We love hearing from our readers — including when you disagree with us. Feedback, criticism, and tough questions make our journalism better, and we welcome all of it.This policy is about something different: how people treat our team.
Our reporters, editors, and staff are real people doing their jobs. We ask that all communication with them — by email, comments, social media, or any other channel — stay respectful. That means:
Personal attacks, insults, or abuse directed at our staff is not okay under any circumstances.
Criticism of our work is welcome. Threats, harassment, or intimidation are not.
Persistent, unwanted contact via Overstory Media and or personal channels after being asked to stop is not acceptable.
Discriminatory language of any kind — including racist, sexist, homophobic, or otherwise hateful remarks — will not be tolerated.
If a reader's conduct toward our team crosses these lines, we reserve the right to:
Decline to respond further to that individual
Remove or block them from our comment sections or social channels
Unsubscribe them from our newsletters
Refuse future service, including subscription access, at our discretion
We don't take these steps lightly, and we don't take them over honest criticism or disagreement — only over conduct that targets or endangers our staff. When we do act, we consider this policy the explanation: readers removed under it are being removed because of how they treated our team, not because of what they said about our journalism.
If you believe you've been removed in error, or have questions about this policy, you can reach our Chief Operating Officer, Shannon Havard, at [email protected].This policy applies across all Overstory Media Group publications, including The Coast, Fraser Valley Current, Georgia Straight, Capital Daily, Calgary Citizen, Vancouver Tech Journal, and Tasting Victoria.
