Editorial Policy
1) Articles of a political or controversial nature submitted for posting shall be
reviewed by at least two members of the staff before posting.
2) We will not endorse candidates in elections or issues in referenda.
3) Articles for posting should be objective and not include inherent bias on an issue, otherwise they could be designated as letters to the editor or
Op-ed pieces.
4) Different points of view regarding articles, letters to the editor and op-ed pieces are encouraged and will be accepted as letters to the editor.
5) Letters to the Editor which are printed must not exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor which are published online must not exceed 750 words. LTEs that are in print can refer to a longer letter online; so for instance if you did a synopsis of a letter for print, then you could say at the end, “for more details, please see the full letter on HK-Now.com.”
6) Op-eds which are printed must not exceed 500 words. Op-eds which are published online must not exceed 1500 words.
7) Letters that are submitted are subject to the Terms of Use. Example: You cannot submit any materials that are unlawful, threatening, defamatory, harassing, abusive, disruptive, offensive, profane, or plagiarized, or are false or misleading as statements of fact or origin, or violate the rights of any third party in any manner.
8) Quotes will not be used without attribution.
9) We cannot print all of the material submitted to us and our selection is not a reflection on the content or quality of the material that we receive.
10) To be eligible for print, submissions need to be submitted by noon on Wednesday the week before the following Thursday’s print edition (i.e., 8 days before publication).
11) Comments from readers will be allowed; they can be published on HK-Now.com only if the writer identifies him/herself (no aliases) AND the item is reviewed by the editorial staff to maintain a standard of decorum.
An additional note on Editorial Policy:
The primary source of revenue for Haddam Killingworth News is the ads we run for local businesses. We do not charge for articles or calendar items. Classified ads are free for individuals.
Articles: One of our goals is to support businesses in our two towns by publishing articles about local businesses. Such articles are intended to provide information to our readers without being an infomercial. To avoid being promotional, the article should provide contact information so the reader can contact the business to get details and costs of services.
Classified Ads: These are intended only for individuals selling household items. That can include vehicles, lawn care equipment and tools. These are free for individuals for two weeks. There is a small fee for classified ads from a business.
Calendar Items: These are intended to be about municipal meetings/hearings of town boards or agencies, items of interest from churches and non-profit organizations. The calendar is a service to our community, and is not to be used by businesses as an alternative to purchasing an ad in the paper.
Calendar items from churches or non-profits have in the past included costs related to their events. We can continue doing this, but it is better to provide contact information for readers to get full details of such events.
A business or non-profit having a unique event should be encouraged to take out an ad or submit an article about the event, keeping in mind the concern that such articles should be informational without being promotional.
