Letters policies

The Post-Bulletin welcomes your contributions to these pages. Here's how to do it. Questions about the letter policy can be addressed to letters editor Eric Atherton, (507) 285-7709.

Campaign letters

• Length will be limited to 225 words. All letters that don't meet our length and verification guidelines — full name, phone number and street address — will be rejected without notification.
• We'll accept no more than one campaign-related letter before the Aug. 10 primary and one before the Nov. 2 general election, per author.
• Letters must address issues that are specific to the position the candidate is seeking. In other words, we'll reject letters that applaud or deplore a candidate in broad generalities. If you believe a candidate is caring and trustworthy, explain specifically what the individual has done to demonstrate those qualities.
• No locally written guest columns about or from candidates will be used. We used to permit each candidate to write an op-ed before the primary and another one before the general election. But with every single legislative position up for grabs this year, and the high number of city, county and school board seats in play, we don't have the space for that. And many candidates tended to simply repeat information in their campaign brochures in these columns.
• We'll print no more than 30 campaign-related letters per week. If we receive more than that, preference will be given to letters that are well written, positive in tone and that address issues not covered by previous letter writers.

Letters to the editor

• Letters should be 225 words or fewer and include the name, hometown and daytime phone number of the writer. We verify all letters. Anonymous letters will not be published. We publish as many letters as possible, though we generally don't publish more than one letter per writer in a 30-day period.
• Letters can be sent to Editorial Page, Post-Bulletin, 18 First Ave. S.E., Rochester, MN 55901. You can also send e-mail to letters@postbulletin.com. (No attachments please.) In all cases, we must have name, hometown and phone number for verification.

Guest columns

• We also welcome longer submissions on issues we believe are of interest to our readers. These guest columns appear on the Opinions and Commentary pages, at our discretion. Length will generally be limited to 800 words.
• All letters and commentary pieces become the property of the Post-Bulletin, which reserves the right to edit material for clarity, grammar and newspaper style. We don't publish comments we consider libelous, defamatory or clearly inaccurate.
• The writer grants rights for the Post-Bulletin to use and republish the letter or column in all media and to authorize others to reprint it.
• If you have questions, call letters editor Eric Atherton at (507) 285-7709.