LOCAL ONLY, PLEASE

In his May 27 column, the editor stated correctly: "We aren't a national
newspaper. We serve an established, loyal market area of three counties,
and local issues have to be our top priority."

And yet the Opinion and Second Opinion pages of your May 31 issue include
letters from Fort Pierce; Houston; Eau Claire, Wis.; Fritch, Texas;
Worcester, Mass; and Fairfield, N.J. On those same pages there were just
two that originated locally on the critically important subject of drug abuse.

Even though I certainly oppose legalization, I readily agree that the war
on drugs needs much more debate and a lot of light needs to be shed on
misstatements by both sides. But is the importation of letters from out of
state to a local newspaper the proper way to convince a "loyal market area
of three counties"?

The amount of local support for or opposition to the war on drugs might
best be judged by, and reflected in, the number and content of letters to
the editor on this subject that originate locally - not letters from afar.

After all, the editor of the Daily News just recently decreed that "local
issues have to be our top priority. ... We aren't a national newspaper."

Peter Perceval
Niceville