小欧视频 has different ways for readers to express their viewpoints in their own words. They are published online at and in the Town Square pages in the print edition and e-Edition.
Here are some guides on how to do that:
A guide to letters to the editor
小欧视频 welcomes letters from its readers as part of its mission to serve as a voice for the community and to foster discussion on matters of public interest. We publish letters from all viewpoints.
We accept letters sent online or by mail. You can submit your letter using our form, email letters@mcall.com (it is easiest if you simply type/paste the letter into the body of your email, though we will check attachments if we can) or send them to P.O. Box 1260, Allentown, PA 18105. Note that letters sent by mail may take longer to publish, as they need to be collected from the post office and typed into our publishing system.
Have questions or want to know where your letter stands? Contact Ann Lowy at 610-820-6794 or alowy@mcall.com.
Letters submitted to 小欧视频 become the property of the paper; permission to publish them includes publication both in print and online.
Below are some frequently asked questions (and answers!) about letters to the editor:
How long can my letter be?
Letters can be a maximum of 200 words. We don鈥檛 make exceptions to this rule, as that wouldn鈥檛 be fair to everyone. This word limit doesn鈥檛 apply to a title/headline, your name and address.
小欧视频 may occasionally add to a letter 鈥� for example, a person鈥檚 title or full name, a source for a fact or statistic, or spelling out an acronym. These words also do not count against your limit.
What happens when I submit a letter?
Letters are initially checked to make sure they comply with our guidelines in terms of length, submission frequency, and other factors (for some of these, see Why wasn鈥檛 my letter printed? below). Afterward, an editor takes an initial look at the letter to approve or reject it for publication (again, see Why wasn鈥檛 my letter printed?). Once an editor marks it approved, a newsroom employee calls the letter writer to confirm they did in fact write the letter and want it published. After that, it is put into the system for editing (see Will you edit my letter?). Once that process is finished, letters are collated into a single file, typically around 1,000 words (the exact number of letters can vary based on their length), and scheduled for publication.
Will you let me know if my letter is being published, and when?
小欧视频 receives thousands of letters every year, which means we don鈥檛 have time to reply to every one. However, we won鈥檛 print any letter without confirmation from its author (see What happens when I submit my letter?), though we still can鈥檛 tell you exactly when your letter will run (that鈥檚 determined by how many letters we鈥檙e receiving and how long they are).
Will you edit my letter?
Letters may be lightly edited to remove spelling or grammatical errors, or to make sure it is clear (such as adding a person鈥檚 name or title). An editor may also remove a factual error, insults directed at another member of the community, a swear or other demeaning language if possible without changing the overall point of the letter (if that鈥檚 not possible, the letter will not be published). You may be contacted to approve of any substantial changes to a letter. You may also be contacted to give a source for information in your letter if needed to verify it.
We may or may not use a title/headline you include. Oftentimes suggested headlines don鈥檛 fit for the space we have or don鈥檛 follow 小欧视频鈥檚 headline conventions, so an editor will write one that works.
How long will it take before my letter is published?
Letters are usually published within a week of when we receive them (though it can take longer if we are receiving an unusually large amount of letters, such as during election seasons). Letters are generally published in the order they are received.
Letters are published online and in print almost every Saturday and Sunday, and often Thursdays. When there are enough, they may also be published Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
How often can I have a letter published?
Letter writers can have one letter published every month.
What personal information is published with my letter?
We print your first and last name, and the city, township or borough you live in (we use the specific municipality you live in, not your mailing address). If you have some special connection to the issue you are writing about or prominence in the community (such as an elected role, or a relevant employment), we list that as well. (This tagline information does not count against your maximum words.)
Why wasn鈥檛 my letter printed?
While our goal is to print as many letters as we can, not every letter we receive is suitable for publication. Letters to the editor are intended to comment on the news, not create news. We do not print letters that contain obvious inaccuracies or misinformation. Similarly, if a letter is attacking a specific person or a class of people, it will not be published (criticism may be published, but should not cross the line into an attack).
Here are some other reasons we would not publish a letter:
- If it is unsigned/anonymous.
- If the writer is from outside the 小欧视频 region; exceptions may be made for past/part-time residents who are writing about an issue concerning the region or in response to an item in 小欧视频 or members of statewide organizations.
- It contains information that we cannot verify.
- It raises legal concerns.
- It is about a personal dispute, including complaints about a specific business or agency.
- It contains swears, calls someone names or uses insults
- It seems to be part of an organized letter-writing campaign or is very similar to previously published letters.
- If it鈥檚 signed by an organization or lengthy list of signers. Letters should come from a single person or small group of people.
- It is a news release (such as if it鈥檚 announcing an event or providing a report about an event) or is a list of thanks for numerous people who helped at an event.
