Hey everyone -

I was out all day yesterday so I have much to respond to all at once.  ::sees AMSers back off with fear and trembling::

Luke -

Have you noticed a pattern between what gets printed and what doesn’t? Does hand writing a letter in colourful pens & covering it with glitter help get published? (heh ;)

Those $20 notes I keep slipping them in the mail seem to help ;-)

The basics: Letters need to be in by 3pm (for email & fax) for next day publication.  Post is obviously out of your control.  After 3pm they’re for two days time.  If you’re shortlisted you’ll be notified by phone or email by 5pm. 

I know that sometimes during election campaigns they don’t accept mobile phone numbers, only land lines.  I have a signature set up in outlook express with my address & phone number ready to go so I don’t have to keep retyping it.  (But that’s just laziness on my part <g>.)

As to what gets printed...I think Jacob Davidovich covered most of it in his post here:

Jacob Davidovich -

My tip is to keep your letter SHORT. This is very difficult, but with a bit of practice you should be able to make your point in two sentences or less (preferably where one sentence equals one line of print in the column).

The SHORT is important.  Very important.  Hugely important.  Two hundred words is the maximum they allow.  Most of mine have been closer to the 20 word mark.  Take the point you want to make and reduce it to its essence in the fewest words possible. 

Shorter letters give them greater flexibility in what they publish.  They can use up the last little bit of left over column space with your two lines.  My grandfather calls these letters “fillers”.  Mum & I love writing them.  In the Kunze/Andersen SMH letters scoring system last on the page gets you double points (as does first on the page, and letters with a cartoon). 

Jacob Davidovich also -

Also, don’t send serious Christian letters all the time or I feel that you risk being stereotyped ("Oh here’s another letter from that religious nut, so I can delete it straight away").

and Luke -

If the SMH does run an anti-Christian bias, then lets counter it thru the letters page to show we aren’t all a bunch of devisive do-good hypocrities.

Yes, lets!  The Jensens aren’t the only topic in town, nor the only subject that should have Christians engaging in public debate.  Aim to write intelligent and well informed letters on anything that catches your eye.  So a big “ditto” for Jacob’s stuff. 

And my fellow letter writer Gordon Cheng (welcome Gordon!) -

I just have this sense in my bones that if any smh journalists were lurking on this site (I know you’re going to say that never happens, but indulge me) they might take the existence of a forum like this the wrong way. It does look suspiciously like it’s targetting the smh. I can see it now—“Letter-writers collude to indoctrinate Herald Readers” by Kelly Burke.

Hey, it’s been known to happen .

::waves to any lurking SMH journalists who should feel free to go and introduce themselves , if they feel so inclined:: 

I don’t mean to target the SMH specifically, except that it is the paper I read and write to regularly.  And I’m certainly not wanting to bombard them with identical letters every week!  Both you and Lionel make good points about using *all* forms of media to reach people.  It’s already been established in these forums that I’m a 702-listening SMH-reading nerd (thankyouverymuchMrAtkinson), so that’s where I’ll be primarily hanging out.  But I am branching out...I sent my first letter to Southern Cross this week <g>. 

Gordon also -

As far as focus goes, it is usually possible to submit almost identical letters to the age and smh, and frequently possible to zap them through to the australian as well. So it doesn’t detract from focus, rather it is an issue of maximizing efficiency. Given that it can take several hours of letter-writing to get even one up, this is what I would call A Good Thing.

That’s a good idea that I hadn’t considered.  ::loffs email::  And you’re obviously much more diligent in your letter writing than I am - if I can’t nail the wording in about 3 minutes I’m likely to give up <g>.

Rowen -

Dani Treweek -

Ahahahahahaha
Just saw Sophies new moniker ;)

lol. took me a while :)

And it took me even longer!  Do I get to declare my own feast day or something? ;-) It’s probably for the best, you know, since I’m not going to be joining the elite in the 500 club any time soon.  I refuse to join in Hannah’s blatant attempt to boost her posting rate :-P

SJK.

Sophie J. Kunze -

It’s already been established in these forums that I’m a 702-listening SMH-reading nerd (thankyouverymuchMrAtkinson), so that’s where I’ll be primarily hanging out. 

