An open letter is a
letter 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
letter addressed to an individual but are provided to the public through
newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, 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 poli ...
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 ...
or
blog
A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
.
Critical open letters addressed to political leaders are especially common.
Two of the most famous and influential open letters are ''
J'accuse...!'' by
Émile Zola
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...
to the president of France, accusing the French government of wrongfully convicting
Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...
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, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
's 1963 "
Letter from Birmingham Jail
The "Letter from Birmingham Jail", also known as the "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" and "The Negro Is Your Brother", is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King Jr. It says that people have a moral responsibility to b ...
", including the famous quotation "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".
Context
In previous centuries,
letter writing was a significant form of communication. Letters were normally kept private between the sender and recipient. Consequently, an open letter, usually published in a newspaper or magazine, was a then-rare opportunity for the general public to see what a public figure was saying to another public figure.
Open letters, published in newspapers, became more common in the late 19th century.
In the 21st century, documents labeled open letters are common and similar to
press releases
A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...
, with large volumes of open letters being sent automatically to large volumes of newspapers and other publications.
In other cases, blog posts and posts on social media are considered open letters.
Another shift in the 21st century is the increasing prevalence of open letters with many signatories (similar to an
online petition
An online petition (or Internet petition, or e-petition) is a form of petition which is signed online, usually through a form on a website. Visitors to the online petition sign the petition by adding their details such as name and email address. T ...
).
When academic scientists publish open letters about science, they may use some of the same features that they use in academic writing, such as seeking informal
peer review
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...
before publication or believing that the act of communicating itself is a meritorious scholarly activity.
Motivations for writing
There are a number of reasons why an individual would choose the form of an open letter, including the following reasons:
* To publicly criticize something
* To make a power play in shaping public opinion on an issue or framing a dispute
* To state the author's opinion
* As an attempt to start, or to end,
a wider dialogue around an issue
* As an attempt to focus broad attention on the letter's recipient, prompting them to some action
* As part of
public relations crisis communication or organizational
reputation management
Reputation management, refers to the Social influence, influencing, controlling, enhancing, or concealing of an individual's or group's reputation. It is a marketing technique used to modify a person's or a company's reputation in a positive way. ...
* For
humor
Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...
value
* To make public a communication that must take place as a letter for reasons of
formality
Problems
Eric Kaufmann
Eric Peter Kaufmann (born 11 May 1970) is a Canadians, Canadian professor of politics at the University of Buckingham. He was appointed in October 2023, following his resignation from his post at Birkbeck, University of London, after two decades ...
characterizes the authoring of open letters in
academia
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
calling for the dismissal of academics as a form of "hard authoritarianism" accompanying
political correctness
"Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...
and
cancel culture
Cancel culture is a cultural phenomenon in which an individual thought to have acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner is ostracized, boycotted, shunned or fired, often aided by social media. This shunning may extend to social or professio ...
. Others associate open letters with bullying, divisiveness,
safetyism (suppressing ideas to ensure a reader's immediate emotional comfort), and a culture of complaining.
Online open letters have some qualities in common with
gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling.
Etymology
The word is from Old English ''godsibb'', from ''god (word), god'' and ''sibb'', the term for the ...
, including the impossibility of un-saying what has been disseminated and its use by marginalized groups to complain about others.
Open letters tend not to
win hearts and minds, especially if there is a limited connection between the writers, the subject, and the nominal addressee.
A close connection, such as university faculty writing to the university president about their hopes and goals for university students, is more likely to be effective at influencing a decision than an absent or distant connection, such as students writing to the internet at large about the students' beliefs about a political situation in a country that most of the students have never visited.
Signatories may feel pressured to sign an open letter written by someone else instead of writing their own.
Even if the letter is badly written or does not fully or accurately reflect each signer's own views, to refuse to endorse it may be taken as complete disagreement with the general concept.
In other cases, the signer may not fully understand the contents.
Examples
* "
Yorkshire Slavery" by abolitionist
Richard Oastler in 1830, about exploitative
child labor
Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...
practices in English textile mills
* ''
J'accuse...!'' by journalist
Émile Zola
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...
in 1898, about the
Dreyfus affair in France
* "
Letter from Birmingham Jail
The "Letter from Birmingham Jail", also known as the "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" and "The Negro Is Your Brother", is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King Jr. It says that people have a moral responsibility to b ...
" by civil rights leader
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
in 1963, about racism and
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
* Letter to ''The Times,'' signed by 364 economists in 1981, urging then-Chancellor
Geoffrey Howe
Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, (20 December 1926 – 9 October 2015), known from 1970 to 1992 as Sir Geoffrey Howe, was a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to ...
to adopt a different economic policy (he refused)
* "
Stop Coddling the Super Rich" by billionaire
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of the conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway. As a result of his investment success, Buffett is ...
in 2011, which encouraged US politicians to
tax wealthy people more
* "
An Open Letter from Shah Ahmad Shafi to the Government and the Public" by
Shah Ahmad Shafi
Shah Ahmad Shafi (; 5 April 1930 – 18 September 2020) was a Bangladeshi Sunni Islamic scholar, the chief of Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, Rector of Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam Hathazari and also the chairman of Bangladesh Qawmi Madr ...
, which called on the Bangladesh government to take action against the anti-Islamic activities of
Shahbag protests.
See also
*
Epistolary poem
*
List of open letters by academics
*
Persuasive writing
Persuasive writing is a form of written argument designed to convince, motivate, or sway readers toward a specific point of view or opinion on a given topic. This writing style relies on presenting reasoned opinions supported by evidence that subs ...
*
Polemic
Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...
*
White paper
A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Open Letter
*
Letters (message)
Activism by type