Find newspaper contacts for letters to the editor for some North Carolina papers below.

Writing a letter to the editor can be a great way to raise your voice on issues that are important to you. The editorial pages of newspapers are still one of the most widely read sections of the paper, and getting your short letter published can help you reach elected officials, community leaders, and researchers, in addition to the general public. Your submitted letters can also help newspaper and media professionals get a better idea of what the community is thinking on different issues. Plus once your letter is published, you can share your voice further by posting the link to your letter on social media. So start writing!

Helpful tips

Respond to a published article if you can: While it’s also appropriate to write letters covering timely topics that you believe the paper should be covering, your letter will have a better chance of being published if it is in response to a recent article the paper has run (within the last seven days).

Longer isn’t always better. Word limits on letters to the editor vary by paper, and should generally be less than 200 words. Many effective letters, however, are just one or two sentences long. Your letter is expressing your opinion and experience! It doesn’t need to include references or footnotes, just your thoughts.

You can write a one 200-word long letter to one newspaper, but you also can have an impact by sending four 50-word letters to four different newspapers.

Stay local. It’s not necessary or advised to blanket the whole state with your letter. You should feel free to submit to newspapers within your local area of North Carolina, as readers and publishers like to hear from people in their community. You can also share your letter with a paper in another part of the state if you have certain expertise or experiences that would add to the conversation the paper has started.

Be original. We can give you talking points, but the letter should be in your voice! Newspaper readers want to hear from people in their own community, so express yourself in your own words. (But it’s also ok to reach out for talking points.)

Be regular. Most newspapers will only print a letter from you once every six months, so send them new letters twice a year for consideration. In the meantime, target other publications.

Do not include attachments. The links below will either open a form on the newspaper website, a blank email addressed to the newspaper’s editor, or a list of editorial contacts. Type your letter in the email body instead of attaching a Word document.

Below is a partial list of North Carolina papers that we will continue to update. Some have a form to submit letters; others will require you to send an email/regular mail. If you find any error in our list, or know of other papers we should include, please notify us!