Readers can use the comments section under most articles (posts) on the Notify Cardinal News website to submit a tip or ask a question (about an incident, for example). The comments section is available as a news tips alternative to using the EZ forms (NOTIFY! and MEDIA UPLOAD) for news tips at the top row of the Notify Cardinal News website. Comments are considered a type of UPSTREAM from you.
COMMENT USES
1) Submit a news tip (please remember to include the incident date, time and location and details. You may provide names and exact addresses; but they will be redacted for privacy, and private addresses will be redacted, or modified by rounding off in the block).
2) Ask a question about an incident (please remember to include the incident date, time and location and details, such as the type of emergency vehicles you saw at the scene. You may provide names and exact addresses; but they will be redacted for privacy, and private addresses will be redacted, or modified by rounding off in the block).
HOW TO LEAVE A COMMENT
Comments are located at the bottom of most articles (posts). Readers may post a comment under the Leave a Reply phrase.
Commenters must provide “identifier” information, but the identifier information can be anonymous via a spare email address or completely anonymous via a fake email address (please add “fake” in the email address to help CARDINAL NEWS understand that the email address is fake). Keep in mind, if you use a fake email address, you won’t get notifications via the comment section, and CARDINAL NEWS will have no way to contact you.
Alternatively, you can also identify yourself in the comment via your personal Facebook account (you must be currently logged in to your personal Facebook account — not a Facebook page for your business, for example).
MODERATION
Comments are moderated by CARDINAL NEWS before they are available for public display (downstream). Comments are moderated as soon as possible — and are publicly displayed or rejected for public display. PLEASE NOTE: Comments that are rejected for public display may still be helpful as a news tip that contributes to a greater investigative journalism project.
Spam comments are identified and deleted.
SALVAGING COMMENTS VIA MODERATION
Comments that can be salvaged by CARDINAL NEWS for public display in a downstream may be edited and cleaned up for public display by a CARDINAL NEWS moderator. A notice will be provided with a comment if the comment has been edited for public display.
By submitting a comment, readers/commenters agree that comments can edited for public display and community safety standards.
The type of information that will always be redacted in a salvaged/moderated comment will be personal names, single-family or townhouse residential addresses, and private medical incident information.
Psychiatric emergencies that affect the public may publicly displayed, but single-family or townhouse residential addresses will be redacted. Examples of psychiatric emergencies that affect the public include incidents that involve mass transit, traffic (road closures, delays), public buildings, criminal activity, and online threats or other online criminal activity.
Note: Photos and videos cannot be submitted via the comments section. The photo and video option is only available using the EZ forms (NOTIFY! and MEDIA UPLOAD) at the top row of the Notify Cardinal News website. Graphic photos or photos that include invasion of privacy (e.g., identify a person at their residence or inside a doorway or window) may be rejected or will be blurred. Images of juveniles at any scene may be rejected, or the faces of juveniles at a scene will be blurred.
COMMENT REJECTIONS
Comments with possible good intentions, but that violate Notify Cardinal News policy to the extent that they can’t be published will be listed and publicly published by 1) user name and 2) article/post identifier at a special page —
NotifyCardinalNews/rejectedcomments.
This procedure is completed as a courtesy so that users (commenters) know that their comment was rejected (and is not awaiting moderation).
Spam comments, offensive comments, threatening comments or hate comments may be rejected without notice, and users may be banned from future commenting. Users that provided a useful tip or information that is useful will NOT be banned from future commenting.
REASONS COMMENTS ARE REJECTED FOR PUBLIC DISPLAY
Comments are rejected for public display for the following common reasons …
too much complicated privacy information displayed
slanderous comment
ridiculous, ludicrous comment
excessive profanity
obvious misinformation
spam, threats, etc.
COMMENT PUBLISHING
Important comments may be converted to a NotifyCardinalNews.com article (post) or page, and may be promoted to encourage additional information (tips) or additional commentary. Comments may also be quoted and published on the official news site CARDINAL NEWS – Arlingtoncardinal.com.
On NotifyCardinalNews.com … Your user name or your Facebook account name will not be included in a promoted comment on Notify Cardinal News, unless you request that your user name or Facebook account name appear.
On CARDINAL NEWS — Arlingtoncardinal.com (or other CARDINAL NEWS websites) … Your user name or your Facebook account name will not be included in a promoted comment on a CARDINAL NEWS website, unless you request that your user name or Facebook account name appear.