Opinion Page Policies

Summary:

• Readers may submit either Letters to the Editor or Op-Eds;
• Submission to the Opinion Page is open primarily to Genesee County residents;
• All opinions are welcome but any statement of fact must be backed by evidence;
• No personal insults, no name-calling, keep it civil;
• Only digital submissions are accepted.
• Submissions are not edited.

The Batavian accepts two types of submissions for publication on its opinion page:

• Letters to the Editor
• Op-Eds

Letter or Op-Ed
What constitutes a letter to the editor or an op-ed is largely a matter of how you want to define it.  Typically, letters are shorter, more opinionated, whereas op-eds are longer and contain more factual information in support of the opinions expressed.

The term op-ed is a hold-over from the era of printed newspapers when opinion columns would appear on a page opposite the editorial page, which expressed the official opinions of the newspaper. The op-ed page was the place where the newspaper would air opposing points of view.

Who may submit
Genesee County residents may submit letters or op-eds or letters on any topic in the news.  People who do not live in the county may only submit letters or op-eds on local topics.

The Batavian reserves the right at its sole discretion without setting precedent to accept submissions from people of prominence or organizations that are not living or based in Genesee County.

Submissions may be posted directly to the website and will go live on the opinion page once it is tagged “opinion.”  The Batavian reserves the right to immediately remove any submissions that don’t meet publication criteria. 

Real names are required for all submissions and the profile page of the person making the submission should include accurate information on the person’s place of residence.

Opinions and false information
You are welcome to your opinion.  No submission will be removed because of your opinion.  If you say, “I believe …” or “I think …” that is an opinion.  If you state, “XYZ happened,” that is an attempt to make a statement of fact.  If that statement is false (examples of a false statements, “bees do not pollinate flowers,” or “the earth is flat."), your submission will be removed.  To be clear, if you say, “I believe the earth is flat” it is an opinion.  If you say, “the earth is flat,” that is an attempt to make a statement of fact that lacks any evidence to support the statement.  The opinion is allowed.  The false statement is not.

If you state an opinion that is based on false information, don’t be upset or surprised if the publishers or other readers leave comments that provide correct, truthful information that contradicts your opinion.

Keep it civil
Insults and name-calling are not permitted in any submission.  Public officials should expect criticism and often that criticism can seem or be rather personal.  The Batavian does not permit personal attacks but what constitutes a personal attack on an elected official or another public person can be a gray area.  The Batavian reserves the right to use its own discretion to determine what constitutes a personal attack and remove any submissions that cross the hard-to-define line.  However, insults and name-calling are not permitted even against public people.  Keep your writing civil.

How to submit
All submissions must be electronic.  We do not accept submissions on paper or through postal mail.  If you do not wish to make a submission through your own account on thebatavian.com, you may email your submission to the publisher, howard@thebatavian.com.

No editing
Submissions are not edited by The Batavian.  Each contributor is responsible for spelling, punctuation, and grammar as well as readability.  The Batavian reserves the right to remove submissions that are difficult to read because of poor writing.