Email
June 16
Dear Editor,
Commenting on your comment to Mr. Tony Holden’s letter (C.B. News, June 14-20, 2024), in which you lamented the dying art of letter writing to newspapers and the few letters you receive, I have a quite interesting story which I would like to share with the readers.
In mid 1980s, I was appointed as a desk editor in an Arabic speaking weekly magazine. I was also given the Letter Pages to deal with, since they were, in nature, related to my job. They were two pages that needed to be filled with letters and the editor’s comments. But, to my despair, there were not enough of them to fill the two pages. So, I came up with an idea; I fabricated a letter containing a certain critical issue, under the name of my 10-year-old daughter.
That did the trick. For the following week, letters arrived in a favourable number, from readers who wanted express their opinions towards that issue, especially when raised by a female reader. Some even asked for the home address of Ms Ali. To which, I replied, we do not reveal personal details of our readers.
In journalism, one has to be resourceful.
Regards
Ezzeddin M. Ali
Egyptian journalist
