"Internet promoters make much use of the word 'interactive,' as if it's a phenomenon that emerged only with the creation of the World Wide Web. In fact, American newspapers have been interactive since before this nation was born, in a low-tech way, and nowhere is that more evident than on the pages we reserve for letters to the editor."

That's how my column in today's Bee begins. Letters to the editor have always been important to newspapers. We get a lot of them at The Bee -- nearly 10,000 each year. We cherish the debates they spark, and try to get as lively a page of letters into print each day as we can.

We're abetted in that task by hundreds of local writers who bombard us with their thoughts, their crochets, their visions every day. Now that's "interactive."