NERD!!

I was very close to sending one in yesterday, but I couldn’t get it pithy enough :) and I missed the 3pm deadline (thanks Soph) anyway. oh well.

Sophie wrote

And you’re obviously much more diligent in your letter writing than I am - if I can’t nail the wording in about 3 minutes I’m likely to give up

No absolutely not. (Hi Sophie, nice to meet you). When I say several hours, I am generously assuming 15 minutes per letter, which includes reading time, and (let’s say) a publication ratio of 1 in 7. Therefore 7 x 15 = 105 minutes.

Given that a sermon might take me 8-10 hours to write, and reach 100+ people (or 30, or 200, depends on where), and a letter in the paper gets read by a couple of hundred thousand mainly pagans, the cost: benefit ratio is OK.

I know that is simplistic but it makes me feel better about the sweat involved :-)

hmmmm.  this is not good .

A million thumbs down :(

It could be worse. We might have had to pay to register.

Yeah, I hate it when websites demand that you register…

-A-

Registering doesn’t bother me, but paying does! I agree, Dani!

Andrew

has to be worth a shot...

OK kids,

check this out.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/03/1086203561682.html?oneclick=true

Alright, I know it’s only Melbourne and I know it’s only the Age, but as someone who lived there for more than ten years I feel a sense of affection for them. And this issue is worth a letter! Sophie—worth three minutes of your time :-) ? Michael Jensen, less complicated to get published in Melbourne? Who knows, this forum could become AMS in the FFX press.

And speaking of Melbourne, Jonah 4:11 applies (Hi andrew moody!)

“Patron Saint of Letter Writing"… I love it! :D

I might just point out firstly that I have only written to the SMH twice (the second one was the one that got in recently, the other one wasn’t published). My involvement with the letters page generally extends only to reading them and sometimes discussing them with Sophie!

Sophie -

As a side note, remember that even if you don’t get published yourself you add to the weighting of letters on a particular issue, which determines the weighting of those that are published. So keep writing and be encouraged!

Dani -

As I understand it the policy of the SMH letter department (and I would presume the majority of letter departments from other papers) is to publish a sample of letters received which is in direct proportion to all the letters received on one any given topic (for or against). So whilst I would agree with you that there does seem to be a fairly obvious bias against Christians (or at least Sydney Anglican ones!!) in the SMH at times I’m fairly sure that what is published in the letters section is determined by who writes what how many times :)

That’s right. I posted this before (ages ago) but thought that it might be relevant for those who haven’t read it:

Luke -

I was wondering whether it would be worth keeping a running tally of who got printed (and when?) as everyone loves a bit of competition ;)

Or perhaps a thread of letters submitted (published or not!)? That would also be interesting!

Minorbob -

I’m not sure whether it would be worth it for a paper like the SMH which appears (to me at least) to run a fairly obvious editorial anti-Christian bias. It would take a lot of work by Christians in Sydney, and it would be too easy for the editors of the SMH to just bin the letters.

It doesn’t have to be lots of work, I don’t think. As Jason said, people are gifted in different ways. So if someone gifted in letter writing is willing to make the time to write, better that than all of us presume that our letters won’t get published and therefore not contribute at all!

Gordon -

I wonder if this thread might not be better re-launched under a new title. I just have this sense in my bones that if any smh journalists were lurking on this site (I know you’re going to say that never happens, but indulge me) they might take the existence of a forum like this the wrong way. It does look suspiciously like it’s targetting the smh. I can see it now—“Letter-writers collude to indoctrinate Herald Readers” by Kelly Burke.

I understand your point, Gordon (great name!), but I like to think SMH journos and conspiracy theorists would know that Herald readers are intelligent enough to think for themselves… right?!

However, I agree that there is no reason why we shouldn’t interact more with others through the media – be that radio or newspapers or anything else (e.g. Guy in Australian Idol!)

Dani -

Well, I’m not sure that you can say that writing letters to the editor (about Christian articles and reports particularly) is not a form of evangelism in some respect. Whenever I write a letter to the editor I try to convey the message or foundation of the gospel (which often directly counters what has been reported).

