Judge letters by content, not length
Published: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 at 12:00 a.m.
To The Editor: The arbitrary and capricious 200-word limit of letters to the Times-News is truly ridiculous.
In August 1939, less than a month before the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote President Franklin Roosevelt a letter describing the nature of atomic energy, the military applications that might arise from the use of such energy, the danger of German research in this area and a suggested means of organizing an American plan of research and development into this area. This is arguably the single most important letter written in the history of the world and it measures a terse 525 words. Under the policy of the Times-News, this letter would not have been published.
The flawed letter policy of the Times-News assumes that:
All letters are of equal importance, no matter who writes them, or the nature of their content.
All words are of equal importance.
All subjects can be adequately addressed in 200 words.
Of course, the true means of selecting letters for inclusion in the Times-News should evaluate length as only one of the criteria for publication, and content should be given more weight than length.
James H. Fink
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