Letters to the Editor represent the voice of the readers. The job of selecting among the vast array of mail falls to Matthew Bernstein, editor of the letters page. Every letter sent by old-fashioned "snail mail" is read by at least one member of the editorial department. We require a full name and address as well as a phone number for verification on all letters to be published, and make a special effort to print letters by aggrieved parties named in Globe stories. Otherwise standards for publishing letters have more to do with length, balance and variety than with any particular slant or viewpoint.
Such letters are limited to 200 words, are subject to editing, and are not guaranteed to appear in the paper.
Letters to the editor appear every day on the editorial page, since they, like the editorials, are expressions of opinion. We get many more letters than space allows us to print.
The Globe receives an average of 350 letters to the editor every week and publishes only six or seven every day because of limited space. Every other week a full page of letters is published.
Letters to the editor also appear every week in the regional sections (e.g., GlobeSouth, GlobeWest) of the Boston Sunday Globe and once a week in Sports.