Newspaper establishes guidelines for election coverage

By Ed Pierce

With under two months now left until the Nov. 3 general election in Maine, The Windham Eagle newspaper stands ready to provide objective coverage of the candidates and races in the Windham and Raymond communities.

To be fair to everyone concerned, here are the rules the newspaper is establishing for election coverage this fall:

Letters to the Editor endorsing candidates will be accepted up to seven days prior to Election Day and ending on Tuesday, Oct. 27. The letters should be sent by email to [email protected] and be no more than 150 words in length. The deadline for submitting letters is noon on Tuesdays for that week’s newspaper edition.

The newspaper will print no more than two letters endorsing a candidate per edition. Readers may only submit one letter supporting a candidate during an election cycle. The letters will be published in the order that they are received by the newspaper and any candidate endorsement letters remaining will be published on Oct. 30.

Candidate endorsement letters must focus on reasons why the writer supports the candidate they are endorsing and are not to be used to attack opposing candidates or imply opponent shortfalls or else they will be rejected for publication.

Organized letter-writing campaigns are not allowed by the newspaper and letters deemed to be part of an organized campaign will not be published.

Because of space limitations in the print editions of the newspaper, letters will only be published from residents living in Windham or Raymond, and endorsing candidates in districts that they reside in.

The Windham Eagle newspaper does not endorse candidates. All Letters to the Editor will be reviewed before publication to verify information and edited for conformity to the newspaper rules and to correct spelling and grammar issues.

Election candidates and supporters are encouraged to advertise in the newspaper to reach their local voters. The circulation of the newspaper is 13,000 weekly copies with about 10,600 direct mailed to homes and businesses in Windham and Raymond. Newsstand copies are available in Windham and Raymond. To inquire about placing a paid political ad, call Melissa Carter at 207-329-3239 or by email at [email protected]

A questionnaire will be sent to election candidates by email after Labor Day and candidates are asked to complete it in a timely manner and send it back to the newspaper editor to compile into a comprehensive candidate preview for publication. 

The candidate previews will appear in the Oct. 16 and Oct. 23 editions of The Windham Eagle. Should a candidate not return the questionnaire by the established deadline, their space in the candidate preview will indicate that they did not respond to questions posed by the newspaper.

Candidate previews will include races for Maine State Senate, Maine House of Representatives, Windham Town Council, and RSU 14 Board of Directors. An article will also be published prior to the election with information about town referendums.

Statewide referendum and local referendums items will also be detailed for readers in an upcoming edition of The Windham Eagle newspaper prior to the election on Nov. 3. <