Write a Letter to the Editor

Media coverage matters. People respond to what they see on T.V. and studies show that the Congressional agenda is correlated with the content of the New York Times and other newspapers. We need to shift some of the focus in America away from divisive issues like the war in Iraq, outsourcing, abortion, and welfare, and toward the greatest moral crisis facing the world: extreme poverty. Although not every letter to the editor can be published, the more letters to the editor that we send, the more will be published.

Follow these simple steps to write a letter to the editor:

1. Read the sample letters below
2. Consider including some of these facts
3. Write a short one hundred to two hundred word letter
4. Submit the letter through the form at the bottom of this page and we'll send it to all of your local newspapers

Sample Letters

World AIDS Day

It was nice to see some coverage of the AIDS pandemic on December 1st, World AIDS Day. Unfortunately the coverage focused on prevention here in the United States, specifically in Florida, and ignored the larger problem--and the theme for the day.

World AIDS Day's theme for 2006 was "Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise," and was essentially part of a larger, distributed movement against poverty, including the ONE Campaign the Millennium Campaign. The point was to get the public to pressure governments in the developed parts of the world to fulfill their commitments on funding AIDS prevention and treatment. Here in the U.S. that should have been an important goal because there was a lot to talk about. For example, the Senate proposed appropriations to help 99,000 more people with AIDS treatment than the House. Citizens need that information and instructions on how to show their support.

Of course, it isn't too late to publish the facts and write to Congress.

The Other War

Today America is fighting an controversial war in an attempt to free the world from tyranny and ensure the spread of democracy.

But there is another war, the struggle for human rights, and there is no debate about this war: no child should die unnecessarily. Yet UNICEF estimates that this year 11 million children under the age of five will die from tuberculosis, AIDS, malaria and other easily preventable diseases. In 2006 Congress approved $4.37 billion for programs to combat these diseases, but now wants to effectively cut $940 million. That cut is the difference between life and death for many times the number of people fighting in Iraq. It is justice denied to 955,000 children who will die without malaria treatment.

We have to stand up and tell Congress "No!" to this cut.

Submit Your Letter to the Editor