Letters to the Sports Editor

When a letter is submitted that is clearly a sports topic or in response to a sports article, does your paper run it in the sports section or on the regular OpEd letters page?

Also, does your sports section have a space for call-in/e-mail sports comments (like a "Talkback" feature) where people can be anonymous or just use initials?

Just curious as to how places handle sports-related reader feedback.

 

I run a "Sports Letters to the Editor" in the sports section whenever one arrives.

 

Goes on the OpEd page. I'm usually given a head's-up first, especially if it's someone ripping on us.

 

We run a weekly mailbag in the Sunday sports section.

 

We run letters to the editor. But most people who want to say something do it on our call-in line, and we run 12-15 calls daily.

 

Tried to get them both going, with mixed results. One of the biggest problems is the numbnuts doing the op-ed pages keep stealing stuff from the sports letters and soundoff columns, and putting them in the regular letters and soundoff column.

We bark to the ME, he usually makes a token attempt to explain the point "we are trying to get a sports feedback feature going," and then 3 days later, you see a letter on the op-ed page bitching about some local coach or something.

 

What he said...my favorite was the one that said our high school swimming coverage sucked, we obviously had it in for Ohio State, since we kept putting in stories about Maurice Clarett's run-ins with the law, and that we ran too much Cavs stuff.
The letter ended with, "I have had enough of LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Walter Burns!"
I had it framed.

 

I hate talkback features cause people who submit don't have the courage to put their name with their words. I guess if you had a way of getting down names with it, it would be more acceptable.

 

Amen. I hate Talkback. At one paper I worked at, it's gotten so big that they run, I kid you not, "Classic Talkback" and "This weeks' top Talkback." It's talkback from a couple of years ago. If you won't put your name on it, I say you shouldn't run it.

 

At least one paper I'm familiar with requires at least a first name and neighborhood or town for their Soundoff section, though obviously "Dale from Northside" isn't much of an identifier.

 

My paper used to have anonymous talkback online, and it sent the hits through the roof. Of course, IT spent most of its day deleting foul or libelous posts. It went away, then came back with registration. So, unless the topic is gays or evolution, our site has hardly any posts now.

 

Of course, with anonymous call-in features, you can always feel free to censor anything you want with absolute impunity.

Who's going to bitch? "Anonymous Joe Schmoe?"