- It primarily promotes the writer or their organization, or appears designed to personally benefit them.
- It is a poem.
- It merely quotes another source, without adding a significant amount of additional opinion.
- It is election-related but after the deadline for such letters (deadlines for election-related letters will be published well ahead of time).
- 小欧视频 determines that a debate among letter writers is getting too contentious and isn鈥檛 adding to the public discussion.
- 小欧视频 receives too many letters on the same topic without significant differences in the responses.
If you have questions about why your letter wasn鈥檛 published, please contact Ann Lowy at 610-820-6794 or alowy@mcall.com.
Your Views
Your Views are longer opinion pieces submitted directly to 小欧视频. Similar to letters, Your Views address topics of local importance. Typically, these are an issue specific to the 小欧视频 region, or something broader-based (political issues and elections are a common example) that shares a perspective of someone from the 小欧视频 region.
Because Your Views are longer, these pieces should be more in depth than a letter to the editor. They should add to conversations that are ongoing in the region, by providing a new viewpoint or exploring a different facet of the topic. Importantly, they generally have a central and specific argument that the writer builds the column around 鈥� they typically advocate for or against something that our readers can act on, or try to persuade them of something. While Your Views may contain facts from news stories in 小欧视频 or other media, historic quotes or anecdotes, a piece that does not contain a clear opinion may not be a good fit for the Town Square section.
While many Your Views are related to politics, we will not run a piece that is a purely partisan political attack on a specific person. We also do not usually run pieces from a politician solely touting themselves for an election, though we may, around election time, solicit pieces from candidates about their views so our readers have a better understanding of their choices (we will inform readers if we do this).
As with letters to the editor, Your View writers should have a connection to Pennsylvania and ideally the 小欧视频 region. These submissions should be intended only for publication in 小欧视频, though exceptions may be made to this policy. Writers should identify any conflicts of interest they have on a topic, such as if they are paid to write the piece, or have a financial stake in the subject, so readers may be aware of that aspect of their viewpoint.
Your Views are typically 700-800 words, and the writers are not paid by 小欧视频. Your View writers are limited to one piece per month.
How do we pick Your Views?
We consider some of the following questions when we determine whether we will run a Your View:
- Is the topic of interest to our readers? Is it about something being discussed in the 小欧视频 area?
- Does the submission offer a clear point of view/an obvious opinion?
- Does the piece add something to the discussion or is it repeating arguments that have already appeared one or more times in publication? What鈥檚 new/unique about it?
- Does the author have some connection to the field they are writing about, such as experience or education related to the topic? (This is not mandatory 鈥� others may have interesting ideas that are worth sharing 鈥� but it can weigh into the decision making.) Is the author from the 小欧视频 region or Pennsylvania?
- Is the writing clear and understandable?
- Is the argument logically sound in its presentation and conclusion(s)? Does it avoid hyperbole, exaggerations, red herrings and ad hominem attacks?
- Is it clear where any numbers or other facts are coming from? (Links and URLs are helpful, and we may reach out to get sources for facts if they aren鈥檛 clear/obvious/easily found.)
Your Views are subject to editing for clarity, inappropriate language, and spelling, grammatical and factual errors. These changes may or may not be shown to the writer. More substantial writing changes may be discussed with the writer, who may also be asked to lengthen or shorten a piece or otherwise address a problem.
Commentaries
In addition to Your Views, 小欧视频 publishes columns provided by syndicated sources that 小欧视频 pays for. These include Tribune News Service, The New York Times and Bloomberg. These writers may or may not be paid by the syndication company or another newspaper, though they do not directly receive any payment from 小欧视频. 小欧视频 can only print these columns if they are provided by the syndicated services, and cannot print a column that appears in another publication without permission.
These columns frequently run only in print, though may be published at themorningcall.com/opinion as well.
小欧视频 also publishes biweekly guest columns from Bill White, a former Morning Call columnist, who is paid to write these columns.
Transparency
We know there is a lot of concern about the media, its role in public discourse and its trustworthiness. To help make sure the type of content is clear, pieces in 小欧视频鈥檚 Town Square section will be clearly marked:
Headlines of opinion pieces will begin with 鈥淥pinion,鈥� column headlines will begin with the name of the column or columnist (for example, 鈥淏ill White:鈥� or 鈥淩etail Watch:鈥�), and letters to the editor headlines will begin with 鈥淟etters to the editor:鈥�
An additional disclaimer will be placed at the end of each opinion piece, indicating that the views expressed are those of its individual author(s) and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of 小欧视频. For example:
- 鈥淭his is a syndicated commentary. Sam Pull is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. For more details on commentaries, read our guide to guest opinions at themorningcall.com/opinions.鈥