LETTERS FROM THE EDITOR: LETTERS GUIDELINES WILL EXPAND READERS' VOICES; TV LISTINGS GET A REVIEW

There are two topics that cropped up this week: letters to the editor and the television listings.

Letters to the editor have been largely unlimited in either content or length in the Southeast Missourian. This is a good deal -- until letters writers start stretching the undefined boundaries.

In particular, letters about Amendment 7 (Hancock II) have been coming in large numbers. This is fine, except every letter writer wants to cover information contained in just about every letter on that subject. As a result, some of the letter -- no, most of the letters -- have been getting longer and longer. This means the nugget of opinion being expressed is lost in a sea of repetitive information. Readers are telling me they have given up on the long, long letters.

My guess is most readers don't like long, long letters. Period.

So, here is what is happening.

Letters on election topics are being excerpted by yours truly. The aim is to find the heart of the message. However, some letter writers will take offense at my selection process. There is a solution: Letter writers can submit short -- short means a paragraph or two -- letters on Hancock II or the gambling issues or the candidates, and there will be no excerpting. See how it works?

Which leads to the next the next thing that is happening regarding letters to the editor. I think it is time to set some defined boundaries. Here they are:

Length of letters: Letters of one typewritten page (double spaced), or the handwritten equivalent, that clearly express a topical opinion will be considered for publication.

Responses to letters: Letters that attack individuals will, at the editor's discretion, be submitted to the target of the letter, who will be allowed the opportunity to respond at the same time the letter is published.

Letters on issues: When controversial issues generate large numbers of letters, excerpting will be used to allow the publication of as many viewpoints as possible.

As usual, all letters are subject to verification and editing, and all letters must be signed. Letters with a daytime telephone number are more likely to be published than those without a telephone number.

All in all, briefly stated opinions have much more impact than long letters.

Now for the TV listings.

For some time readers have complained that some channels with scheduled programming that are available on area cable systems aren't included in TV Update, the Missourian's weekly television guide. Moreover, there have been concerns about the late-night listings that get lopped off because of space.

In an effort to address these issues, TV Update reformatted some of the listings in order to have more complete channel listings. The trade-off was to drop the cable channel numbers on the listings while maintaining a cable conversion guide at the front of TV Update.

Some of you have howled. We are considering other options, but for the time being we will be staying with the current version of TV Update.

One option is to drop TV Update and find another way to provide more accurate and complete listings (including cable conversion numbers for all the listings). Right now TV Update requires listings approximately three weeks in advance of when you get the book. This means last-minute changes made by TV stations don't get in the book.

A weekly TV tabloid that we would produce ourselves is one option, which would reduce the lead time to about a week and a half and give us more control over the content.

Another idea is to eliminate the weekly book entirely and devote a full page in each day's newspaper to complete TV listings for a 24-hour period. This would reduce the lead time for last-minute changes to a matter of hours.

As we evaluate the possibilities, we need to hear from readers who have suggestions for TV listings. And to all of you who have called this past week about the changes in TV Update: Thanks for being concerned. We appreciate your comments.

~R. Joe Sullivan is the editor of the Southeast Missouri. His address is P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702.