Keep it local, keep it clean

Since President Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, The Press has been bombarded with letters to the editor calling him and Elon Musk Nazis and fascists. There has also been an influx of letters about the Russia/Ukraine war and the conflict raging between Israel and Palestine.

The opinions in these letters are staunch, one-sided and tend to be loaded with hate speech. Some also tend to spew misinformation which is the very thing they are fighting against. They then inspire an opposition letter, equally as charged. As of late, The Press’s opinion page could be mistaken for an arena for political bickering and nit-picking.

Last October, we walked the streets and took to social media to ask the people what they wanted to read in the paper. Many expressed a focus on community news and community events with one person saying: “I don’t want to read about what’s happening in Israel in the Riverdale Press, I can open the New York Times for that. I want to know what’s going on in my neighborhood.”

Recently, The Press received emails and letters addressing the hate speech and angry language in the opinion page, with one reader calling it, nauseating.

We at The Press pride ourselves on the ability to cover the stories that truly affect the daily lives of our readers. We care about the streetlights out in your neighborhood or about the sanitary conditions of your supermarkets.

In fact, several news outlets like ABC, Bronx News 12 and the New York Post have picked up stories we previously reported on, bringing our hyperlocal issues to a larger audience. If we write about national policies, it is always about how they impact you and your community institutions—no D.C. beltway generalities.

We are asking that letters to the editor stick to the 3.4-square-mile area of Riverdale, Marble Hill, Spuyten Duyvil, Kingsbridge and Van Cortlandt. We encourage our readers to share their opinions on stories we cover or how larger issues are immediately affecting their neighborhoods. Week-to-week, we work diligently to find the stories that matter to our readers, we ask our readers do the same when sharing their opinions.

We also ask that you stay clear of inflammatory language or anything that can be deemed libelous. We welcome suggestions for stories we should follow and opinions on how local institutions and businesses can do better. How your community can be better. Please also keep your letters less than 700 words, ideally at 500. Long letters take up space and limit the paper to how many letters can be printed in each edition.

From Donald Trump to the stock market, there is no shortage of places to find national coverage. We provide you with truly local reporting that you cannot find anywhere else. 

Let's strive for your letters to the editor to reflect this focus as well.