We are proud of the commitment to do everything within our power to publish your letters to the editor, provided they meet the basic standards of about 250 words, no foul language and no libelous statements.

But there is one type of letter that probably won’t get printed. In fact, we’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t even bother to send it.

That’s the form-letter, usually written by some public relations person for a certain group and then individuals sign it and send it in. From time to time, I get these form letters. They’re letters not only talking about and backing the same subject but they are written almost exactly the same — same sentences, same wording.

They’re usually pretty well written but they are also bothersome and time consuming.
Realistically, there’s no way any newspaper would publish the same letter five or 10 or more times and just have it signed by a different person.

No newspaper has that kind of space and most readers wouldn’t bother with them.

Form letters that I receive from outside our coverage area are relatively easy to handle — I delete them.

But form letters from readers and individuals without our coverage area aren’t so easily managed.

That's because The Oakland Press cares about its readers and does want to serve them and provide a forum for their views. Consequently, I usually try to respond to them and let them know we appreciate their efforts in sending in the letter but we won’t run it in its current, copied form.

As I usually say in a note to such individuals, “this letter appears to be copied, almost word for word — rearranging the paragraphs or adding one sentence of your own is not enough — and technically this could be considered plagiarism.” The latter term has prompted several heated responses from people who are incensed that we won’t run the letter and insulted that we said it bordered on plagiarism.

Well, technically, it does. When you put your name to someone else’s writing, that’s plagiarism.

To further back up my point, Webster’s New World dictionary defines plagiarize as “...to take (ideas, writings, etc.) from (another) and pass them off as one’s own.”
Of course, the writers aren’t going to be sued or taken to court — at least not by The Oakland Press. But I hope we get our point across.

And the topics don’t matter. Whether the letter is for or against abortion or for or against Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget, if we get more than one letter written with exactly the same wording, they won’t run.

Sometimes the writer argues that while he didn’t write the letter, he agrees with what it states. That fine, that’s his right. But to submit it as a letter to the editor and sign his name to it won’t get it published.

Ironically, some people are so outraged that we won’t run their form letter that they write back and in several paragraphs explain why we should. What I usually tell them is that their response by my note is what we’re looking for in a letter to the editor — an opinion expressed and written in the author’s own words. If they would have just said that initially instead of sending in the form letter, their views would be well on the way to being published.

Letters to the editor don’t have to be written in perfect English or in Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion. They only have to be views expressed in the author’s own words.