St. Lawrence County was recently wrapped up one of the most heated primaries I’ve ever seen as Undersheriff Sean O’Brien and Sheriff’s Investigator Patrick ‘Rick’ Engle faced-off for the Republican nod for sheriff in a primary.

Both are still hoping to win the seat in November.

But this year, things were already getting heated in March. One of the most difficult parts of running a newsroom during tough political races is moderating our letters to the editor section.

Oftentimes I’m met with anger when I ask for evidence to support claims in a letter that I can’t easily verify. Sometimes I’m accused of bias or favoritism, but I genuinely work toward balance.

Defining the line between allowing people to share their opinions without allowing the spread of false information is a lot trickier than it sounds. On the whole, I think humans are pretty bad at that -- we see it all the time on social media.

For instance, someone might say they “believe” something rather than acknowledge it as a hard fact, which makes it an opinion.

Then again, if that belief can easily be verified as false, it’s crossing a line we’ll probably need to edit or tone down depending on the severity of the claim.

Sometimes it can be more complicated, such as when someone says something occurred, but there is no recording or paper trail to support the claim.

In general, these sorts of things may stay in the letter or be removed based on the severity or impact they may have.

Conversely, in the middle of a political race where varying interests are looking to discredit each other, we’re going to have a higher level of scrutiny.

Sometimes we’ll include an Editor’s Note saying we couldn’t verify a claim.

Sometimes we’ll ask the submitter for supporting evidence.

Frequently, the letter writer is repeating third-hand knowledge as fact, but has not him or herself actually been provided with evidence outside of the hearsay.

In most cases, letters can be modified or rewritten to express the same point of view without including the unverifiable claims, or by presenting them in a less specific matter.

While I’m hopeful the tone of the letters we receive in political races will improve after the primary elections, I thought it might be helpful to offer some tips for getting them published without revisions.

We have a limit of 400 words per letter. We also require a name and hometown.

We provide some flex on length when needed, but if you’re over that limit, we’re probably going to ask you to cut it back.

Don’t include personal attacks. Criticism of public figures is welcome, but don’t be nasty just to be nasty. Share your concerns in a civilized manner. It will have more impact to other readers if you do.

Provide evidence if you’re making a claim or accusation; the more substantial the claim, the greater the need for supporting documentation.

If you are making a claim presented as fact, provide some proof. If you have enough evidence to include it in your letter, share it with me, so I can have it as well.

I understand there are times when you may have witnessed something, but one person’s account of a situation isn’t always going to be enough if the claim being made has potential ramifications. People lie to me often, it’s part of the job.

Finally, try to focus on the local impact of an issue or stick to local topics.

I appreciate those who submit letters. I think they are an important part of our paper and I hope we continue to be the main source for moderated public discussion in the county. But maybe help us out a bit and do a bit of homework prior to submitting them.

Jimmy Lawton is News Editor at North Country This Week and NorthCountrynow.com