Asheville Watchdog welcomes comments on many of our story pages. To join the discussion, you must enter your name* and email address. (*We encourage you to use your real name, but we recognize there are legitimate reasons for wishing pseudonymity.)

By submitting comments, you agree to the following guidelines:

  • Rule #1: The editors reserve the right to reject or remove any user or comment for any reason at any time.
  • See Rule #1. And No, This Doesn’t Violate Your First Amendment Rights. Don’t even go there.
  • To avoid being rejected or removed:
    • Be constructive. First-hand experiences, credible information, and informed questions help build a constructive dialogue. Personal arguments and attacks do not.
    • Be respectful. Debate ideas, not people. Whether you agree or disagree with another comment, please follow the Golden Rule when addressing others.
    • Be relevant. Please keep your comments relevant to the story or topic at hand, and ideally, read the story before commenting on it.
    • Be factual. As the saying goes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts. We don’t allow anyone to use our pages to spread misinformation.

There! That’s it! You can stop reading here, and start adding to the conversation.

But if you need more guidance, keep reading.

Asheville Watchdog editors will reject comments that are:

  • Abusive. Racist, sexist, or otherwise bigoted comments; ad hominem attacks; and threatening language of any kind.
  • Bullying or belligerent.
  • Misleading. Do not post false or misleading information. If you reference another source, please cite it. If you present something as a fact, please include the proof.
  • Spammy. No fundraising, advertising, marketing, or self-promotional material allowed. Electioneering is also prohibited.
  • Content-free. If your comment consists entirely of “Amen” or “I agree” or “your an idiut” or other variations without adding a new thought or perspective, please save it.

Summary: Jerkish or brainless reader comments that pollute our information stream will be trashed.

But if you still need a more complete listing of reasons your submission might be rejected, click here.

If you have any questions about Asheville Watchdog’s comments policies or editorial policies in general, or to complain about abusive posts, please contact bark@avlwatchdog.org.