What We Have Here Is A Failure to Communicate

Or so says a new report that the reason women appear so seldom as authors of letters to the editor of newspapers and other periodicals, or as essayists on their opinion pages, is because they seldom take the initiative to put their thoughts in writing and submit them for publication.  Read about it at http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/118696/why-women-dont-contribute-to-opinion-pages-as-often-as-men-what-we-can-do-about-it/


Can't argue with the patterns described here -- that men are quicker to run to the computer and address issues they care about.  But one also needs to consider the selection process.  Editors aren't sitting on their hands, waiting for emails to arrive, or the Postal Service to show up with contributions.  They also solicit opinion from readers.  The challenge is to become known to editors as smart and insightful and a crack writer who can produce quickly.

As the saying goes, politics is personal -- so start locally.  Though newspapers have less space than ever, they are more interested in reader input than ever (they don't have to pay for it!), so there actually are more opportunities for opinions to be published.  There are also more online community news organizations and local blogs that welcome reader input. 

Some inspiration for publishing our opinions comes from British writer Doris Lessing, who said, "Think wrongly, if you please, but think for yourself."  And write about it.