Scott Gillespie: Drop us a line -- but please, think for yourself

Technology paves the way for mass letter-writing campaigns. It also brings us the delete key.

Last update: December 8, 2007 - 4:47 PM

There's a neat little letter-writing tool on the website of the national Democratic Party. Just type in your zip code, name and address, and the tool lets you pick a publication you'd like to contact. (The Star Tribune is listed first, as it should be.)

But the real beauty of the site is that you don't have to have your own ideas. You're provided with thoughtful talking points like this: "The Democratic Party will ensure that a retirement with dignity is the right and expectation of every single American.'' Super. Just copy, paste and hit the send button. In seconds you're telling the world -- or at least those of us at the newspaper who read our incoming e-mail -- that the Democrats are promising a wonderful retirement. Frankly, it can't come soon enough.

But what about Republicans? Not to worry: The GOP hasn't neglected your letter-writing needs. And, just as with the Democrats, you can skip the thinking part. Want to weigh in on the war? The party website gop.org offers this insight for your use: "President Bush has a clear plan for victory in Iraq that begins with training Iraqi forces so they can defend their country and fight the terrorists. We are making tremendous progress towards this objective.'' Good to know and better to share. Copy. Paste. Send. Letter-writing mission accomplished.

These tools aren't new, of course. The Internet gives every cause and organization the opportunity to tell people what to think, when to think it and whom to send it to. A trained seal can weigh in on the Middle East. It doesn't even have buy a stamp!

Last week the Editorial Department of the Star Tribune was targeted by at least two letter campaigns. One, driven by MoveOn.org, was pretty clear in its disdain for our president and his position on Iran. We hit the delete button repeatedly.

Another campaign, from an organization called Minnesota Majority, took issue with Nick Coleman's recent column on Archbishop John Nienstedt. We received dozens of e-mails blasting the column and defending Nienstedt. It was pretty clear that the source was a letter-writing tool, because the format, wording and themes were so similar. It was even clearer when we started getting tool-generated letters about our decision not to run the tool-generated originals. Isn't technology wonderful?

We also received many letters on the Coleman column -- including one from the archbishop himself -- that appeared original and not part of an e-mail campaign. We published several of those, pro and con. And that's the point of this column.

If you'd like your letter published in the Star Tribune or on our website, you should know that we value original material. We receive hundreds of well-written, thoughtful letters each week, and for that we're extremely grateful. Those writers who actually read the paper or our website and take the time to compose a letter deserve more consideration than a guy in Oregon who doesn't know the difference between the Star Tribune and the Daily Planet.

That's not to say there isn't some value in these letter-writing tools. Under the heading "Writing Tips,'' the Democrats tell supporters to be "concise.'' The GOP takes it a step further, advising writers to be "clear and concise.'' We side with the Republicans on that point.

Scott Gillespie is editor of the editorial pages.

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