Dear readers: Thanks for writing

Hood River News Letters Policy, in detail

In every issue of the Hood River News, the “Our Readers Write” column is a vital part of the community forum.

We welcome letters to the editor submissions on any topic (though “thank you” letters, in most cases, will run on the Community page, so feel free to write them).

The basic elements of the letters policy is this: 350 words, maximum, and attach your name and hometown (for print) and daytime phone (not for print).

Anonymous or “name withheld by request” letters are never published.
Letters are subject to editing for length and will be edited, or declined, based on content that is malicious or identifiably inaccurate.

Hood River News reminds writers that shorter is better. Concise letters are not only better-read, they are more likely to be published because limited space is available.

Almost any point can be made in 350 words or fewer, so this is set as an upper level for length.

We hear expressly at times, and “through the wire” other times, that the newspaper “chose” not to run a particular letter because it said one thing or another.

Here, at the start of 2020, is a good time to reiterate that this is simply never the case. We do not “pick and choose.”

It is true that we decline to run the occasional letter — but only because it does not meet any of the standards or requirements spelled out above: No signature or our inability to verify authorship, presence of malicious or erroneous material, or surpassing length.

Also, we strive to fact-check letters and apply an “editor’s note” as needed. It is impossible to “catch everything,” but if a statement or citation is known to us to be incorrect, incomplete, or out of context, we attempt to correct or add details as the situation dictates.

Just about any point of view is welcome, and no distinctions, yea or nay, are made based on the opinion itself — just how the writer expresses it. Nothing is eliminated based on topic or point of view, although the News reserves the right to select from similar letters on a given topic for space reasons; this dynamic will no doubt become a cogent reality in the coming Primary and General Election periods of the year 2020.

Yet, we also make an effort to provide extra space in those times we have plenty of letters; in case of space restrictions, we choose a representative sampling from both sides of a given concern.

Further, we keep a careful list of who writes, and about what, for the annual Our Readers Write list. We bring it again to our readers, on this page, as a way of looking back on the opinion year 2019.

Below is the Hood River News’ annual listing of the writers of letters to the editor. These letters were compiled between Jan. 2 and Dec. 28, 2019.

Dear readers: Thanks for writing

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