directly to an article or commentary that was recently published. Follow the target publication’s norm, but a typical response format is: Re “Talking With the Taxman,” (news, Jan. 13). Your report neglected one key fact… Smaller papers may have looser rules, leaving you free to raise an issue without responding directly to something published.
  • Focus on one important point and don’t try to address separate issues in one letter. Be sure to follow the publication’s guidelines and word count limit (up to 250 words is common for local papers, but some larger publications demand more concise letters).
  • Maximize your chance of being published by removing every non-essential word. For example, don’t say, “I think…” It’s obvious. This also minimizes the chance of editors changing the letter.
  • Use verified facts. Take the time to check original sources rather than repeating a “fact” cited in another media outlet.
  • Create immediacy by indicating how readers will be affected by the issue that you are addressing.
  • Balance criticism with a positive call to action. This includes your elected representatives — by including their names in the letter and asking for action, you can get their attention. Point people to a source for information or to engage when practical.
  • Speak in the language and literacy level of the publication’s readers. Envision a person you seek to influence when writing. This will help focus your message better than writing for “everyone.”
  • When writing to your local newspaper (not recommended for large publications), follow up with a polite phone inquiry about its status if it doesn’t appear within 4-5 days.
  • E-mail your letter in the body of the email (never send unsolicited attachments) and put “Letter re: your topic or article name ” in the subject line. If you wish to copy others or submit to more than one publication, do so in a separate email. Include your address and phone for verification.
  • Pay attention to letters and comments by others. Note effective and ineffective approaches (especially letters that argue a position you oppose), style, length, etc.
  • Don’t limit yourself to critiquing articles. A story that reports favorably on your group or issue presents a great opportunity to repeat a key point while adding one of your own. This also helps build the perception of being a positively-focused group.
  • Though URLs may not be included in print, if your target publication includes links in letters published online, include relevant link(s).
  • Use quotation marks to indicate the title of a book, article, etc.
  • Have someone proofread your letter before submitting and ask them to read your letter before seeing the original article. (Many readers won’t recall the original or never read it, so your letter should stand on its own).
  • Magazines: Acceptable lengths for letters in magazines vary widely, so look for guidelines and observe the magazine’s range and style. Many magazines tend to be read by like-minded people, rather than the broader cross-sections of society who read most newspapers. Consider the typical reader of the publication, and keep her in mind.

Avoid:

  • Don’t overstate/exaggerate your points. One overstatement makes every following point suspect.
  • Don’t insult your opponents.
  • Avoid jargon or acronyms (spell out any name the first time you use it, followed by the acronym in parentheses).
  • Don’t use all capital letters or bold text to emphasize a word. It will rarely be printed and may prevent you from being considered.

Don’t consider your effort a failure if your letter to the editor isn’t used in large publications, even the best letters face long odds. Each LTE is read and plays a role in molding the thinking and selection of the editors.

We love to get copies of letters written by our supporters and we’re happy to offer editing help. Send your letter to the editor drafts via our contact form.

If you wish to write an article for us, please email us your query and at least two published samples (links to publication preferred). These may include letters to the editor. We have written a similar primer on op-ed writing that is available upon request.

Other Resources

The creator of this primer, Jeff Milchen, previously directed Reclaim Democracy! Contact him for information on workshops for op-ed writing, letter-writing, and other media trainings.

Primers

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Reclaim Democracy’s  primers contain many additional resource references as well as concise, focused introductions to issues we address. They’re great education/outreach tools and all may be freely copied and distributed in their unaltered form.

Note: all these items are pdfs (portable document format) to enable you to print flyers of distribution quality. We’re happy to send a top-quality master if you plan to distribute large quantities (we can insert your local contact information). Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view these flyers.

What You Can Do (To Revive Democracy and Revoke Corporate Power)
a collection of ideas and resource references for both individual and group action.

Corporate History Primer
our surprising history of citizens wielding authority over corporations holds many keys to progress.

Inherent Rules of Corporate Behavior
Understanding the nature of corporations a prerequisite for effective strategy development and action. This primer is an excellent starting point.

Recommended Reading List
suggests books, periodicals, and videos for information on corporations and democracy

Resources Available from Reclaim Democracy
lists of all of the materials available on this page + books and action kits we distribute (includes ordering coupon). Legal size document.

What Would Democratic Elections Look Like?
offers an overview of eleven core changes needed to realize democracy

Issues and Legal Precedent in State Campaign Finance Reform
a five-page introduction to developing local and state campaign reform, with a model state initiative.

