By Ruth Luse, Managing Editor
In the spirit of fairness to all candidates and with an eye toward providing the best service to readers, The Beacon has established a set of ground rules for news coverage of local school board election campaigns.
Under the guidelines, this newspaper commits to certain elements of news coverage, including providing background information on all known major candidates in an upcoming edition.
News releases and candidates’ position statements (including candidates’ letters to the editor) are welcome, but they will be used at the editor’s discretion in CAMPAIGN CORNER, or as resource material for stories written by the staff.
Story use, timing and treatment are entirely at the discretion of the local managing editor.
Every effort will be made to avoid the initial raising of controversial or sensational issues in the final edition — April 16 — before the school board election, which will be held April 21. The April 16 edition is known as the “rebuttal” week edition when letters of endorsement will not be permitted. Only comments by readers and candidates on issues previously raised in The Beacon will be permitted.
CAMPAIGN CORNER submissions (including letters) should be no more than 300 words and must arrive — by e-mail — no later than 10 a.m. on Mondays. All items will be subject to editing and must include the name of the writer. A phone number for confirmation must be included. Phone numbers will not be published. Questions? Call Ruth Luse, managing editor, at 924-3244, ext. 187.
Letters to the editor will be monitored closely in an effort to reserve this space for issue-oriented discussion among readers. The aim is to focus on what the potential voter needs to know, not on what the candidates want to say.
These guidelines reflect the reader service objectives of all Packet newspapers in local elections, school and municipal. Comments on them are welcome and will be considered for the future as this newspaper continues to reevaluate its policies and practices in an effort to produce the most useful news product possible for its readers.
Please address comments to: Editorial Board, The Princeton Packet Inc., P.O. Box 350, Princeton 08542.
