The producers of CITIZEN McCAW would like to credit and thank Sara de la Guerra of Blogabarbara for inspiring us with a great list of guidelines. We have, with permission, used some of her’s and created some of our own to manage this blog. The blog is meant to promote a civil discussion about the issues surrounding the editorial page, letters to the editor, Travis Armstrong’s journalistic ethics and fairness.

Identity

This blog is unique and focused on the subject stated above. One of the things that makes it unique is that we encourage people to use their real names. We believe that your statements will be taken much more seriously if your identity is known. You know who we are, and when we comment on this blog you will know by our names. We also understand the need for people to be able to maintain anonymity. If you choose this method of contributing to this blog, see section #1 below for details.

1. We require that you provide your name and a valid email address when you comment. Your email address will not be published, but comments with invalid email addresses will not be published. If you wish to remain anonymous, you may use a pseudonym, but please provide a valid email address.
2. Comments which try to point to the identity of another reader/commenter will not be published. For example, “Bob — I know that’s you” will not be published, as Bob might want to stay anonymous.

Content

1. Comments which advocate violence or harm to others will not be published, period.
2. Please be courteous and refrain from vulgarity and name calling.
3. Please do not send us threatening comments. If you do, at least be courageous enough to send them via email so we can respond to your concerns.
4. Comments which discriminate based on any of the basic federal affirmative action guidelines we all know and understand will not be accepted. If we are not sure you are discriminating or not — we probably won’t publish your comment. For example, if a comment points to someone’s sexual orientation in a mean-spirited way — it won’t fly.
5. “Splog” (Spam + Blog = Splog) will be deleted.
6. Please do not use this blog for marketing efforts for other blogs UNLESS the post is relevant to the subject matter at hand. Give us more information that is helpful, not a shameless plug.
7. Finally, don’t drink and blog, or drink and drive, for that matter – it can get you into a real sticky wicket.

Open Door Policy

1. If you have a problem with anything that is written on this blog or want to offer a post topic and news, let us know by emailing us at the.producers@citizenmccaw.com.
2. If you offer a community post that we choose to publish, we will not publish your name or email unless you say that it is okay. Otherwise we will say it came from a citizen stringer or a faithful reader…
3. We will accept community posts from anyone on subjects related to our opening statement, assuming they follow the above guidelines. Send them to: the.producers@citizenmccaw.com
4. You may not agree with us or the people in the posted video segments. Opposing views are welcome. Besides, how hypocritical would we be if we silenced anyone? We are not about keeping anyone’s views from seeing the light of day (or computer screen). As long as people follow the guidelines, everyone is welcome to participate in this blog.
5. We request that your post be kept to a couple of paragraphs as that is what works best for reader comprehension and response.