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Letters popular among readers
(by Dave Lange - March 28, 2012)
COUNTY LINE, BY DAVE LANGE
Letters popular among readers
Being in the midst of one of our occasional readership surveys, I was pleased to learn that the letters-to-the-editor section is among the most popular ones in our newspapers. It reconfirms my belief that freedom of the press is a two-way street.
Feedback from our readers, whether it comes in the form of an unscientific survey or with letters expressing a variety of opinions, is important to us. Putting the two together, some of the survey respondents who took the time to put their opinions in writing expressed concerns about our selection of letters to the editor.
In response to one suggestion, we actually have a longtime policy in place that limits individuals to 12 letters per year. No one had more than 11 letters printed last year. Due to the frequency of their communications, some writers are restricted to one letter per month.
Other survey respondents wondered how we determine which letters are printed. Aside from the frequency issue, our policy is to print all letters from residents within our circulation area plus those from outside the area that address local issues. The only requirements are that letters must be signed, they are limited to 500 words, phone numbers must be provided for verification, and they may be edited for libel and incendiary content. Political letters are not accepted for the final editions of our papers prior to elections.
No letters are rejected due to political persuasion or subject matter. Because that issue again has been raised in this survey, I revisited all the letters we published in the first three months of 2012, excluding the current issue.
We printed a total of 119 letters since Jan. 1. Sixty of those, just about half, expressed some sort of political opinion. The other 59 letters addressed purely nonpolitical matters.
Eighteen of the letters concerned the recent Republican primary race for Geauga County commissioner, more than any other individual subject. Ten of those endorsed the candidacy of incumbent Commissioner Mary Samide, while eight favored challenger Ralph Spidalieri, who ended up winning the election. For those wishing to keep score, letters supporting Republican politicians cannot be classified as liberal.
The same must be said for the three letters we ran in support of candidates in the GOP primary for the Ohio House of Representatives.
We received and printed six letters in favor of the recent Chagrin Falls school levy and four letters opposed to it. Two letters were printed in favor of the West Geauga school tax. Three other letters opposed higher taxes elsewhere. According to political pigeonholing these days, favoring taxes is liberal, and opposing them is conservative.
We received and printed six letters criticizing President Barack Obama and five letters either defending the president or criticizing his Republican opponents. The conservative-liberal dichotomy is evident here.
On other issues, four letters opposing hydraulic fracturing, two pro-choice and three miscellaneous could be considered liberal. Four letters offered conservative views on religion, "double dipping" and teachers unions.
First-quarter score: conservative, 38; liberal, 22; neutral, 59. But that could change. So keep reading those letters.
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