Establishing Debates to Serve Democracy
the why and how of our campaign to establish the Citizens’ Debate Commission

Popular Articles Formatted as Fliers

From Protest to Rebellion
Our most frequently requested article analyzes the scope of challenges we face to revitalize democracy and draws both inspirationand strategies from the American independence movement.

A Missing Foundation for Democracy: The Right to Vote
A great American myth exposed!

Branded: Corporations in Our Schools
Documents the dangers of corporations in our schools and tools for resistance

Environmentalists: Let’s Stop Wasting Our Time
Effective environmentalists are tackling corporate power at the roots. Here’s why.

Antitrust, Books and Ideas
Are chain bookstores a threat to democracy? Read some surprising facts about the book publishing and retailing businesses.

Killing for Capital–and Going Unpunished
Ford and Firestone executives knew their products were killings people, yet continued to sell the deadly products while concealing the dangers. So where are the indictments?

The Benefits of Doing Business Locally
Promote political democracy by practicing economic democracy.

Building a Culture of Freedom
Defending liberty at a dangerous time for the Bill of Rights

Is This Land our Land?
“Fee Demo” and the Threat to Corporatize Public Lands.

Model Resolution to Free Democracy from Corporate Control and Amend the Constitution

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Last updated March 3, 2011

This model resolution has been used in multiple communities, most recently the city of Richmond, CA (pop 105,000), where it passed 6-0 on March 1, 2011 (with some additions). A local member involved in pushing this effort, Phoebe Anne Jorgenson, reported “The mayor and each of the Councilmembers in attendance spoke quite knowledgeably and eloquently in favor of a constitutional amendment to abolish corporate personhood and to establish that money isn’t speech. They added two clauses quoting Justice Stevens’ Citizens United v FEC dissent and ‘when freedom to speak is equated with freedom to spend money, millions…are disenfranchised, thus denying their full rights…’ Public comment was also riveting, passionate!” We hope to access a video recording soon.

This template can be used to help grow the movement and get other communities to take this stand. It can be used with City Councils, County Boards of Supervisors, etc. Convincing a sympathetic official to put this on a meeting agenda is a great first step, then launch a campaign to generate calls and letters from constituents of the officials who will be voting. Outreach help is available from ReclaimDemocracy.org and organizations linked below.

Resolution to Free Democracy from Corporate Control

Whereas, the U.S. Supreme Court has granted corporations personhood status, free speech and other protections guaranteed to living humans by the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment, yet historically corporations were created as artificial entities that were subordinate to our democracy, the_____________________ considers it to be our right and duty to assert that corporations are not natural persons with human rights but artificial entities created by our government; and

Whereas, although some corporations make important contributions to our society, they are required by law to put profit ahead of any other concern, can exist simultaneously in many nations, and use court granted “corporate rights” to get laws that threaten corporate profits weakened or overturned, even when those laws protect people and communities; and

Whereas, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission threatens our democracy by rolling back limits on corporate spending in electoral campaigns, allowing torrents of corporate money to drown out the voices of “We the People”; and Whereas, a Washington Post – ABC News poll found that 80% of Americans oppose the Citizens United ruling (Democrats 85%, Republicans 76%, Independents 81%) and a Harris poll found that 87% think big companies have too much influence in Washington; and

Whereas, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy stated that the Citizens United ruling “will allow major corporations – who should have law written to control their effect on America – to instead control America;” and former Republican senator Warren Rudman wrote, “Supreme Court opinion notwithstanding, corporations are not defined as people under the Constitution, and free speech can hardly be called free when only the rich are heard.”

Therefore, Be It Resolved that the_______________________ calls for freeing democracy from corporate control by amending the U.S. Constitution to establish that: 1. Money is not speech. 2. Corporations are not natural persons and not entitled to constitutional rights. 3. Regulations passed by Congress or state legislatures to reclaim democracy by limiting political expenditures by any corporation, limited liability entity, or other corporate entity shall not be an infringement of the First Amendment.

Be It Further Resolved, that the_____________________ requests that our elected representatives introduce a constitutional amendment that contains all of these principles, or introduce motions to include these principles in related constitutional amendments (HJRes 74, SJRes 28, Ca HJRes 3.)

Be It Further Resolved, that the _____________________ calls on other communities to join the movement to amend the U.S. Constitution in actions that defend our right to self-governance.

