User Agreement

Connect | News Story Comments | Discussions | Michigan Radio Asks | Newsletter | Daily News Email | User Agreement The Internet allows news organizations to fulfill some of the primary functions of journalism in ways never before possible. The most notable improvement is the fostering of a public forum. Michigan Radio ("MR") is making extensive efforts to provide an online forum for questions, comments, and arguments. However, we have to ensure that our forum remains a healthy one. By using our interactive online features, the user ("you") hereby agrees to the following terms and conditions: - Your comments will not contain language that is defamatory, offensive, obscene, or pornographic. - You will not use language that discriminates based on gender, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, or other such characterization. A user can be permanently banned from our comment services for using hate speech. - You will express your opinion without affecting the ability of others to do the same. We encourage open debate and argument, but this requires that all participants are respectful and courteous. Do not attack or threaten other users. If it becomes apparent that you are actively discouraging other users from commenting, MR may remove your comments or suspend you from the forum. - You will not post repetitive or duplicate comments. Comments that are repeated accidentally will be removed without further repercussion. If you intentionally interrupt the conversation, you can be suspended from the forum. - Comments must relate to specific page where you are posting. MR reserves the right to remove comments that stray from the topic at hand. MR will remove irrelevant posts, as well as "spam" posts that solicit or advertise without permission.  - You agree to let Michigan Radio use the comments for other purposes. Possible uses include reading comments on the air, displaying on other web pages (e.g. -- MR's home page), or posting on social media services. - You claim responsibility for your comment. User comments are separate from Michigan Radio and do not represent our editorial viewpoint. MR will review as many comments as possible, but MR is not responsible for violations of these guidelines. These terms apply to Michigan Radio (http://michiganradio.org, http://facebook.com/michiganradio), The Environment Report (http://environmentreport.org, http://facebook.com/environmentreport), Jack Lessenberry's Essays and Interviews (http://jackshow.blogs.com/jack), Facing the Mortgage Crisis (http://facingthemortgagecrisis.org), and any other comment-enabled web service that we manage.