Follow the rules

Here at the CN&R, we have a stomach for politics, but this year has been a bit hard to bear. The rhetoric has reached new heights, a certain candidate and his running mate continue to lie with impunity, and we’ve seen that misogyny is alive and well even at the highest reaches of the political spectrum.

We’ve also seen propaganda and conspiracy theories flood our inbox for letters to the editor (cnrletters@newsreview.com). That’s why, on the run-up to Election Day, we are instituting some new rules regarding letters to the editor.

First off, to make room for more voices, we will not print multiple letters from the same author on a single subject. If you’ve weighed in on something or someone, you’ve had your say. Can’t stand Donald Trump? Great. Join the club. But you get one shot at saying so in this paper. Support Jill Stein? OK. Give her some love and be done with it.

Additionally, we will not print letters containing conspiracy theories, such as the one about Hillary Clinton supposedly having an ear piece in during the first presidential debate. Not gonna happen. Further, we will not spend an inordinate amount of time fact-checking a letter. If you provide a few citations from credible sources—not left or right think tanks or propagandists (Breitbart, Occupy Democrats, etc.)—your letter will be considered for publication.

CN&R prints most of the letters we receive, but we absolutely have the right to round-file the ones we view as not fit for print. We will not publish vulgarities, for example. It’s not censorship, by the way; it’s editing. You are welcome to express your opinions elsewhere.

In other news, check out CN&R’s extensive election coverage by clicking on the Election ’16 link on our homepage (newsreview.com/chico). Also, don’t forget that the Butte County League of Women Voters’ forums begin this evening (Thursday, Oct. 6). And finally, we want to remind those who aren’t registered to vote that there’s still time. In California, the deadline is Oct. 24. Please don’t delay.