Residents have voiced concerns over the years that they have political opinions they would like to voice in a letter, but choose not to do so because they don’t want other residents to boycott their businesses or get into verbal disagreements with neighbors for what they believe and put into print.
Other newspapers in Arizona offer an alternative and we were introduced to a policy one newspaper group uses that generates more letters while shielding the authors from real-word blowback: Using pen names with real identities verified by us and known by us, so that people can voice their views and more honestly reflect the opinions of a community, even if those opinions might be controversial.
Pen names were used by the founding fathers in the Federalist Papers [written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay under the collective pseudonym “Publius”] and many authors are better known by their pen name than their real name, like Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Nov. 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910], George Orwell [Eric Arthur Blair, June 25, 1903–Jan. 21, 1950] and Agatha Christie [Agatha Mary Clarissa Mallowan Sept. 15 1890–Jan. 12 1976].
While some potential letter writers have declined, saying they the fear someone will come to their house or accost them on the street, to our knowledge, this has never happened to any of our letter writers in Sedona and the Verde Valley even with some of the more inflammatory letters we’ve published over the decades. But that fear persists and it may contribute to residents not voicing the real opinions they have, which still come into effect when voting in elections, choosing city policies or making community decisions.
We have taken the advice for how to allow letters written under pen names while still keeping everything we publish civil and responsible. Letter writers can contact us with their proposed letter and ask to publish it under a pen name. They will still have to provide us with their full legal name, home address and phone number, just as if they were writing a letter under their own name. We will keep this real-world information in a permanent file here at the newsroom.
Letter writers will have to sign a form in person or electronically — e.g., via email — acknowledging that they are the real person authoring the letter, which we will keep in the permanent file. Should there be any litigation over what they write and we receive a court subpoena, they promise to acknowledge to the court that they are the person behind the pen name. We don’t expect any such litigation — as our rules against publishing libel or defamation still stand — but just know that a pen name does not shield you from legal action by a judge.
To avoid confusion, pen names cannot be the same as well-known public or fictional persons like Mark Twain, John Galt, George Washington, J.K. Rowling, Ronald Reagan, Daenerys Targaryen, John Doe or Oscar the Grouch.
We don’t want anyone to get sued for using a false name of a real person, or owned by someone else or their estate.
Instead, create a proposed pen name using your maiden name, childhood name, nickname, existing pen name or a name you use with friends and family.
Once a letter writer’s pen name is selected and approved by us, that’s it. Going forward, there will be no changing an approved pen name on our list to a different name to write a different letter. However, letter writers can choose at any time to write a letter under their real legal name.
All the same rules apply for pen name letters: When emailing us, include your real name, street address and phone number, in case we have a question about what’s written, and the pen name we have agreed upon. All existing letter rules about civility and facts till apply.
- Letters must be 300 words or less. If letters are slightly over, we’ll cut them to fit, but if letters are more than 350 words, we’ll ask the authors to cut them and resubmit. Authors should determine which points they want to make rather than have us guess.
If you have a lot to say, break it up and send letters addressing different topics. - No personal attacks. You can address previous letters, but direct your commentary at the content of the letter, do not attack authors or private persons. When people criticize “the mayor” or “college board president” for his or her actions, they are criticizing the public chair, not the private person.
- We do not publish form letters from third-party political groups or activist organizations. We do not publish anonymous letters.
- Letters citing facts must have supporting documents. If you include statistics, attach the document or website link to it so we can double-check your numbers.
- You can drop letters off at our newsrooms at 298 Van Deren St., Sedona, in Uptown, or 830 S. Main St. in Cottonwood, or email them to editor@larsonnewspapers.com. We prefer email so we don’t have to retype your letter and possibly make an error.
