For Oct. 29 edition
By Ruth Luse, Managing Editor
Locally, the Nov. 3 general election features races for one seat on the Hopewell Township Committee and two seats on both Hopewell Borough and Pennington Borough councils.
We expect interest in these contests will be greater than usual, simply because voters also are getting ready to choose a governor, two members of the state Assembly and county freeholders. In short, it’s a big election year.
In the spirit of fairness to all candidates and with an eye toward providing the best service to readers, this newspaper has established a set of ground rules for coverage of local election campaigns.
This newspaper commits to certain elements of news coverage, including providing background information on all known local candidates in the upcoming edition. Biographical information on local governing body candidates will appear in our Oct. 29 edition.
The initial raising of controversial or sensational issues in the “rebuttal week” edition, Oct. 29, will not be permitted. Without exception, only comments by readers and candidates on issues previously raised in HVN will be considered for publication that week. Letter writers, who are doing more than just endorsing their favorite candidates that week, must make reference to the previously raised issue they are addressing and the individual who raised it when submitting their letters to us that week.
CAMPAIGN CORNER submissions (including letters) should be no more than 300 words and must arrive — by e-mail ([email protected]) or fax — no later than noon Monday. Those who e-mail letters or statements that exceed the word limit will be asked to resubmit them. All items will be subject to editing and must be signed by the writer. For confirmation purposes, the writer’s daytime phone number must be sent with the letter. Phone numbers will not be published.
News releases and candidates’ position statements will be used at the editor’s discretion as resource material for stories written by the staff or in CAMPAIGN CORNER. Letters from candidates will be considered campaign statements and will appear in CAMPAIGN CORNER — unless their only purpose is to comment on news coverage of the campaign.
The aim of the HVN’s election coverage is to focus on what the potential voter needs to know — not on what the candidates and/or their supporters want to say.
The 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 re-evaluate 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.