Member Submission Policy

The policies below apply to both articles and letters submitted by members. The only exceptions will be articles by Gazette reporters which will be required to include the response within the article itself.

In order to provide fair, comprehensive, factual coverage:

Fairness

1. The Gazette will not publish hearsay—that is, allegations not based on the author’s first-hand observation.

2. Nor will we publish accusations that are not specific or are not substantiated by factual assertions.

3. Copies of submissions that make substantive accusations against specific individuals will be given to those persons to enable them to write a response, and both submissions and response will be published simultaneously. This means that the original submission may not appear until the issue after the one for which it was submitted.

Anonymity

Unattributed letters will not be published unless the Gazette knows the identity of the writer, and therefore must be signed when submitted (giving phone number). Such letters will be published only where a reason is given to the editor as to why public identification of the writer would impose an unfair burden of embarrassment or difficulty. Such letters must relate to Coop issues and avoid any non-constructive, non-cooperative language.

Respect

Member submissions must not be personally derogatory or insulting, even when strongly criticizing an individual member’s actions. Writers must refer to other people with respect, refrain from calling someone by a nickname that the person never uses himself or herself, and refrain from comparing other people to odious figures like Hitler or Idi Amin.