The Hull Times is adjusting its policy on candidate announcements beginning with the upcoming annual town election on May 18.

In the past, we made an allowance for one free announcement per candidate in the early weeks of the election cycle, with the remaining weeks available for paid advertisements. What has happened during the past several years is that too many candidates have waited until the last-minute deadline for those free announcements and then never again contributed to the paper during the election cycle. In fact, last year, we increased the size of the paper (at added expense) to publish and distribute multiple pages of free candidate announcements, news and photographs of campaigns, the annual candidates’ forum, and a full sample ballot, but there was not one paid political advertisement during the election season.

For a business that has only two sources of revenue – selling copies of the newspaper and selling ad space – this model is simply unsustainable.

The Times will now accept candidate announcements only as paid political advertisements.

We understand that this is a markedly different approach than what our readers are accustomed to, but there is no denying the economic conditions that have challenged the local news business during the past several years.

There also is an issue of fairness, frankly. Candidates running for office are expected to pay the companies that make their lawn signs, the printers that create fliers and stickers, and restaurants and function halls that host campaign events. Advertising and promotion are legitimate expenses in the course of a campaign, and candidates still have the freedom to spend as much, or as little, as they desire on all of these services as they seek office.

Mockups can be emailed directly to candidates and are also available on our website to demonstrate the sizes of ads and how a traditional candidacy announcement – text and photo – would look. Candidate announcements should have a maximum of 500 words at a cost of $125. Candidates may choose to purchase a display advertisement to call more attention to their campaign. A guide to the Times’ election policies, detailing the guidelines, sizing, and pricing, is available at this link.

This change in policy is only affecting candidate submissions. We will continue our coverage of important political issues, including the upcoming League of Women Voters campaign forum on Tuesday, April 21, and plan to publish the sample ballot in our May 14 edition.

In addition, the Times will dedicate a special section of our website, www.hulltimes.com, for election-related news and information about candidates, and will include the advertisements on this page. There will be no shortage of news about the May 18 election in these pages.

During the campaign, the Times may solicit candidates’ views on campaign issues, depending on the context and the circumstances. We will continue our longstanding policy of not accepting letters to the editor from candidates, as well as letters for or against candidates for office. All material published in our May 14 issue – the week before the election – will be subject to closer scrutiny because of the lack of opponents’ response time.

Political ads, in print and online, should be factual and in good taste. We reserve the right to reject advertising that makes assertions that cannot be verified. All political advertising must be paid for in advance of publication and identify the person or committee paying for it. Contact our office as soon as possible to reserve space on a first-come, first-served basis.

For information about advertising, call 781-925-9266 or email office@hulltimes.com. Deadline is Tuesday at 5 p.m. each week.

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