Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions 2.7. WRITING FOR NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALS Letters to the Editor A Letter to the Editor is one of the simplest ways to communicate an opinion to the general public. It is one of the most widely-read parts of a newspaper and provides a genuine forum for community discussion and debate. Of course, having a Letter to the Editor published in a leading newspaper can be very competitive. Only a handful of letters on any one topic will be published on the same day. It therefore needs to be simple, clear and compelling. Your Letter to the Editor should be no longer than what the newspaper intends to publish. A much longer letter is likely to be overlooked or could be edited to the correct length. As a result, an important part of your argument could be lost. When writing a Letter to the Editor, you should: • Be concise. Focus your letter around one key point and limit your letter to around 250 words. Make sure you refer to the NHRI in your letter. • Refer to other stories, letters and opinion pieces run by the newspaper. Write your letter as soon as possible after these other stories were run; no more than a day or two later. Being current increases your chances of being published. • Include contact information. Your letter must include the name of the contributor (generally the NHRI Chairperson, Member or Executive Director), along with the name and contact details of the NHRI. This ensures that the editor can contact you if he or she has any questions. Opinion editorials Another way that NHRIs can present an argument on a particular human rights issue is by writing an Opinion Editorial (or “Op Ed” piece). Leading newspapers will generally feature up to three or four Op Ed pieces each day. These are generally written by experts on a particular subject, rather than a journalist, and address issues that are the subject of public debate. Public commentators, community leaders and government decision-makers often look closely at the Op Ed pages of newspapers. This makes an Op Ed piece a very useful tool that NHRIs can use to advocate respect for national or international human rights standards or promote concrete recommendations to improve a particular situation. Before you submit an Op Ed piece for consideration, you should: • Obtain guidelines. Talk to the editor of the Op Ed page and find out what they will and won’t accept. In general, pieces should be around 700 to 800 words long. • Discuss your idea. Ask the editor if he or she is interested in publishing the type of piece you are proposing. There is no point doing a lot of work if your Op Ed won’t be run. The editor might also suggest some ideas that could be included to increase the chances of your piece being published. • Give your article a human face. Don’t prepare an article that is dry and legalistic. Tell a story, include an anecdote or describe what the issue means in the lives of people or communities. Give readers a reason to care about the issue. Most newspapers require that your Op Ed piece is an “exclusive”. In other words, you can submit it to one newspaper only. If the first newspaper you approach decides not to print it, you are free to submit it to another newspaper for publication. 32 | Chapter 2: Engaging with the media: Tools and strategies