This weekend, I was thrilled to talk with readers and introduce our paper to more people at the 2nd Annual Swap-A-Rama, which was put on by Pawn-A-Rama. While this story isn’t about the swap meet, I would be negligent if I didn’t point out what a well run and awesome event they put on, we’ll certainly be back, and next time I’ll bring more staff so we can do a proper story on the event. Frankly, I didn’t get away from the table often, which is excellent.
However, one of the takeaways from that event is that people are sick and tired of negative politics, dishonest press releases, and the horrible state of our political system. These complaints go against candidates, parties, and PACs.
During the event, I received almost a dozen press releases that were either HIGHLY negative, untrue, or even threatening to other candidates and media outlets. I won’t go into detail; however, at our Sunday staff meeting, it was decided that we would no longer print political press releases or accept political ads. In the primary season, we rejected 60% of our submitted ads. At least 1 federal campaign still spams our inboxes with up to 20 press releases daily. We’re saying enough is enough.
We will contact campaigns to request a story about each candidate, a brief bio, a platform, etc. Again, there will be no mention of other candidates other than a brief mention of one candidate endorsing another. Storys WILL be positive and affirming. If a candidate chooses not to submit, then the week before the election, we will list those who decided to ignore our request. These stories should be fact and give candidates one chance to reach our 650 (as of this writing) readers!
Readers who would like to write the editor may do so. HOWEVER, letters about campaigns and election issues will be limited to 150 words, limited to one issue or campaign, and may not appear in the very next issue of the paper (they may be delayed by as much as a month due to space constraints). Local, state, and federal government issues will NOT have such limits.
Letters MUST include First Name and Last Initial UNLESS the author is a member of ANY political campaign, employee or official with a Party, or the Candidate of the same. Those folks MUST use their full name. Letters to the editor may not include threats of repercussion (other than the threat of not voting or removal from office), threats of harm, or threats of criminal actions. Persons who can not follow our letter to the editor policy will not have their letter printed.
Persons submitting inappropriate letters will have their email addresses blocked on our server, and any mailed-in letters will be disposed of without opening. Threats against The Great Falls Gazette, its employees, or its agents will be forwarded to the appropriate authorities or legal counsel for prosecution. In today’s digital age, some people think they can make threats without repercussion, but that isn’t true.
Author: Andy Anderson
Andy is publisher of Foxys Publishing Co, as well as pressman, ad sales, distribution and sometime janitor. He occasionally makes a wild attempt at writing but quite often is seen running around our offices trying to "Get 39 million things done today..."
