Intent is to ensure ads highlight the positiveFocus on character and integrity
Although it’s just the middle of November, you can already see the election-year rhetoric heating up. TV, radio, newspapers and the web are filling with vile references about candidates of every political persuasion.
Up North Voice will not take that road. As has been our policy over the years, we will accept paid political advertisements in the primary and general elections, as well as letters to the editor.
However, we will not allow our pages to overflow with the traditional letters and ads you see in other publications. The ones where people use words and images to attack candidates based on their political party, a few words taken out of context, or even the brand of car they drive.
Our business philosophy is to help build and strengthen communities. We will not undermine that by being part of the angry political rhetoric that permeates politics on both sides of the aisle. That isn’t what we are about.
We offer our readers coverage that is unique and vital to the area. And the positive way we cover the community is what our readers and advertisers tell us they like the most about the paper.
Going forward we want to make our editorial and advertising policy clear about elections:
If you have a letter of support for someone, we will run it. If you are a candidate, we will run your political ad for you. However, if a letter or ad includes information on, or identifies the other candidate, or members of the opposition party, we will not run either.
Just talk about the strengths and experience of your candidate. If they can’t win based on their character, background, and integrity, they don’t deserve to be elected anyway.
Although this policy has been costly for us over the years in terms of revenue, we’ve grown comfortable with it. It’s ethical and responsible. And ultimately, in our small way, we hope this will help elevate the dialogue of politics in our nation.
Thank you for reading!
- Mark Constance can be reached at mconstance@upnorthvoice.com