Be It Finally Resolved, that the _____________________ directs that this Resolution be posted on its web site and sent to U.S. President Barack Obama, the leaders of the U.S. House and Senate majority and minority, the Jusdiciary committee chair, our U.S. Senators______________________ _____and Congressperson______________________, our Governor _____________________, our State Legislators and all local media outlets.

The Why’s and How’s of Resolutions:

Why it is useful to convince City Councils, Boards of Supervisors, County Boards, Labor Councils, and other bodies to pass symbolic, non-binding Resolutions:

  1. Resolutions increase public awareness during the lobbying campaign that precedes passage and after passage (with thorough publicity efforts). One community’s success often inspires others.
  2. Public pressure gets results. The movement to divest from apartheid South Africa started in one city and spread, as did economic sanctions on the regime in Burma, eventually becoming national policy. Trade reps gave up on the MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investments, a harsh precursor to NAFTA) after many cities passed Resolutions in opposition in the U.S. and internationally. An organizational letter carries more weight than a note from one constituent.
  3. Resolutions may help get a related legally binding ordinance passed later by setting the groundwork and getting officials on the record as supporting democratic principles and opposing corporate personhood and money as speech.

How to Get a Resolution Adopted

It is not necessary to master the history of corporate personhood. The silver lining of the Supreme Court ruling against the Federal Elections Commission in 2010 is that public awareness is now at an all-time high. Mainstream America has understood for years that corporations have too much power. Now a large majority is concerned that the Supreme Court gave corporations more power to buy elections, and agrees that corporations should not be considered to be legal persons and that money should not be considered to be speech.

Many organizations and politicians are now using this as a fund-raising opportunity because it resonates with their members or constituents.

To get your City Council to pass a local version of the Model Resolution, fill in the blanks and set up appointments with a few Council members individually, ideally with someone who helped his or her campaign. There may be a related local issue that can be added as a Whereas clause. Point out ways in which the corporate undermining of democracy adversely affects the lives of local residents.

Create e-mail and flyers inviting public comment at the meeting and advance lobbying. Make it easy for people to write or e-mail by providing addresses, talking points, and brief sample letters for them to paraphrase/personalize. Speak to religious institutions, environmental groups, labor, and other entities. See Move to Amend’s “Pass a local resolution” page for much more.

 

ReclaimDemocracy.org and National Network Ready to Launch “Campaign to Amend”

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National coordinated campaign unites to revoke corporate “constitutional rights”

ReclaimDemocracy.org and a broad alliance of grassroots pro-democracy groups are preparing to make 2010 a breakthrough year for the Democracy Movement. To accomplish this, we’re building the broadest coalition yet to confront and revoke runaway corporate power. The focus: amending the U.S. Constitution to overturn the Court-created notion of applying constitutional rights to corporations.

While we have been calling for this action for almost the entire decade of our existence, we now find the idea reaching a “tipping point” among many other organizations.

A Teachable Moment 
MoveToAmend.org will debut publicly the day the U.S. Supreme Court announces a ruling in the potential landmark case, Citizens United v Federal Election Commission. Despite enormous anger over public subsidies, systematic credit card rip-offs, and more, it’s widely expected the Court will give corporations even greater power over our government by allowing company funds to be spent in efforts to elect or defeat political candidates. If this happens, we will work quickly to channel anger where it needs to go: overruling the Court.

And after campaigning to bring “change” to Americans that included public health insurance and taking on Wall Street, President Obama and Congress have demonstrated they either are unwilling or unable to challenge the power of pharmaceutical, insurance, and financial corporations to correct our nation’s most urgent problems.

We don’t celebrate this failure, but we recognize the opportunity created by this disillusionment. When people believe in illusions, they are not receptive to confronting reality. One year ago, millions of Americans believed democracy could thrive and some of our worst crises improve if we elected Barack Obama and shifted control of Congress. That illusion is dead, but its demise gives birth to great opportunity.

We provoked debate over corporate “free speech” and personhood in dozens of media outlets that never had previously explored the issue when the Nike v Kasky case reached the Supreme Court. This time, however, we’ll have a broad alliance amplifying the message, with a collective reach many times greater than ReclaimDemocracy.org alone.

Within 24 hours of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling (the second week of January is the next potential time for a ruling), we’ll post news on the new campaign, as will a dozen or more organizational partners.When we do, we’ll be looking to our readers to also jump into action with a barrage of calls to talk radio shows, letters to the editor of your local news outlets or favorite web outlets, and more. Stay tuned!

More on the Citizens United case
Read more on the underlying issue of Corporate Personhood