Giving readers a voice, weeding out 'turf'

"Your Views," The Virginian-Pilot's letters to the editor, is the oldest marketplace of ideas in Hampton Roads. In its first weeks on the newsstands beginning in December 1865, The Norfolk Virginian gave its readers a forum. What began with the intermittent publication of letters is now a daily exchange of ideas about the politics, passions and peculiarities of our age.

Correspondence through letters, from regular contributors in far-flung places like Hampton and Suffolk, was a principal source of news in The Virginian. However, what appears to be the first unsolicited letter was published on the front page on Jan. 19, 1866 (surrounded by advertising for licorice from Naples, cider vinegar from Isle of Wight and Hembold's Extract Buchu, an elixir for "enfeebled and delicate constitutions of both sexes").

The writer, who identified himself as a businessman in Weldon, southwest of Blacksburg, was designated only as H. The writer counted himself among Weldon's "leading and influential citizens," several of whom were partners in a newly established construction company with plans to build houses and commercial structures. But finding an adequate labor force among his village's 200 residents, he lamented, "is yet unsatisfactory and unreliable."

In the 142 years since, letters from readers have become a daily mainstay. Although in-house marketing studies don't track readership of the letters, the volume suggests a considerable following. An average of 90 letters a day reach The Virginian-Pilot by mail, e-mail or fax. That doubles and sometimes triples when a huge news event like the presidential race is under way. About 50 to 60 of those letters are published every week.

Editorial page editor Dennis Hartig oversees which letters are published. The criteria, he explained, favor letters that advance ideas and arguments on topical issues. Contrarian views are welcome, but letters must be well written, concise and free of name-calling and profanity. The writer must agree to editing, and his or her name and hometown must appear with the letter.

The integrity of the page, in Hartig's thinking, relies on how accurately it represents the sentiments and original expressions of Hampton Roads residents. That is why so-called "turf letters," as in AstroTurf, disturb him.

These letters, written as part of coordinated, faux grass roots campaigns, usually promote a cause. Organizations or public relations firms then make the letters available to supporters who sign their names to messages they did not write - but nonetheless believe in.

The online magazine, Salon.com, recently published a story by someone who described the day she spent writing letters to the editor in John McCain's Virginia headquarters in Arlington. The missives were later circulated at local campaign headquarters, where the party faithful could sign and submit them to their local newspapers. Several online responses posted on Salon.com insisted that Barack Obama's campaign ran a similar operation.

Hartig takes pride in his ability to spot turf mail but explains it's often akin to playing third base in the dark. "You hear the crack of the bat and know the ball is coming your way," he said. "So you reach down and hope not to come up empty-handed."

While he's quite certain no turf letters have appeared among the dozens of published campaign-related comments, Hartig acknowledges he could be wrong. Indeed, one such letter on energy circulated by the Sierra Club recently eluded his scrutiny. Variations of that letter appeared in at least 16 other newspapers across the country. Each one applauded the unlikely alliance between the Sierra Club and oilman T. Boone Pickens, who is calling on America to kick its dependence on foreign oil in favor of clean, home-grown energy alternatives.

The letter went undetected in part because it was signed by a local resident whose prior submissions had been printed and whose arguments had been thoughtful and well-reasoned, Hartig said.

While Hartig was piqued at this effort to hoodwink the newspaper, the reader who signed it had no inkling of the ethical breach his letter represented.

Hartig says any letter that is not the work of the individual whose name appears on it is a subterfuge that compromises the integrity of the letters forum.

It's amusing to ponder whether H., writing from that distant corner of the commonwealth, asked every other Virginia editor for space in "your excellent journal." Could H.'s unsolicited submission have been a 19th-century forerunner of "turf"?

Joyce Hoffmann, the public editor, is an associate professor in the English Department at Old Dominion University. Reach her at (757) 446-2475 or public.editor@pilotonline.com.