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Years ago, when I was a practicing newspaper editor, I
attended a workshop where various experts explained the
intricacies of dealing with Letters to the
Editor.
Most of that seminar has faded from memory, but I do recall hearing that a newspaper should receive at least one letter per thousand subscribers per month. Any less than that, and your editorial page was too boring to interest the public.
At the time, the small daily newspaper I edited was getting a dozen letters a week, far above this standard. When I ask around now, from Jim Little at the small weekly Wet Mountain Tribune in Westcliffe to the mighty Denver Post, I learn that they all also exceed this standard by substantial margins.
I don't know about the denizens of other states, but Coloradans apparently delight in writing letters for publication, and that's all to the good.
Editors differ greatly in how they handle letters. When
I first worked at the college newspaper in 1969, the
editor, Sharon Holler, examined letters quite closely, and
wherever she spotted a grammatical or spelling error, she
placed [sic]
after the offending word, and otherwise
published the letter exactly as submitted.
The [sic]
is Latin for it came in this
way.
Most students then hated the policy. Sharon said
that college students, of all people, should know how to
write a correct letter, and if they didn't, that was their
problem -- which [sic]
made clear.
Other editors perform only minimal cleaning, while some redact quite closely. A few publish answers under letters that appear to need them, while many say no letter should be answered, so as to give the paper's readers the last word.
Most editors (I'd say all editors, but there's doubtless an exception somewhere) can spot canned and formula letters. After the first one, which usually gets published, the rest go to the round file or its electronic equivalent.
This discussion could continue interminably, but at any rate, the consensus appears to be that such decisions should be made by an editor at the newspaper.
But then, I'm merely a former newspaper editor, not an active school superintendent.
Leadville has some real problems with its schools. The graduation rate -- less than 60 percent -- is the lowest in central Colorado. The buildings are deteriorating, with leaky roofs and inadequate wiring. Voters turned down bond issues in 1996 and 1997, partly because property taxes are quite high.
That and many other school-related issues, such as employing a board member as a counselor and the purchase of some expensive coffee cups, have generated controversy -- and Letters to the Editor of the Leadville Herald-Democrat.
Many letters were critical of the school administration. On Feb. 24, the superintendent, Peg Portscheller, sent a letter to the Herald's publisher.
She complained about the ongoing slanderous and
libelous diatribe published by The Herald-Democrat in
recent months,
and Unless we hear from you regarding
significant changes in policy regarding letters to the
editor, we will immediately cancel our organizational
subscriptions to The Herald-Democrat, encourage all 250+ of
our employees to do likewise, and withdraw all advertising
dollars.
Further, both our corporate attorney and my personal
attorney are reviewing recent letters to the editor to
determine whether or not legal action may be
appropriate.
It should be noted that the Herald-Democrat carries a page or two of education news each week, and this often includes a column by Portscheller -- it isn't as though she doesn't get her say in the paper.
Last November, Leadville voters turned down a
school-bond election. Afterward, Portscheller sent a
letter to a district employee, writing that the voting
tally sheets for Lake County indicates that you chose not
to cast a vote. Please know that we find this extremely
disappointing.
So the Leadville school superintendent keeps track of who doesn't vote, and threatens to boycott or sue the newspaper when it prints critical letters.
School superintendents come in as many varieties as newspaper editors, and it would be unfair to assume that they're all like Portscheller.
However, Portscheller isn't just any superintendent. At
an annual convention last December, the Colorado
Association of School Boards named Portscheller the
Superintendent of the Year because she has set a
standard of leadership
and exemplifies the qualities
which make Colorado's public schools outstanding.
So, if you run across your local superintendent, you
might ask whether the local standard of leadership
involves threats and intimidation.
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