Rules for submitting Comments on news items

“Comments” to published articles are always welcome at SabaNews. You can submit a Comment to an article by filling in the form at the end.

If you submit a comment for the first time, your comment will be held for approval by the Editors. This is essential to avoid spam messages. When approved, further comments will be published immediately. However  be aware that the contents of your Comments will be monitored by the Editors.

1. Authors sign their comments or letters with their true name or a synonym.
   We accept that, in a small community, individuals may want to convey a message or share an opinion, but are afraid of the backfire that publication may have on them.
2. Authors must supply a valid email address on which they can be contacted. This will not be published.
   In the case that, for some reason, there is  an issue with the content of the message, we need to have a way to communicate with the author.
3. In case of a comment to an article, the content of the comment MUST relate to the article to which it is attached.
   If someone wants to communicate a message that is not directly related to the content of the article, he or she should communicate this through a “Letter to the Editor”. Subsequently, this will be published as a news article.
4. Authors may express their opinions about authorities and organizations and the individuals that represent them.
   For instance, authors may express their opinion about the functioning of “the minister of public affairs”, “the police”, “the Lt. Governor”, but not about aspects of the private life of the person that performs that function. Freedom of speech is embedded in the constitution, so certainly persons that hold a public function, i.e. a function for which the salary is paid from community funding, e.g., the tax payer, must be aware that the community not only has the right, but also the moral obligation, to follow the performance of such a person within his public function.
5. Authors may NOT express their opinions about private individuals.
   Of course, hate mails against individuals cannot be tolerated on a public medium.

After all, we live in a constitutional democracy where citizens have the constitutional right to express their opinion freely, but is inappropriate to insult individuals.

The Editors of SabaNews consider Comments being an other level of communication, than, e.g., a Letter to the Editor”. This contribution will be published as an individual article, hence has a different level of impact. This is in line with the rules applied by most online news sites that allow comments. You can read the rules for publishing a “Letter to the Editor” HERE.

The Editor reserves the right to remove the comment if he believes that the above rules have been violated.

Abuse
In the case that you feel that a Comments  is published that violates one or more of the above rules, you should send the Editor a message through the Contact Form so that he can take a position. (66)