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Readers urged to protest new
I am urging all Arizona Daily Sun readers to protest the new policy regarding letters to the editor. The Daily Sun has just instituted a 250-word limit on letters, down from 300 words. The new policy was explained in Editor Randy Wilson's Sunday Dec. 5 column, which, as usual, was more than 500 words long. Wilson explained that the new policy was intended "to allow as many letters as possible to be published." But the number of letters published after the new policy went into effect was down dramatically from the period before the new policy. (See statistics.) And even if the new policy really did allow more letters to be published, do we really want more letters that are shorter? More and more of less and less is not progress. The net effect on free speech is terrible. The new 250-word limit is down from the previous limit of 300 words. The 300-word limit, also instituted by Wilson just a few years ago, replaced a long-standing 500-word limit. I am urging concerned readers to protest the new policy in one or more of the following ways: 1. Boycott the letters page. Do not submit any letters to the editor until the policy is changed and the limit on the length of letters is restored to 300 words. The boycott is scheduled to expire at the end of February if it does not succeed sooner. 2. Contact Randy Wilson, the editor of the Arizona Daily Sun to voice your concerns about the new policy. Wilson can be reached at rwilson (at) azdailysun (dot) com. Or call him at 556-2254. 3. Contact me to have your name added to the list of those who are opposed to the new letters policy. I am actually creating two lists. One is a list of boycott supporters. The other is a list of people who oppose the policy but who are not prepared yet to join the boycott. Once I have 20-30 people on each list, I will post the lists on this Web site and eventually submit the lists to the Daily Sun. Even if you do not want your name published, but support the protest, I would like to hear from you so that I have an idea of how many people are in opposition to the policy. Contact me at dan (at) CarryaBigSticker (dot) com. The new limit on the length of letters is the latest affront to readers of the Sun who care to share their views on current events. Recently, the Sun went from publishing four or five letters a day to publishing just two. Wilson says that the reason for this is that fewer letters are being submitted now that the election is over. And, he notes that he has raised the bar for letters, saying he is going to avoid publishing letters that "merely vent about a problem." Wilson says he is looking for solutions-oriented letters, and he might even publish a 300-word letter if he deems it sufficiently solutions-oriented. But early indications are that passing the "solutions" test could be difficult, if not impossible. I will be the first to admit that limits of 250 words are not uncommon in newspapers around the country. Some newspapers even use 200 or 150-word limits. But just because a problem is increasingly common is no reason that we should stand for it. I believe that the stated reason for the new limit does not hold water. For one thing, Wilson admits that he is getting fewer letters these days. So maybe he should be INCREASING the word-limit to fill the extra space? It is worth noting that in the month before the new policy went into effect (on Nov. 5), 152 letters were published. In the month after the new policy took effect, only 92 letters were published. So much for the argument that shortening letters will allow more letters to be published. (See more statistics.) Meanwhile, the letters page is chock-a-block full of things other than letters that are of questionable value. Most days the page features a large cartoon, a "Today in History" column, an essay by a syndicated columnist, a bland commentary by the paper's editorial writer, and a list of the paper's key employees. On Mondays, most of the page is devoted to short excerpts of editorials from other newspapers. On Sundays, the letters are on two pages, sandwiched between three cartoons, a long bland commentary, a syndicated columnist, a column by humorist Dave Barry, a list of employees, a long explanation of how to submit a letter, and Wilson's own 500-plus word Between-the-Lines column! As if all this were not enough to convince you that Wilson's reason for shortening letters is bogus, consider that Dave Barry is going to take a year-long sabbatical in 2005. That alone should free up enough space to help accommodate more 300-word letters. Wilson has repeatedly written that letters are among the best-read features in any newspaper. They are also among the most important. Flagstaff's public discourse has already suffered terribly at the hands of Pulitzer, the St. Louis-based parent company of the Daily Sun. We must not let the situation get any worse. I urge you not to submit another letter to the Sun until the word-limit is raised to at least 300 words. It is high time we draw a line in the sand to stop this madness! For the duration of this boycott, I will be accepting letters to the editor and essays of up to 1,000 words for posting on my Web site, www.ArizonaCitizenReporter.com Please send your letters to dan (at) carryabigsticker (dot) com. You may also submit items to Charles Seiverd who puts out a monthly newspaper called "Noise." His e-mail is chuck (at) thenoise (dot) us. Some items may also be appropriate for posting to various e-mail lists, such as the Flagstaff-Action list. To subscribe, send an e-mail to flagstaff-action-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Or write directly to your elected representatives. Click here for a list of addresses. I also plan to call letter writers on both sides of the cultural divide to try to get them onboard the protest. If you would like to help in the effort to contact letter writers by phone, please e-mail me or call me at 774-5942. As a related aside, it was reported Nov. 22 in the Sun that Pulitzer was contemplating the possible sale of the company (which owns numerous newspapers). Other activists in the community have suggested that this might be a good time to pool community resources to attempt to purchase the Daily Sun from Pulitzer. I would whole-heartedly endorse any such attempt, and I am willing to be a point of contact for any interested parties who might like to be a part of the effort. Perhaps the City of Flagstaff should purchase the newspaper in order to assure the continued free-flow of ideas among local residents. I can't imagine that management of the paper by the City could be any worse than management under Pulitzer. Here is an excerpt from the Nov. 22 report, with a link to the full report:
Daily Sun parent mulls possible sale By DAILY SUN STAFF 11/22/2004 Pulitzer Inc., parent company of the Arizona Daily Sun, has hired aninvestment bank to explore "strategic alternatives," including the sale of the company. Pulitzer issued a brief statement Sunday night in response to news reports that it might be put up for sale and that bids could approach $1.5 billion. -------------------------------------- Below is a link to an example of a 300-word letter by Dan Frazier that Wilson has refused to run unless it is shortened. Apparently, it is not sufficiently solutions oriented. The letter concerns the Michael Crichton essay published in Parade Magazine titled "Let's Stop Scaring Ourselves." A longer essay by Frazier's wife, Lisa Rayner, on the same topic, is also posted. http://www.carryabigsticker.com/news/crichton_comments.htm For answers to a list of Frequently Asked Questions, click here.
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The following message is from Dan Frazier,
former editor of Flagstaff Tea Party. Please forward this message to others who
may be interested.
