OFF TH CUFF: The art of letter writing

When I first aspired to become what was then called an “ink-stained wretch” now described by some as an “enemy of the people the  “Letters to the Editor” section of newspapers was one of the most widely read and had an editor whose job it was to weed out slander, libel, vulgarity personal attacks, and misleading information.

The letters section of The Times of London, before it fell into the hands of Rupert Murdoch was a  reader’s delight and source of informed opinion from scholars, scientists, writers, artists, and thinkers from around the world. Their contributions to a debate on matters of public interest were often reprinted in   Times booklets and,  used as an information source by writers and researchers, safe in the knowledge that a team sub-editors had blue-penciled misinformation, conspiracy ramblings and what today we call fake news.

The writers had to type or pen letters emanating from a  vicarage in the Yorkshire, a miner’s cottage in Wales a Scottish croft,  a stately mansion the halls of learning or some corner of what remained of the British Empire.

The letter had to be placed in an envelope, addressed,  sealed, stamped, and put into one of the ubiquitous red “letterboxes” some still carrying the “VR”  of the monarch who reigned when the postage stamp was introduced. The writer was also obliged to provide a name and address.

Sometimes the letter waited on a mantlepiece overnight, which gave the author time to reflect, a luxury spurned by online denizens who send their unrevised quick-fire responses at the click of a button.

Unfortunately,  anonymity allows some to ignore the rules of courtesy and genuine debate by denigrating the person they disagree with rather than the argument. It also leads to the spewing out of racist epithets and unsupported conspiracy theories and vulgarities.  Social media like Twitter and Facebook are already moving to weed out offenders and Newsroom Panama will be following suit but not quite as far as the restraints put on a young reporter after joining a  major daily newspaper whose first “assignment” was to write a letter for the Irish edition with no sex, politics or religion. We ask only for  respect for people and other points of view.