Election letter guidelines

Published on October 17, 2008

The general election will be Nov. 4. The deadline for submitting election-related letters to the Bulletin is 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26. Letters concerning candidates and ballot measures should be focused on issues involved in the campaign. These letters will be limited to 200 words. Letters that address issues and bring new perspectives to the discussion will be given preference. Letters become the property of the Bulletin and the editor reserves the right to edit, condense or reject any submissions. Writers are limited to one letter in a 30-day period. The Bulletin will strive to publish as many letters as space permits. All letters that meet the requirements for publication will be posted at www.amherstbulletin.com. All letters must be signed, with a return address and a phone number for verification. Addresses and phone numbers are not published. Please put "Letter to the editor" in the subject line of e-mail.

With election letters, in particular, we encourage our readers to stick with the facts and not include information that is either false or cannot be confirmed one way or the other.

Toward this end, we will rely on a number of fact-checking sites for letters about the national election to make sure that letters are as accurate as possible. There are two particularly useful Web sites for verifying campaign claims. One is Factcheck.org, a nonpartisan Web site operated by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Another is Politifact.com, which is operated by the St. Petersburg Times, a Florida newspaper owned by the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit journalism school.

Please send letters by electronic mail to letters@amherstbulletin.com, or by fax to 549-8181, or by post to Letters, Amherst Bulletin, 100 University Drive, Amherst, MA. 01002.