Particularly during elections season, The Day’s Opinion page is studded with what I think of as the jewels of local opinion writing: Letters to the Editor. Citizens write in with their viewpoints on the ablest candidates, the deserving incumbents and the changes the winners must make if elected.

They tend to follow a cardinal rule of all writing: Write about what you know. The letters often begin with “I have known So-and-so for 20 years, and he/she deserves to be elected to....” Letters to the Editor about local issues rarely come from guesswork. And why would it be otherwise? A hundred other people in town know So-and-so, or are aware of any incident the writer may describe, and they are ready to write their own letters supporting or contesting the first writer’s point. Honesty is the best policy.

A letter may not read read like Shakespeare, and the editor may shorten some purple prose to fit under the 200-word limit, but most letters to the editor ring the bell of authenticity. They are to the point, often passionate, and usually interesting. Most would get an A in writing class for checking off those boxes.

The letters are as sound as they are because, immodest as this may seem, a good Opinion page sets the standards by example. Before publication, the opinions of the newspaper and its own columnists have to pass the in-house sniff test for clear reasoning based on knowable facts, and for civility. A superior Opinion page goes even further, welcoming and seeking out differing viewpoints to give readers the benefit of well-reasoned arguments on all sides. (We do that.)

They teach this stuff in journalism school, but like other skilled crafts it also spreads through unofficial apprenticeships -- by watching the experts at work.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the National Conference of Editorial Writers, a professional group that developed and promoted high standards for the writing of opinion for print and broadcast. Editorial page editors of The Day as far back as Kenneth Grube in the 1960s and ’70s honed their skills as members of NCEW and developed a network with whom they could consult on issues and practices. Like a school superintendent and a chief of police, an editorial page editor tends to be the only one of a kind in a given town. NCEW was an excellent source of trusted peer advice available from communities of all sizes across the United States and Canada.

NCEW hung on as newspapers and broadcast stations lost revenue and began to cut back. Eventually, under different acronyms, it has shrunk to a mostly online gathering, but members still confer.

This is a prime week for bringing this up because the group’s online discussion has centered on whether and how many races should get endorsements this year. It is the Opinion pages of America that traditionally brought their broadest experience and most careful thinking to endorsements. Many news organizations have had to give that up but others, like The Day, consider it more important than ever.

When you read an endorsement written under professional standards of thorough research and careful reasoning, you are not getting a foregone conclusion, no matter how you might suspect the opposite. First, the news staff goes to great lengths to reach out and interview all candidates in the local races for the General Assembly. Meanwhile, the editorial board interviews the candidates for governor, and The Day sponsors a public, streamed debate among the candidates for the Second Congressional District. Then, and only then, are decisions made about whom to endorse in the races for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives; the governorship; and state Senate seats.

The endorsements are appearing in the run-up to the Nov. 8 election. We hope you will find them, and the letters written by your neighbors, helpful in making your decisions on Election Day. All we ask is that you vote. It matters more than ever.

Lisa McGinley is a member of The Day Editorial Board.