An open letter is a

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a

addressed to an individual but provided to the public through

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s and other media, such as a

letter to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a Letter (message), letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through ...

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

. Especially common are critical open letters addressed to political leaders. Letters patent are another form of open letter in which a legal document is both mailed to a person by the government and publicized so that all are made aware of it. Open letters can also be addressed directly to a group rather than any individual. Two of the most famous and influential open letters are '' J'accuse...!'' by

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

to the President of France, accusing the French government of wrongfully convicting Alfred Dreyfus for alleged espionage, and

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

's '' Letter from Birmingham Jail'', including the famous quotation "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".

Motivations for writing

There are a number of reasons why an individual would choose the form of an open letter, including the following reasons: * As a last resort to ask the public to judge the letter's recipient or others involved, often but not always, in a critical light * To state the author's position on a particular issue * As an attempt to start or end a wider dialogue around an issue * As an attempt to focus broad attention on the letter's recipient, prompting them to some action * For humor value * Simply to make public a communication that must take place as a letter for reasons of

formality A formality is an established procedure or set of specific behaviors and utterances, conceptually similar to a ritual although typically secular and less involved. A formality may be as simple as a handshake upon making new acquaintances in Weste ...

Eric Kaufmann Eric Peter Kaufmann is a Canadian professor of politics at Birkbeck, University of London. He is a specialist on Orangeism in Northern Ireland, nationalism, and political and religious demography. He has authored, co-authored, and edited multipl ...

characterizes the authoring of open letters in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

as a form of "hard authoritarianism" accompanying political correctness and cancel culture. *

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Open Letter * Letters (message) Activism by type

Motivations for writing

See also

External links

References