South Sudan: Jun Ajuk, Oxfam health promoter speaks to Sudan refugee and returnees on the importance of mantaining hygiene to avoid spread of dieases. Photo: Herison Philip Osfaldo/Oxfam

Writing a letter to the editor

South Sudan: Jun Ajuk, Oxfam health promoter speaks to Sudan refugee and returnees on the importance of mantaining hygiene to avoid spread of dieases. Photo: Herison Philip Osfaldo/Oxfam

Why write a letter to the editor?

Writing a letter to the editor is one of the easiest ways to get your message across to thousands of readers.

Letters to the editor pages give everyday people an opportunity to publish their views, comment on a recent article and respond to the issues of the day.

Letters to the editor are also important because they are monitored carefully by politicians who assume that each letter to the editor represents many other people who share the same views as the letter-writer.

But even politicians, businesses and organisations can find it difficult to get their stories reported, so it can be even trickier for individuals to make their mark in the media.

Here you'll find helpful advice to raise your voice. Get started with the tips below and write your first letter to an editor.

Getting started

A letter to the editor may well be one of the trickiest few paragraphs you will ever write. You must capture the readers’ attention in the first sentence and win them over within a few sentences.

Be timely and topical

If you are responding to something that appeared in the newspaper, you need to send your letter to the editor that very day or, at the latest, the next day. Sending a letter on Thursday about an issue that appeared in Monday’s paper is a waste of time because it will not be published. Media moves quickly and if you wait a day or two, the news outlet may have already moved on to another topic.

If you are not responding to something, but writing off your own bat, think about whether there have been any related issues in the paper or on the news recently. If you can tie your letter into a current issue you will have a better chance of getting it published.

Keep it brief

To give your letter the best chance of being published, keep it under 180 words – less than 150 is even better.

Keep it simple

There simply isn’t space in a letter to the editor to cover more than one topic. If the issue is complex, select a couple of key points and write about those.

Tailor your letter

If you write the same letter and send it to five newspapers, with five different types of readers, you risk it being published in none. Editors look for particular things in the letters they publish. They also don’t want to publish a letter that may be published somewhere else. Choose a paper and read the letters to the editor section for a couple of weeks to see if you can pick up at the style and tone of the letters that get published.

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Alliances

Oxfam Australia works in alliance with other like-minded organisations and activists to build power, expand our reach and amplify our messages. Our roles in alliances range from acting as host through to sharing resources and participating in joint activities. By working with others, our campaigns for justice have greater impact.

Make Big Polluters Pay Alliance

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Allies for Uluru

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Community Tax Project

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Emergency Action Alliance

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