Home > Inside the Newsroom > Archives > 2007 > January > 10 > Entry
One streak ends, another begins
On Jan. 2, a remarkable streak came to an end.
Since Aug. 30, 2003, the Reflector has published at least two letters to the editor each weekday (except Saturdays, when State Views is included instead). That means that we received at least 12 publishable letters from readers a week for more than three years.
When I attend editorial writers conferences, other editors ask for strategies to duplicate our success. The trouble is, I have few answers for them.
We strive to provide a place for an open exchange of ideas, and the editorials themselves occasionally motivate responses. But more than anything, the level of interest among the readership drives the vitality of the Public Forum. People want to write, and readers devour that section of the page.
Over the holidays, people write with less frequency, depleting the store of letters and forcing us to substitute with other material.
Readers witnessed this over the weekend, when we did not publish any letters because we lacked a pair fit for publication (our layout demands we run at least two at a time).
And that was only days after the three-year run had ended, making it a rare extended drought for the Forum.
I expect that activity will pick up in the coming days, as government turns its focus to the next year and readers again look to participate in the public discourse.
But the end of that streak — and the contributions it represents — is noteworthy, even as we look to begin a new one.
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