Rules are made to be broken, right?
I am amazed at the number of people who pay attention to the fine print on the Cook County News-Herald’s letters to the editor page—and who took me to task—about breaking the rules.
Actually no one was truly angry that I published an anonymous letter last week. The “complaints” I heard were tongue-incheek. It is hard to be upset because someone wanted to be anonymous for doing a good deed.
In case you missed it, I bent the rules last week and withheld the name of an individual who submitted a letter to the editor. The letter writer had made the magnanimous gesture of personally paying for the Grand Marais 4th of July fireworks. This person did so in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of receiving a devastating cancer diagnosis. Our anonymous letter writer wanted to send a message of hope to others who have received similar news, to let them know that cancer does not have to be a death sentence. I was asked if this message could be shared anonymously and I said yes.
This is against News- Herald policy as spelled out in the fine print “Reminder for Letters.” Our reminder states that anonymous submissions or letters of questionable credibility will not be published.
We have steadfastly followed this guideline in the almost-16 years that I’ve been editor. There was only one other instance in which we allowed the letter writer to remain anonymous. In that case the submitter was writing about an individual involved in criminal activity. The letter writer was fearful of retribution, so we withheld the name of the letter’s author.
Although I still feel it was the right thing to do, I took a lot of flak for that decision, as I have for editing letters that are potentially libelous. I don’t take editing duties lightly. I want people to exercise their right to free speech.
However, there is a difference between free speech and libel and unfortunately for our elected officials, there is a different standard for political figures and private citizens. When statements in letters to the editor are questionable, I send them on to Mark Anfinson, the Minnesota Newspaper Association attorney, who has dealt with the matter in court.
Often I’ve been amazed at what Anfinson says people are legally allowed to write. But Anfinson, like me, frequently questions the need for some of the bitterness sometimes shared in letters.
That is why, in 2014, after attending the Blandin Foundation Editor & Publisher training and discussing our letters policy with other news people, I added a line to the reminder for letters. We now state: While we encourage readers to submit letters to the editor on issues they feel strongly about, we encourage writers to be respectful to one another. Your message is more likely to be heard if it is delivered in a respectful manner.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that people are paying attention to the fine print, as writers did seem to respond to the request to be civil. I think there was a change of tone on our editorial page.
But I knew I might take a bit of harassment about breaking the rule about anonymous submissions. I was prepared for that. I know that the reminder for letters says anonymous submissions will not be published. What that refers to are those submissions we get on a regular basis in plain white envelopes with no return address and no signature on the letter. Sadly we get quite a few. Some are really interesting, but no matter how good a point the writer makes, we will not run a letter without knowing who and where it came from.
In this case, I know who the letter writer is. The person hand-carried the letter to the News-Herald office and requested that it be published anonymously. After a pleasant conversation, I agreed to withhold the name of the person. So the individual is not anonymous to me.
I offer the same opportunity to any other letter writer who wants to follow suit. If you want to be anonymous, go ahead. Just make an extremely generous donation to a community event or organization and then submit a letter explaining why you did so. Be sure to be encouraging and I may break the rules for you too.
How far that little candle
throws his beams!
So shines a good deed
in a weary world.
William Shakespeare
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