The News & Record's editorial page editor, Allen Johnson, has a post at his blog taking a look at "What the letters are saying." He notes that people are not writing letters to the editor about the Time Warner Cable internet access rate change. He notices they are "Burning up the blogs" -- but not writing letters.
There are still a lot of people who read letters to the editors and not blogs. Many of us read both, some only one or the other. Expanding the sphere of influence to those who only read letters in the papers is a good idea.
You can submit a letter to the editor of the News & Record here. A letter to the editor of the Rhinoceros Times here. A letter to the editor of Yes!Weekly here. The N&R has a 200-word limit.
Do's and Dont's:
Do
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- Remember that not everyone reading your letter will understand technical jargon and acronyms. Try to explain your opinion in a way your grandmother would understand.
- Remember that not everyone is going to sympathize with how TWC's plans will affect you personally. Your ability to download music and upload video are broadly interesting only to the extent that they illustrate how the modern information world works and the effects TWC's plans will have on Greensboro being a modern city. Explain why this matters to everybody.
- Offer your solutions. Do you think TWC should abandon its plans? Should City Council build public internet infrastructure? Should local economic developers recruit competition to break TWC's monopoly? Use your letter to put a little public pressure on those who you think can influence this situation for the better.
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- Don't insert partisan politics. This issue touches on things like monopolies, profit motive and regulation/deregulation. But the fact is, the blame/responsibility for this situation can be assigned to a number of parties from a number of angles. There is no political ideology that perfectly aligns with solving this issue. Use your letter to make political hay by blaming your favorite adversary and you are guaranteed to alienate instead of motivate.
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