Submission Guidelines

Yakimbe is focused on news and events happening in mid-Michigan, specifically the five-county area surrounding Lansing and East Lansing.

When trying to judge if an item of interest belongs on Yakimbe, just ask yourself:

Are there people from the area in this story? Does it directly affect the area?

If you can answer yes to one of those, it's good to submit. If you're still not sure, go ahead and submit anyway. Ultimately, the community is the judge of what appears on Yakimbe.

What should I submit?

  • Any local news item or event, including items about mid-Michigan from national publications
  • National stories that directly involve mid-Michigan; e.g. Obama speaking at Michigan State University
  • Information can come from any source, including your own blog or Web site, but the topic at hand must involve the mid-Michigan area.

What should I NOT submit?

  • Most national and international stories. While many national topics, such as Obama's proposed health care plan, indirectly affect mid-Michigan, these stories should not be posted unless there is a direct tie to the community. Many other forums exist to discuss these topics; the idea behind Yakimbe is to highlight the most interesting local news and events.
  • National or international stories from the local paper. Being published in the local paper does not automatically make a story local.

When submitting...

  • Please refrain from doing things to make your submission stand out, such as using all-caps or exclamation points or stating how great the article is.
  • Don't post blog spam. If an article simply reports on something they found on another site, please post the original site.
  • Do not include the Web address of the site you are submitting in the title. Yakimbe will take care of that for you.
  • Please refrain from sensationalizing or editorializing headlines. Be reasonable and objective when submitting.
  • Yakimbe editors reserve the right to edit or kill any posts they deem inappropriate.

When commenting...

  • Be civil. If you wouldn't say it to someone in a face-to-face conversation, don't say it here.
  • Engage in intelligent conversation. Please add facts to the topic at hand or present a counterpoint to someone's argument.
  • When disagreeing, do not sling insults at the original poster. E.g. "You're an idiot! Everyone knows government spends too much." can be improved by instead saying "Personally I think government spends too much. Just look at the budget shortfalls in Lansing, East Lansing and Ingham County"
  • Gently educate new members about the rules as needed. If a post is inappropriate but well-intended, explain in the comments why you down-voted it.
  • Do not be humorous. Comedy does not translate well in comments and tends to take over threads.
  • Don't engage in flamewars. If a commenter is not adding anything substantive to a conversation or provoking you, down vote them or walk away.
  • Do not sign comments. Your username is displayed with your post, and others can learn more about you from your profile page.
  • Do not use all caps in comments.
  • Down-vote items you feel are inappropriate for the site. Do not post comments about how you feel something is inappropriate, or that you just down-voted something.
  • Do not post comments complaining about being down-voted. It happens to everyone at some point.