The relationship between The Sun and its readers should be a two-way street. The paper’s coverage, obviously, is a gateway through which the campus community can stay informed. But the paper is ultimately beholden to its readers, and reader feedback must be one element to guide The Sun’s decision-makers in their overall vision for the paper.

In almost every column, I encourage readers to be more diligent in filling that role. There’s no excuse for reader comments — whether laudatory or critical — to go unheard. Just about every Sun story is appended with the reporter or columnist’s e-mail address. This basic step, which has only come into vogue in professional journalism in the past few years, provides instant access to The Sun’s student journalists.

Keeping this in mind, and with help from some senior-level editors, I informally surveyed Sun staffers to gauge reader feedback and to do what I can to encourage communication between readers and staffers.

Readers are fairly diligent in sending would-be letters to the editor or guest columns. Sun Associate Editor Sammy Perlmutter ’10 oversees the opinion section and the publication of reader comments. He said he gets a few proper letters to the editor every day. Letters to the editor are generally capped — there are some exceptions — at 250 words, for conciseness and clarity.

And for quality. “From my experience, it really seems that the best letters are those that are about 150-200 words,” Perlmutter stated.

In addition, he said he receives several more e-mails each day that do not get published, for various reasons. There are general complaints and so-called news tips that aren’t particularly newsy. But responses to published opinions are more frequent.

“I get a lot of pieces from people that go on for considerable length in response to previous coverage,” Perlmutter added. “Most often these come from readers who hold opposing viewpoints to those expressed in columns, and these are almost always about 1,000 words long.” With a little tweaking, those longer reactions can run in the paper as guest columns (600-800 words) or as letters to the editor.

Comments e-mailed directly to other staffers are more personal and informal, and they generally are not intended for publication. Although they run the gamut in tone and length, they tend to be negative reactions. This is fairly intuitive: If a reader is skeptical, irritated or offended, he or she is more motivated to write.

Certain areas of opinion, especially politics and sex, elicit more reactions than others, regardless of the actual opinion being espoused.

Sun columnist Munier Salem ’10 responded to the survey by noting that many of his stories go “un-commented,” but that when he writes about Middle Eastern affairs, “the opposite is true.” He added, “a string of comments often appear at the bottom of the page and hate mail appears in the inbox.”

But the truth, as Salem added, is more nuanced: “Israel-Palestine garners this response automatically, regardless of what you write. You can’t use the mail to gauge how insightful/controversial/terrible the story may be. It’s a constant level of response that everyone who writes on the subject receives. And not all of the mail is negative.”

And although controversial topics can stimulate debate and spur both parties to think more deeply, sometimes reader feedback is misguided or adds nothing to the discussion.

An example from columnist Judah Bellin ’12 is particularly on point. In response to his Oct. 5 column “To Debate Evolution Is To Appear Nutty — Why?”, he said he “received a number of nasty e-mails from — you guessed it — science and engineering majors. They seemingly thought I identified with the arguments of these debunkers.”

He continued: “In reality, though, I was merely attempting to understand why the ‘debunkers’ make these arguments. My experience has reinforced an important lesson: People read what they want to read.”

And on the news side, stories in the Reimagining Cornell series prompt a lot of attention. “A lot of faculty are saying ... The Sun is the only publication that’s actively investigating Reimagining Cornell,” reporter Lucy Li ’11 stated in an e-mail. “From what I’ve heard from the 70-plus people who have been in contact with me, a lot of people are reading our paper and taking our [Reimagining Cornell] coverage very, very seriously.”

As a final note: Most staffers respond to reader e-mails, according to our survey. Sun policy allows this, and Perlmutter recently e-mailed all opinion columnists with a reminder “to act professionally and courteously to everybody that writes” in. “[F]eel free to respond back with verve and conviction, but remember to keep it professional.”

Every Sun staffer strives to put out a professional-quality product. Readers have the right to be heard in how that product meets their expectations. I encourage all readers to speak their mind, through the proper channels, thoughtfully and considerately. If that happens, everyone benefits.

Rob Tricchinelli is a second-year student in the Law School and also holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland. He can be reached at public-editor@cornellsun.com. The public editor column appears alternate Mondays this semester.