Star public editor: Should the Star publish anonymous letters?

By Kathy English, public editor of the Toronto Star

The reader’s letter to the editor was thoughtful and made an important point about depression and children in a powerfully personal way.

But, you did not read it on the Letters page because the Star decided not to publish it.

By Kathy English, public editor of the Toronto Star

The reader’s letter to the editor was thoughtful and made an important point about depression and children in a powerfully personal way.

But, you did not read it on the Letters page because the Star decided not to publish it.

For understandable reasons, which will be made clear, the Mississauga mother who submitted the letter requested her name be withheld. That’s not in line with the Star’s long-standing practice of not publishing anonymous letters to the editor.

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The Letters page, unlike online comment sections where anonymity and pseudonyms have somehow become the norm of the Internet, has long served as an important forum for the voices of readers willing to speak out and put their names to their views. While there is nothing explicitly stated about this in the Star’s policy guide, a cardinal rule here for as long as anyone can remember is that all published letters to the editor must include the letter writer’s name and city of residence.

On submitting her letter, the writer included her full name, telephone numbers and address. But, she requested the Star withhold her name and publish only her initials. Because the letter made a powerful point and we could understand her reasons for requesting anonymity, this gave us pause to think this week about whether the Star might make an exception to its rule and publish the letter even without the writer’s name.

Surprisingly, given our digital era of anonymity online, this is still a relatively rare request for the Letters page. After considering the issue, Letters Editor Rob Wright and Editorial Page Editor Andrew Phillips decided not to open the door to bringing the anonymity of online comments to the Letters page.

Did the Star make the right call here? Put yourself in these editors’ chairs and consider the matter.

The woman wrote her letter in response to reader Rick Tufts’ letter published on the Feb. 20 Letters page. Tufts’ letter expressed his view about an article in the Star’s Feb. 18 Life section reporting on a new study that says a saliva test for teenagers with mild symptoms of depression could help identify those who will later develop major depression.

Tufts, a longtime regular contributor to the Star’s Letters page, made his opinion clear: “Let’s recognize this for what it really is: Big Pharma laying the groundwork to expand the market for antidepressants. This saliva test will provide a rationale for getting more antidepressants into more kids, sooner. How about this instead: less junk food and more exercise.”

To continue reading this column, please go the thestar.com where it was originally published.

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