If any of my letters (which very rarely get published anyway) help even just one person understand (or begin to understand) that what we are on about is a relationship with God through Christ (and not church pews, choirs, ordination of women and so on) then I think my time has been well spent.

Amen to that! Angela, your example is good in helping us understand how we function as a body of Christ – different parts with different gifts but one purpose and head, that is, Christ.

Angela -

Those who have the ability/gift to write clearly and succintly from a Christian perspective can and should do so. In no way does it negate or prevent Christians from evangelising, caring for the disadvantaged and needy as minorbob lovingly challenged. Surley we, as God’s chosen people and blessed with a every spiritual blessing and with a variety of talents and gifts can do take up addressing our multi-media with a Christian perspective AND evangelise AND care for the needy AND .......(fill in the blanks). As Christians we have something to say which is really worth hearing. We mustn’t remain silent, but speak or write thoughtfully and prayerfully.

Sophie -

I refuse to join in Hannah’s blatant attempt to boost her posting rate :-P

I wasn’t! I promise I wasn’t…

Han :)

Hi all,

Andrew Moody is *in* (he shoots! he scores!) with an excellent letter in today’s Age

http://www.theage.com.au/letters/index.html?from=lhsnav

Even though this is ams in the smh, I really reckon he ought to gain honours of being first on the scorer’s board, if we’re keeping tally :-)

By the way it is the Saturday Age, which reaches about double (?) the number of readers. If you are the sort of person who only would write once a week, I would suggest you do it on the Friday for the reason that if you get in, you will reach a lot more people. Same applies for the SMH.

Also, a letter in the Good Weekend has the potential to reach both NSW and VIC readers as it goes to both places in almost identical form (although sometimes the letters are specific to readers in one state, and you have to run the risk of having your letter opposite a rude lingerie ad).

However, the fact that they are running competitions with prizes to encourage letter writers tells me that most letter-writers (myself included) are ignoring the Good Weekend and they are a bit desperate for submissions. I’m sure you contributors of the AMS forums would look divine in a pair of Calvin Klein jeans —one at a time please.

PS sorry, another one. Check

http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2004/06/04/1086203627455.html

I don’t think Claire Smith is registered on AMS forums or she would share line honours with Andrew Moody. I know she would really appreciate Christians writing letters in support. The homosexual lobby is ferocious and if ever there was room for a conspiracy theory re letter-writing, it is there. However, I don’t see the SMH or Age running with that story in a hurry.

And Andrew hits a home run again too ;)

Re: AMS

Jason Poulos -

Sophie Kunze wrote:

::waves to any lurking SMH journalists who should feel free to go and introduce themselves, if they feel so inclined::

Did anyone notice if any of the journo’s waved back?

I didn’t notice any.  Honestly, I didn’t think they would.  I just wanted to say that if they *did* decide to make their presence known and engage in debate in the forums, we’d make them welcome rather than burning them in effigy or something. 

A special cheerio to Ben & Sam in the letters office if they ever stumble upon this thread! 

:-D

SJK. <--who just shot off her first letter to the Age

Jason Poulos -

Re Andrew Moody’s and Claire Smith’s letters of today:

It gives you a buzz when you read a solid argument articulated by a Christian in the opinion or letters section of the press.

I think Neil Ormerod’s letter also in the Herald today also qualifies for inclusion in this category.

.

Here’s an article from Adele Horin that might be of interest:

Jason -

I’m not sure that all reporting is unfair however. And if it is, why aren’t people trying to positively influence change?

Isn’t that exactly what people are doing, by discussing and responding to reporting - here, in conversation with others and through the letters page...?

Cheers,
Han

One more from June Southern Cross - a reminder to be praying for people working in the media.

Han

Sandy Grant of ESV thread fame is in

(He shoots! He scores!)

Also, another Melbourne friend of mine, Andrew Canobi, got in with this (scroll down)— helped no doubt by Sophie’s effort (well done Sophie, if so).

Our published letters will encourage other Christians to write. There is a snowball effect.