| Letter Writing Campaign |
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[ Upcoming Events! ]
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It is vitally important that our cry for peace, justice and reason
be heard not just among us, but in the broader community as well.
As you may have already seen, the media is full of angry words,
calling for war and condemning those who seek peace. We must answer
these voices, not by ignoring them or attempting to shout them down,
but with public dialogue. You can make a
positive contribution by writing a letter of response to one of the
local school or community papers. It could be the most important
thing you do today.
If you'd like someone to read your letter, both Jonathan (dushoff@eno.princeton.edu) and Suresh (sureshpaul@aol.com) have experience as journalists and are happy to offer comments. Several people expressed interest in tips for effective letter writing. Letter writing advice is available on several activist and public interest organization websites, including that of the ACLU. Combining some of these with suggestions from Mark Tulo of the Coalition for Peace Action, here are some ideas: |
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Tips: Letters to Newspapers |
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| Newspaper Contact Information |
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| Tips: Letters to Elected Officials |
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| Elected Officials Contact Information |
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Other Resources on the Web |
Letters to Newspapers are easy to write and very important. They:
- reach a large audience
- are often read by elected officials
- bring perspectives that are missing from news and editorials
- foster the impression of widespread support or opposition to an issue.
- Can be emailed or typed
- Keep it short and on one subject
- Start with a hook that connects to something already recently covered
by the newspaper as a news report, editorial, op-ed, column, or picture
- use the first person
- Include your contact information, especially a phone number - if they are considering publication, they'll call and verify the name on the letter and the fact that you sent it in.
E-mail:
| MSNBC's Michael Moran michael.moran@msnbc.com |
MSN News Feedback World@MSNBC.com, letters@msnbc.com |
Newsweek Magazine WebEditors@newsweek.com |
| Newsweek (U.S. Print) Letters@newsweek.com |
Newsweek International Editors@newsweek.com |
CBS Evening Show with Dan Rather evening@cbsnews.com |
| Frontline frontline@wgbh.org |
NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw Nightly@nbc.com |
CNN community@cnn.com |
Links to Local Papers
Community Newspapers
Campus newspapers and newsletters
Writing to major national newspapers is also important, as is writing to newspapers in other countries.
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Tips for letters to elected officials
- Hand-written (make it legible) is best, or typed on personal
stationary - it shows you care enough to take the time.
- Keep it brief ( no more than a page) and focus on two or three points
that are most important to you
- Make it personal, say who you are, a constituent, a party supporter,
someone who campaigned or voted for them, etc. in the first paragraph.
- Use a respectful tone but be firm
- Start with some kind of positive words connecting to official or
majority opinion or actions but make it clear in the first sentence that
you are writing a letter of protest - e.g. start with "While sharing...
I feel that...
- Include your contact information.
- If you receive a form-letter response, write another letter asking for a serious, personal reply and staple the form letter to it. This shows you are serious.
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President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 Fax: 202-456-2461 |
Gen. Colin Powell Secretary of State U.S. Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 Switchboard: (202)647-4000 Fax: 202-261-8577 E.mail: Secretary@state.gov |
Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General United Nations Headquarters, Room S-3800 New York, NY 10017, USA Tel: 212-963-5012 Fax: 212-963-4879 |
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Washington D.C. 20510 (202) 224-4744 Fax: (202) 228-2197 |
One Gateway Center, 11th Floor Newark, NJ 07102 (973) 645-3030 FAX: (973) 645-0502 |
208 White Horse Pike, Suite 18 Barrington, NJ 08007 (856) 757-5353 FAX: (856) 546-1526 |
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113 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. Washington D.C. 20510 (202) 224-3224 |
1 Riverfront Plaza Newark, NJ 07102 (973) 624-5555 FAX: (973) 639-0418 |
420 Benigno Blvd, Suite A1 Bellmawr, NJ 08031 (856) 933-2245 FAX: (856) 933-2711 |
List of all U.S. Senators and links to their websites
http://www.house.gov/rholt
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-5801
(609) 750-9365
FAX: (609) 750-0618
email: rush.holt@mail.house.gov
Search for any U.S. Representative's contact information
U.S. Supreme Court Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20543
(202) 479-3000
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 | Letters to Congress (about.com) | ||
| Tips on Writing a Letter to the Editor (ACLU) | ||
| Tips on Writing to Your Elected Officials (ACLU) | ||
| Tips on Meeting with Your Elected Officials (ACLU)| Legislative Action Center (adc.org) | |
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