The Republicans and the news media have many people in a panic about the Affordable Care Act. It seems like the news is filled with negative spin about the ACA (some of which is not true) including problems accessing the website, people whose premiums have gone up, cancelation notices of existing policies, and privacy concerns.
We need to counter this, and fast. And one way to do it is to write a letter to the editor about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, particularly if you have already had a positive experience with it.
So if you think you may want to write a letter to the editor but are not sure how to start, here is some advice/things to consider
1) Which paper should you send your letter to?
I would suggest that you pick a local paper. Newspapers are more interested in the views of members of the community (and other than large papers with a national readership like the New York Times are not likely to publish letters written by those who do not live in the community).
If you have a choice of several papers, pick the smaller more local paper. While larger papers get more readership, they also get more letters, so you have less of a chance of getting published. You are more likely to get published if you pick a smaller paper.
Now that you have the newspaper selected, you need to know
2) what requirements does the paper have for letters to the editor?
You can normally find this information in the website or in the paper itself. If you can't, you may want to call to ask. You should make sure that you know the following information: 1) are there any limits on the size of the letters or other formatting information; 2) what information must you include with your letter (i.e. name, phone number etc. . . ); 3) whether there is a period of time you must wait before another letter written by you is published since the paper will not print a letter from you if you already had a letter published by them during this period; 4) whether the paper accepts letters by snail mail, fax or e-mail (and if e-mail the format); and 5) what manner (if any) will the paper use to verify the letter prior to publication
Now that you have this information, the next question is:
3) What should I include in the letter?
You should write about the positive aspects of the Affordable Care Act, particularly if there is a positive impact on you or your family. I would recommend that you keep your letter fairly short, since they may not print a long letter and if they do, they might shorten it. Keep in mind your goal is to persuade the readers of your letter (members of your local community). I would make sure that the information in your letter is factually accurate.
If you are responding to another letter to the editor in this week's paper, make sure you indicate in your letter that you are responding to the letter written by x published on y date.
Now that you are done with the letter,
4) What do you need to do to submit the letter?
Make sure that you have included your name and that you have included any other information required by the paper such as a phone number or e-mail. You should then mail, e-mail or fax the letter (however they will accept it). If the paper verifies letters, you should make sure to check your messages and/or e-mail frequently in case the paper tries to verify the letter. Remember, they will not wait a long time for you to respond and will probably just move on to the next letter if they don't hear back from you fairly quickly (remember they have a deadline)