News-Record.com

Letters extolling the virtues of local candidates will begin to appear soon.

Amid complaints from some of you that they tend to be repetitious and not the most riveting reading,we'd considered not running them anymore.

But after surveying what other newspapers do (all of the ones we asked still run election letters) we decided to keep them as a reader service. Further, we thought it would be hypocritical, and unfair, for us to endorse candidates while denying our readers that same opportunity.

For this election, we've gotten rid of the 150-word rule. Now all letters are subject to a maximum length of 200 words.

Here are the complete rules:

Election-related letters should be no more than 200 words and should be as specific as possible. As is the general rule, all letters are subject to editing.

Include your name, home street address and a daytime telephone number. We will not print letters that are unsigned or have been submitted to other publications.

Though we are unable to guarantee that all letters will be published, we will make every effort to see that the full range of competing views is represented. Here are the criteria:

Substance: Letters that merely endorse or recite the obvious about a candidate are less interesting to our readers than letters that contain useful information or compelling arguments.

Criticism: Opinions about a candidate’s fitness or unfitness are welcome; allegations of misconduct are not. To raise that kind of issue, call the news department at 373-7001.

Deadline: Noon, Sept. 28.

Finally, letter-writing campaigns are unacceptable. A letter should reflect the writer’s own initiative and effort.

Please let me know if you have questions.

During the 2004 presidential election, we tried a new length requirement of 150 words for election letters. We thought would help ease the space problem created by the sheer volumne of campaigh letters, but it caused more problems than it solved. For one thing, it was hard in some instances to determine whether a letter was an election letter or a "regular" letter.