Letters to editor

Letters to the Editor This paper evaluates the letters to the sports editor of the New York Times as published on October 4, 2014. In this edition, Vivian Ojeda, Matt Jordan and Ed Woodsome put forth sensible arguments criticizing the accessibility to personal trainers as a way of curbing childhood obesity; attributing the increased injuries in children sports to the failure by adults to clarify that sports are for fun; and objecting the lack of team spirit or talent as the cause of failure for the American Ryder Cup team but carelessness respectively. With a majority seemingly opposing the message relayed in the original publications, these letters appear as an avenue for readers to express their opinions that contradict the information relayed by editors.
The main purpose of these letters is to give responses to previous publications on sports-related issues on the newspaper. These letters are directed to the editor who relates to the publications attracting reactions through the given letters. To make reference to the publications, the writers of the letters give the titles of the publications and the dates they appeared on the newspaper, similar to referencing in academic writing. Thus, the writer needs not to give the message relayed in the publication but gives personal reaction outright. This style differs from general writing where an introduction, perhaps giving a summary of the message in the original publication and the objective of the current task, would be given to put the task into context. This difference could make readers of the “ Letters to the Editor” not to have the requisite background information. As such, it could cause a failure in understanding the objective of the letter. However, it is clear that the letters critique, with a majority seemingly criticizing, the message relayed in past publications.
Work Cited
“ Letters to the Editor.” Nytimes. com. The New York Times. 4 Oct. 2014. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.