From the editor’s desk: Keep those cards and letters coming

Published 5:00 pm Sunday, January 28, 2024

In last week’s print edition of the Chieftain, I wrote a short piece about how much I love to receive (and publish) letters to the editor.

And that’s the truth — even if it’s also true that I wrote that piece in a hurry on Tuesday morning, after an unexpected hole emerged on Page A5 of the print edition, a space we needed to fill that wasn’t quite large enough to accommodate either another editorial cartoon or another column. These things happen in the production of newspapers. 

As it turns out, even though I had to write that piece in haste, I had been meaning to write something about letters to the editor, and my general surprise that the Chieftain doesn’t get more letters: Our readers are educated, literate, opinionated folks. It seems as if you should be writing more letters.

You might want to express your opinion on an important local, national or world issue. You could be taking the Chieftain to task for some sort of miscue or story that we bungled (these things also happen occasionally at newspapers). You could be just wanting to have a little bit of fun or making a wry point about some aspect of daily life in Wallowa County. 

Whatever the reason for your writing a letter to the editor, I’d be happy to publish it. 

(With some exceptions, of course; I won’t publish letters that I think contain potentially libelous material, for reasons that you can understand. I don’t want to run letters that cross the line into making personal attacks on an individual. I reserve the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens.)

We don’t run anonymous letters; we ask that they be signed and that the letter include your city of residence and a daytime phone number. (We don’t publish your phone number, but we might need that if we need to double-check something in your letter.)

In general, if you’re a resident of Wallowa County, you can write about any topic you like. If you don’t live in Eastern Oregon, I’ll entertain your letter if it’s about an issue of local importance, but I might not publish it if it’s about a national or global topic; too often, I’ve found, the content of those letters aren’t the words of the supposed author but rather are taken from organizations that provide prewritten copy. Letters must be the original work of the author.

The word limit for letters is 400 words. If you feel the need for more space, the word limit for op-ed “Other Views” columns is 700 words — but before you start working on a longer piece, check with me; I might encourage you to submit a shorter letter. Because “Other Views” pieces are longer, I have to be more selective about which ones I run.

It’s easy to submit a letter: You can email them to me at editor@wallowa.com. Or you can type or write them out longhand and drop them off at the Chieftain office or mail them. I will gladly type them into our system, although I confess that I prefer to receive them via email. (You can, if you choose, use the system on our website to submit letters, but you also can slap them into the body of an email and send them that way.)

2024 is shaping up as another news-filled year for Wallowa County. Let me know what you’re thinking about all of it. I’ll be honored to share your thoughts with Chieftain readers.

While you fire up your computer or clean your fountain pen to fire off a letter, we’re working on stories for Wednesday’s print edition and our website, wallowa.com. Reporter Daniel Brooks is working on a story about the graduation rate from Wallowa County high schools in the 2022-23 school year, which (as usual) topped the state average. Brooks also is working on a story about the plans by the Joseph United Methodist Church to offer a series of free Monday meals beginning on Monday, Feb. 5. And he was among the reporters talking with Eastern Oregon lawmakers as they prepare for this year’s short legislative session, which also begins on Feb. 5.

All of this is part of the Chieftain’s efforts to cover Wallowa County news to the best of our ability. As always, if you have a comment or question about the Chieftain, or want to suggest a story idea, email me at editor@wallowa.com or mmcinally@wallowa.com. 

If you haven’t already, take a moment to register your subscription for digital access of the Chieftain. Call 541-963-3161 to talk to a member of our customer service staff, who will be happy to walk you through the process. It’s easy, takes just a few moments to set up and allows you to take advantage of our e-edition, app and website delivery along with your print subscription.

Finally, let me take this opportunity to once again thank the Chieftain’s subscribers: It would be impossible for us to do this vital work without your support.

Mike McInally is the editor of the Wallowa County Chieftain. You can email him at editor@wallowa.com or mmcinally@wallowa.com.