LETTERS: THOSE EDITOR'S NOTES

To the editor:

As a former university writing instructor, I was interested to note the editorial comments which followed Kathleen Conway's letter to the editor Aug. 24. The Southeast Missourian has apparently decided to begin educating contributors and the public as to good writing style and use of logic. In my experience, this is a role no other newspaper has attempted.

Some would no doubt say that this expanded responsibility is too much to expect from a newspaper. After all, in order to be fair, it will be necessary to critique all letters printed, whether from liberal or conservative writers. In fairness also, the paper will of course want to point out writing and logic errors in contributions from its syndicated columnists, as well as problems in the offerings of such non-local groups as the Heritage Foundation. This will be a time-consuming task for the busy editor.

Nevertheless, I personally am grateful that the Southeast Missourian chose to assume the burden of including comments after all editorial letters in the future. This is clearly necessary because otherwise the public might not be able to figure out who is and who is not writing well. They might even have to think for themselves after reading something on the editorial page. I look forward to the Southeast Missourian's common on writing and content after each editorial in the future.

IDA DOMAZLICKY

Cape Girardeau