letter to the editor
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letter to the editor
A letter or email from a reader to a newspaper, magazine, or online medium in which they express an opinion about a published article or a general topic.
Nach dem kontroversen Kommentar erhielt die Redaktion zahlreiche wütende Leserbriefe.
After the controversial opinion piece, the editorial team received numerous angry letters to the editor.
The word is built very logically: it consists of 'der Leser' (the reader) and 'der Brief' (the letter). So it is literally a letter written by a reader.
Viele Zeitungen haben eine eigene Seite für Leserbriefe.
Many newspapers have their own page for letters to the editor.
Common verbs used with 'Leserbrief' (letter to the editor) are 'einen Leserbrief schreiben' (to write a letter to the editor), 'veröffentlichen' (to publish), or 'an die Redaktion schicken' (to send to the editorial team).
Er hat einen langen Leserbrief an seine Lokalzeitung geschrieben.
He wrote a long letter to the editor of his local newspaper.
To indicate the topic of the Leserbrief (letter to the editor), you use the preposition 'zu' followed by the dative. This links the letter to the original article or topic.
Ich möchte einen Leserbrief zu Ihrem Artikel über die neue Stadtbibliothek schreiben.
I would like to write a letter to the editor about your article on the new city library.
comment
A reaction can be published as a Kommentar directly beneath an online article. A Leserbrief, by contrast, is a separate submission sent by a reader to the editorial office or the publication. What matters here is how it is published, not whether the opinion is publicly visible.
Als Leserbrief schickt die Leserin ihre Reaktion auf den Artikel an die Redaktion.
The reader sends her reaction to the article to the editorial office as a letter to the editor.
Als Kommentar veröffentlicht die Leserin ihre kurze Reaktion direkt unter dem Online-Artikel.
The reader publishes her brief reaction directly below the online article as a comment.
