Shedding (Ellie) Light

The letter from the (editorial page) editor you've been patiently waiting for:

So, let's take care of the nuts and bolts before we get to the good stuff: yes, we verify letters before they run in the paper. We verify to ensure that someone who signs a letter has actually written it, and that it's exclusive to our paper (in other words, not a mass mailing). Our policy is that local letter writers get to write on any topic; letter writers from out of our circulation area get to write only about topics that are unique to Philadelphia or the Daily News. "Ms. Light" affirmed all counts. We don't ask for proof of residency.

Read the whole thing. I hope there's more that can be done to prevent this kind of cheating but at the same time I don't think this is the thing that'sgoing to destroy Barack Obama or newspapers, neither of which need much help in that area.