We publish letters to the editor, long known as The Public Pulse, several days a week. These letters, which appear in print and online, have a 300-word maximum limit. You can submit these letters via email at pulse@owh.com or online at https://omaha.com/site/forms/public_pulse/.
We receive more letters than we can run and limit people to getting one letter published a month. If your letter is well-reasoned, passes a basic fact check, focuses on Nebraska or other local issues and expresses a point of view that editors judge will interest people, you have a better chance of getting your letter published. If your letter is factually inaccurate, includes ad hominem attacks, compares people to Adolf Hitler (you'd be surprised how many of these we get) or only repeats well-worn talking points, your chances of publication will decline.
We will, occasionally, group themed letters together. We have done this when we see significant interest in specific news events, like the massive July 31 storms that hit the Omaha metro area. Similarly, we grouped letters endorsing candidates together during the days before the election. And we put out a call for letters of gratitude in recent days, and you can see some of the results of that in today's Pulse contributions. Look for future calls for thematic letters throughout the year.
The World-Herald reserves the right to edit the Public Pulse letters. Since the majority of our letters come from people who aren't professional writers, many of them need editing. But we make every attempt not to change letter writers' intent. Generally, if a letter requires significant editing or has factual problems, we will contact the writer or simply not run the letter at all.