On Writing Letters to the Editors of Local Newspapers as a Way to Inspire Others to Question Prevailing Narratives

TCTL editor’s note: Stan Sylvester from Tennessee wrote to me in response to my recent post about reader’s questions related to how they can help (see TCTL substack post). Stan describes how he developed his skill for writing letters to editors of local newspapers in order to challenge prevailing narratives. He is suggesting that others might be inspired to do the same and offers to coach anyone who wants to get started. See his contact email address below.

~ Kathleen

On Writing Letters to the Editors of Local Newspapers as a Way to Inspire Others to Question Prevailing Narratives

by Stan Sylvester, Contributing Writer at Truth Comes to Light
May 13, 2023

Here is a suggestion for those who want to know how they can help. How can we reach others to have the blessing of learning and gaining new understandings?

You’ve run out of family, friends and/or coworkers to try to wake up. Now what? Everyone’s situation is different. What works for one truth-teller may not be the best strategy for another. However, a strategy is necessary.

When our family escaped, excuse me, moved from NJ to TN, I had no idea how I was going to help wake people up. I decided on submitting letters to the editor of a small local paper. I had never done that before. I expected to get censored any ways. I was pleasantly surprised that my views were welcome, some but not all!

After some success, I decided to check out other cities. I looked for privately-owned papers. I found one in a college town about 45 minutes away. I took out an email subscription. The first letter I submitted I got a phone call. A lady from the newspaper wanted to be sure I was who I said I was. I confirmed and said that I was excited that they would print my article. I’ll never forget what she said to me. She said that not everyone reads the whole paper but everyone reads the opinion page!

If you choose to go this route, remember that you’re not necessarily looking to change what people have believed all of their lives. All you’re looking to do is get them to question what they’ve been taught. If they are interested in the truth, they will have to take the next step and investigate. This is who we are looking for.

I rarely submit something that is not a reply to something else. I may reply to a previous letter from a subscriber. I may respond to something the newspaper printed. A political cartoon often draws the attention of the keyboard warrior within me. The door will be open for you to be a truth teller. Even if the editor throws it in the trash, at least one person will have had a chance to wake up.

There are personal benefits. You will learn to communicate with writing better. You will learn how to make a point in the word limit that you are given. You will find out how much you really understand a topic. The proof of that is that you can teach it to someone else.

“I [Paul] have planted, Apollos watered but God gave the increase.”

1 Corinthians 3:6

We all want results but don’t focus on them. Every time we speak the truth we are planting a seed. That tree you see started with a tiny seed. God is the one who will provide the results…

Here is an example of a letter that was recently published:

Letter to the editor: We have a monopoly on school shootings

Recently the Glade Sun posted an image depicting the painful school shootings that plague this country. From January 2009 to May 2018 there were 288 school shootings in the U.S.

The U.S. is a member of the G7 group, an organization of leaders from some of the world’s largest economies. In the same timeframe, the other members of the G7 group, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Japan, Germany and Canada had a grand total of 5 school shootings. The U.S. has a 57 times higher rate of school shootings than its G7 counterparts. Can anyone explain that?

Worldwide, Mexico is second in school shootings in the above mentioned timeframe. How many tragic school shootings do you think it takes to be number two? 100? Nope. 50? Nope. As an American, I’m ashamed to report that Mexico had 8. Can anyone explain why this is not a global problem but overwhelmingly a U.S. problem?

It’s getting worse. In 2022 there were 51 school shootings in this country. We are given the manifestos of social media posts of many of the alleged shooters. Why are these shooters virtually nonexistent in other countries?

Are we being played over and over by the lonely, alienated, depressed, or revenge motivated lone crazed gunman explanation? Are a number of these school shootings connected to a larger sinister agenda rather than unrelated to each other?

“We will know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American people believes is false.” Former CIA Director William Casey

Stan Sylvester
Fairfield Glade, TN 38558

To connect with Stan Sylvester: