Today, we are introducing a new Letters to the Editor policy
that we hope will stimulate a lively, informative forum for
discussion on current events in the community and head off personal
attacks on individuals.
Today, we are introducing a new Letters to the Editor policy that we hope will stimulate a lively, informative forum for discussion on current events in the community and head off personal attacks on individuals.
We’d like to foster dialogue and debate on our editorial pages. The debate can spirited, even pointed, but at the end of the day, when all the views are aired, we’d like our writers to be able to shake hands and move on. The newly-established Hollister Free Lance editorial board has created some ground rules to meet that goal:
The Free Lance will not publish letters containing crude language
The Free Lance will not publish endorsements for or complaints about individually named commercial products or services
The Free Lance will not publish accusations of criminal behavior
The Free Lance will not publish letters that are blatant endorsements of political candidates, or are an obvious part of a mass-mailing campaign by a candidate
The Free Lance will not knowingly publish false information
As always, your passion is welcome and your humor is appreciated. All letters must be signed by the author and include a street address and phone number for verification purposes. Only the writer’s name and hometown will be published. We’d also like to reiterate that the views of the letter writers are not necessarily those of the Hollister Free Lance.
The right of free speech is a cornerstone of journalistic integrity, and we firmly believe our readers deserve space in their newspaper to share their ideas, opinions and beliefs.
We encourage community members to not only read the opinion pages, but to contribute to the dialogue as well. Regardless of whether readers agree with all the letters we publish, we believe there is an undeniable value in presenting the diversity of opinions that exist in our community.
This page is as much yours as it is ours.
To respond to this editorial or comment on this issue, please send or bring letters to Editor, The Hollister Free Lance, 350 Sixth St., Hollister, Calif. 95023 or e-mail to ed****@fr***********.com.
