Erick Peterson

I have a confession to make. This is something of which I am both embarrassed and ashamed, but I think of it as a learning opportunity. It could be something you can learn from as well, especially about courage and morality, but also as it concerns writing letters to the editor.

Years ago, I served an internship for an entertainment magazine. It was in a big city, it was my first major, full-time media job, and I was willing to do anything I was told.

My first assignment: write letters to the editor. And I did it.

I wrote several letters to the editor and signed fictitious names to them. They ran in the magazine as if they were from our magazine’s readers.

At the time, I was even proud of it. Between these letters, bylined articles and numerous uncredited blurbs, I was writing a hefty portion of the publication — as an unpaid intern. Then, as now, I prided myself in the amount I produced.

I even found historical precedent for my actions, as I remember a vague (and possibly false) memory of a university professor once telling me that philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer used to write letters to newspaper editors under different names, using the opportunity to state the errors in his own published works.

Now, I am no Schopenhauer, but I thought this was an interesting idea. So, I wrote my own letters to the editor in which I would attack myself as a writer. For example, one month, I wrote a review of a restaurant. In the following month, I submitted a letter to the editor in which I, writing under a false name, wrote an opposite take on the restaurant and a takedown of the reviewer (who also was me).

I did, though, get a pretty good handle on what made a good letter to the editor.

1) A good letter to the editor should be local. It should reference things seen in a community, recognizable to everyone who might read the letter.

In our community, a good letter might reference graffiti on the Umatilla Bridge, the hardworking Lions Club members volunteering at Hermiston’s Butte Park or the lines at our neighborhood Safeway.

2) A good letter to the editor should be productive. It should call people to action, express gratitude or uncover corruption. Rather than be an unproductive rant, it should encourage correct action.

3) A good letter to the editor should be honest. This is obvious (though I was not taking this advice when I was writing my false letters).

4) A good letter to the editor should be short and well-written. This is the most important part. A clear-headed writer can express an opinion in 150 words or less, which is about the length of a good letter. This letter should be clear, bravely stating a firm opinion.

With these rules in mind, I wrote my letters to the editor. And when people have asked me about writing their editor, I tell them those four things.

Still, when I was writing my false letters, I was not really trying to develop ideas about letter writing. Neither was I merely expressing my ambition or vanity, though this all was part of my work. Rather, I was acting out of cowardice, and this bothers me the most.

Someone told me to lie, so I lied. I was nervous about the job, and I thought that I had to do whatever I was directed.

With some hindsight, though, I know that I could have stood up to the person who made the task. He gave it to me because someone else pressured him about the opinions page. He needed letters to fill out his page.

Instead of lying, we could have asked our readers to send us letters (as I am doing here), or we could have inserted any other legitimate content. Believe me, there is no shortage of people in the world who are willing to get their opinions in print. And I think it is better to print letters from local people than it is to publish letters and editorials from people who could not even find our community on a map.

I look forward to your letters. Let me know what you think.