Submissions and Editorial Guidelines

Established Aug. 1, 2025 · Revised Jan. 1, 2026 · Updated Sept. 1, 2026

Local news should be a space where thoughtful voices can be heard — even when we disagree. Because the Woodbridge Town Chronicle (WTC) is committed to fostering respectful, informed conversation about the issues that matter to our town, these guidelines are intended to ensure that this platform remains a welcoming and civic-minded environment for all readers.

Thanks for being part of the conversation.

— Sheila McCreven
Editor, Woodbridge Town Chronicle

Reader engagement

WTC does not host a public commenting platform. Reader engagement takes place through letters to the editor and Community Voice submissions, which are reviewed and curated by the editor.

Community Voice and guest opinion pieces

WTC may publish Community Voice or guest opinion submissions on matters of public interest, including active local issues, from members of the public and civic organizations.

To respect the integrity of town government review processes, WTC does not publish opinion submissions from applicants, their representatives, or others with a direct financial interest in applications currently pending before the boards or commissions discussed. Those matters are properly addressed through the formal public review processes established by the town.

Once an application, appeal, or enforcement matter has concluded, WTC may consider reflective or retrospective opinion submissions.

Length guidelines for guest opinion submissions:
Community Voice or guest opinion pieces should generally be 700–1,000 words.

Longer submissions may be considered in rare cases, but contributors are encouraged to stay within these ranges. All submissions are subject to editing for clarity and length.

To submit a guest opinion for our Community Voice section, please send it by email to the editor.

Letters to the editor

Letters to the editor provide a forum for readers to respond to coverage, share perspective, or highlight issues they believe merit public attention. Letters should be concise and focused. Publication is at the editor’s discretion.

Letters may address active matters, provided they do not function as advocacy from an applicant, the applicant's representative, or another party with a direct financial interest in a pending application.

Length guidelines for letters:
Letters to the editor should be no more than 350 words. Letters submitted at greater length may be edited by WTC to meet this guideline.

Writers must provide their name, town of residence and contact information for verification. Only the writer’s name (and town, if it is not Woodbridge) will ordinarily be published.

Letters may be edited for length, clarity, grammar and style. Substantive edits will be returned to the writer for approval before publication.

Writers are responsible for the opinions and factual assertions contained in their letters. Publication does not constitute endorsement by the Woodbridge Town Chronicle. WTC may request sources or documentation for factual claims and may decline to publish claims that cannot reasonably be substantiated.

To submit your letter, please send it by email to the editor.

Elections and referendums:
Letters concerning elections, referendums and other matters before voters are welcome and will be accepted throughout the public discussion.

Writers should disclose any official campaign role or officer position in an organization advocating for or against the matter discussed. Relevant disclosures may be included with the published submission.

The same standards concerning length, civility and factual assertions apply to election- and referendum-related letters.

Civility and community standards

WTC seeks to foster respectful, informed discussion about local issues. Submissions should be civil, constructive, and focused on the substance of the issue at hand. Personal attacks, misleading claims, or off-topic material will not be published.

Press releases and advocacy materials

WTC does not publish press releases, promotional materials, or organizational advocacy materials submitted for republication as standalone content or opinion pieces.

Press releases or similar materials may be reviewed as background information and, at the editor’s discretion, may be quoted, summarized, or referenced in independently reported news articles.

This does not preclude letters or original guest opinion submissions advocating a position on an election, referendum or other public issue when submitted in accordance with these guidelines.

Fundraising and informational links

WTC does not publish fundraising appeals or promotional solicitations.

However, letters to the editor or Community Voice submissions may include links to outside organizations when framed as factual, informational context rather than as a solicitation.

For example, acceptable phrasing might include:

“The public can learn more about our group, including ways to get involved or make financial contributions, by visiting our website.”

The inclusion of such references is subject to editorial discretion.

Reuse and republication

The Woodbridge Town Chronicle encourages the responsible sharing of its original journalism.

Unless otherwise noted, original content produced and first published by WTC is available for republication under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license.

Covered WTC articles may be republished in full, in print or online, including by commercial publications, provided that the original author byline is retained and the Woodbridge Town Chronicle is clearly credited. Online republications must include a link to the original article on woodbridge.town and must be freely accessible to readers.

Articles should be republished as originally published. Minor changes for house style, punctuation, dates or geographic context are permitted, but covered material may not be materially edited, abridged, rewritten, rearranged or otherwise adapted without permission from WTC.

If WTC subsequently publishes a correction or material clarification to a republished article, the republisher should promptly update its version accordingly.

This license applies only to original content produced by WTC. Letters to the editor, Community Voice and other guest submissions, photographs, illustrations, graphics, documents and other third-party material are not included unless specifically identified otherwise.

Advance permission is not required to republish covered content, but republishers are asked to notify the editor and, for online republication, provide a link to the republished article.

This policy is intended to facilitate responsible republication of individual WTC articles. It does not constitute permission for automated, systematic or wholesale republication of the WTC website or content feed. Please contact the editor to discuss syndication or other broader uses.

License information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

Contacting the editor

All submissions are reviewed by the editor. Submission does not guarantee publication. WTC reserves the right to decline submissions that do not meet these guidelines, fall outside the publication’s editorial scope, or raise process, fairness, or conflict concerns.

Readers are always welcome to share news tips, documents, public records, or story ideas, or to ask questions about coverage. You may contact the editor by email if you are unsure whether a submission is appropriate or would like to flag an issue you believe merits reporting attention.