Submitting Letters to the Editor and Opinion Columns to Newspapers, Magazines, Journals, and Websites
By Michael D. Robbins
Friday, July 2, 2021
One way Americans can push-back against Marxist indoctrination for a small cost in time and no cost in money is to write and submit letters to the editor and opinion columns to newspapers, magazines, journals, and websites that will publish them. Some local newspapers are more likely to publish all points of view or views that differ with the ownership, management, or editorial board. Most of the Big Marxist Media will not publish points of view they don’t agree with or information that corrects their disinformation.
Also, parents can help their children write and submit letters to the editor.
If you follow this advise, you will produce better quality submissions and you will be more likely to get your work published.
Some publications and websites allow readers to submit both letters to the editor and longer opinion columns, while others only allow letters to the editor.
All that is necessary is to know the letter or opinion column submission policies for each publication or website, abide by their rules, and be polite and coherent.
The letter and opinion column submission policies are usually available somewhere in a print publication or on the publication website. Submission policies typically include the submission method(s), deadlines, word count limit, maximum frequency of submissions or submission publication for the same individual, and copyright rules.
Some publications and websites take ownership of the copyright of submitted materials, while others allow the author to retain the copyright.
Some publications and websites require that the submission has not been submitted or published elsewhere, while others require a specified number of days or weeks before the submission may be submitted and published elsewhere. Some publications and websites may limit how often the same person can submit a letter or opinion column.
Most publications pick the title for letters, but it is best to ask if the letter writer can choose the title. For example, the El Segundo Herald (HeraldPublications.com) free weekly newspaper lets the the letter writer pick the title and includes the title in its 250-word limit. In contrast, The Beach Reporter (TBRNews.com / www.DailyBreeze.com/the-beach-reporter/) picks the title but does not include it in the word count.
Letters can usually be submitted by email or using a Letter Submission form on the publication website. Some publishers allow letters to be submitted printed on paper by mail or in-person delivery, but they prefer email or website form submissions because there is less work preparing the letter for publication.
Always proofread your work and ask one or two other people to also proofread it and suggest improvements before you submit it. Try to reduce or eliminate redundant language. Make your work more clear and more concise if possible. Try to catch and correct all spelling and grammar errors. And check the word count again every time you edit your work, before submitting your work. Include references to supporting information when possible.
Expect to re-read and revise your work multiple times after you think it is finished – typically two to four times. It is better to set your work aside for a day or two, then revisit it with a fresh mind of you have the time to do so.
It is reasonable to have someone help you write your letter or opinion column, but do not plagiarize other people’s work by copying something you found in print or on the internet and submitting part or all of it as your work without proper quotation marks and attribution.
Microsoft Word, and the free alternative office suite/word processor software LibreOffice writer, have a built-in word counter.
Some of the letter submission web forms have their own word counters. If not, you can use the free Word Counter Tool on this website.
There are other free online Word Counter Tools on the Internet such as this one which also works well:
https://www.JavascriptTutorial.net/sample/dom/word-counter/index.html
Or even better, you can add a free word counter tool to your own website if you have one. There is free word counter Javascript and HTML form code available at various web programming websites.
As an example, I wrote and submitted a Letter to the Editor which was published on page 3 in the El Segundo Herald newspaper on Thursday, July 1, 2021. The El Segundo Herald it a free local weekly newspaper that is delivered to homes throughout El Segundo.
My letter is “America’s Founding Principles” in 250 words including the title. It is a good example of how much information you can include in a letter to the editor if you are very concise.
You can read it on the PublicSafetyProject.org website at:
Or you can view or download the PDF file for the entire El Segundo Herald newspaper for Thursday, July 1, 2021. (16 pages, 7.60 MB) and look at the top of page 3:
I gave Herald Publications the right to publish, republish, and store my letter in print and digitally, but I retained the copyright when I submitted it. Different publications and websites may have different copyright policies for reader submissions.
Word Counter Tool Web Page
CLICK HERE to go to the Word Counter Tool web page to count words before submitting Letters to the Editor and Opinion Columns to make sure you are within the publication or website word count limit:
El Segundo Police Officers' Association (ESPOA) Exposed