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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels June 2, 2004 Active editorial page has its pros and cons We checked the letters queue the other day and 61 confirmed letters were still awaiting their arrival on the this page. It's quite a backlog, one we thought would be reduced following the election. Happily, we are wrong. Soon we may be forced, again happily, to expand our letters sections. In the coming days, when space allows we will expand the section to move ahead as many letters as possible. Right now we are on about a 10-day backlog, which is surely frustrating for those who took the time to write. We understand. The opinion page is our reader's last word, and we want to keep this an interesting and useful community forum. In that sense, the more letters we get, the better this page is. Unfortunately backlog detracts from the timeliness of the letters, so its a bit of a tightrope. Some tips that will help speed things along: 1) Try to keep letters, to letter size. Two-hundred and fifty words may not sound like much, but it's plenty of room to make a salient, well-written point - not to mention its almost twice as much as offered by other newspapers. The more we have shorter letters, the more diversity of views we can offer in a timely fashion. 2) Guest forums should be used with discretion. It's hard to justify allowing someone 600 words simply to bash the viewpoint of another. We are getting more of these tit-for-tat types of responses, which become easier to pass over when other, interesting letters await publication. Generally, guest forums should be written about topics of local interest, by people with a vested or knowledgeable interest. 3) We are reasonably certain our pro-Israel readers and our pro-Palestine readers won't ever see eye to eye. But the dialogue, for the most part, has been one of positions, not name calling, and of articulating the issues. We don't want to be judge of letters - our preference is to allow our readers to speak for themselves - but we remind people on this subject to stick to the facts, and forget verbal assaults on those on the other side. 4) Of course, those getting the most criticism on this page is us, which is exactly how it should be. We provide this for our readers to respond to us, complain about us, share their concerns, or whatever the case may be. Interestingly though, we have started to get some kudos. Well, we won't be insulted of those keep coming as well. The bottom line: This is your page. Keep those letters coming and we will continue to find the space to print them, one way or another. For those waiting to see their letters, thanks for your patience. As for any changes, we'll keep you posted. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams