Campaigns love to use third-party sources, most often media accounts, to buttress whatever case they are trying to make for or against a candidate.

This is not news to anyone who has covered politics.

But before the campaign season gets too intense, I want to let everyone know what the policy of The Indy will be in such matters. We know our content will be used and distorted by campaigns. We also know there is only so much we can do.

So:

----We will not endorse candidates. We also do not write editorials, as you may have noticed. That policy will apply to endorsements, too. Any implication otherwise will be false.

----We will not be silent if something on our site is being used to create a false impression. This is already happening during the Democrats’ campaign against the recall efforts targeting three state senators. On a website and in mail pieces, the Democrats are using quotes from my opinion columns to imply The Indy has taken a stance. They know that’s not true, and they are doing it because they know a news organization's imprimatur carries more weight than some pundit's bloviating. But they do not appear to care. We do. (I have already written about how my role as a commentator is different from the news content.)

We hope you as readers will help us in our efforts to always be transparent and hold people accountable. If you see our content being distorted during the coming campaign season, please contact us immediately.

Campaigns are naturally replete with obfuscation and demagoguery. Most news organizations remain silent if they are made unwitting accomplices to these attempts to sway voters.

We will not.