Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program Blog Policy
Blog Intent
The Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program (WFLDP) seeks to build and support an online community in which wildland fire professionals can interact. We invite respectful discussion.
Comments that do not follow the guidelines set forth below or ones that make unsupported accusations will not be removed. We reserve the right to delete comments and suspend discussions at any time. Realize that comments cannot be edited; therefore, the entire post must be acceptable.
This moderation policy is subject to change to address additional matters as may be warranted. If you have a complaint about an item of user-generated content on this site, or feel that your own content was removed in error, please contact a moderator.
Blog Author and Commenter Identification
- All WFLDP blog authors and public commenters must register and be clearly identified with real names, not aliases. Anonymous postings will not be accepted.
Ownership and Moderation
- Comments submitted to the WFLDP blog shall be monitored by an authorized blog administrator assigned by the NWCG Leadership Subcommittee.
- The WFLDP blog does not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, and we do not endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.
- The WFLDP cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites.
Blog Articles
- All blog articles shall be reviewed and approved by an authorized blog administrator assigned by the NWCG Leadership Subcommittee before posting on a WFLDP blog.
Comment Guidelines
Comments will be accepted as long as they abide by the following guidelines:
- All comments will be respectful to others.
- Aren’t malicious or offensive and do not attack another person’s character;
- Don’t incite hatred on the basis of any personal characteristic, including on the basis of race, gender, marital or domestic status, disability, sexuality or age;
- Don’t include swearing or use inflammatory or obscene language;
- Don’t reveal personal details, such as private addresses and other contact details;
- Don’t break the law or give rise to civil liability, for example, defame a person, condone illegal activity or break copyright;
- Don’t impersonate or falsely represent a person or organization.
- No anonymous comments will be posted.
- All comments should be reasonably concise and are not spam.
- No comment shall advertise commercial products or services.
- Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other nongovernmental organizations or individuals that remain on the site are provided solely for the information of individuals using this blog. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of the WFLDP, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.
- All comments should be relevant to the topic being discussed.
- No comment will include information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems.
· All comments will abide by the Blogger Terms of Service and Posting Guidelines.
Blog Author and Comment Moderator Policy
The WFLDP is committed to focusing online behavior through the lens of “doing the right thing.”
The following guidelines apply to all comment moderators:
- Live up to the values and principles of the WFLDP: duty, respect and integrity.
- In accordance with the WFLDP values, you will take responsibility for any of your online activity conducted on the blog.
- Avoid personal attacks, online fights, and hostile personalities. If a blogger or any other online user posts a statement you feel is inappropriate, neither accept nor reject the post. Web capture or copy/paste the comment and blogger information and forward the matter to the appropriate Leadership Subcommittee agency representative.
- Speak reasonably, factually, and with good humor. Try to understand and credit the other person’s point of view. Additionally, avoid communicating with hostile personalities in an effort to avoid personal, professional, or credibility attacks.
- Identify any copyrighted or borrowed material with citations and links. When publishing any online material through social media that includes another’s direct or paraphrased quotes, thoughts, ideas, photos, or videos, always use citations and link to the original material where applicable.
- Evaluate your contribution’s accuracy and truthfulness before posting. Before posting any online material through social media, ensure that the material is accurate, truthful, and without factual error. It is always helpful to provide hyperlinks to credible sources that could support whatever statement you make. If you find that you’ve made a mistake, admit it, apologize, correct it and move on.
- When you are reaching out to journalists, bloggers, or colleagues through social media, take every opportunity to build a reputation of trust and establish yourself as a credible and transparent professional.
- Always be respectful to the WFLDP and its audience. This applies to the type of information posted as well as the manner and context in which it is presented.
- Follow the established terms and conditions of use that have been established by the venue used for your social media activities (Web site, blog, discussion forum, etc.). You can usually find links off the home page of each site. Don’t do anything that would violate those rules.
- Obey the law. Don’t post any information or conduct any online activity that may violate applicable local, state or federal laws or regulations.
Definitions
For the purpose of this Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program (WFLDP) Blogging Policy, the following terms are defined as provided below:
- Blog: (an abridgment of the term web log) is a WFLDP related-website with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.
- WFLDP blog author: An authorized WFLDP official that creates and is responsible for posted blog articles (see blog article below).
- Blog article: An original posting of content to the Wildland Fire Leadership blog site by a WFLDP blog author.
- Blog commenter: A WFLDP official or member of the public who submits a comment for posting in response to the content of a particular WFLDP blog article.
- Blog comment: A response to a WFLDP blog article submitted by a blog commenter.
- WFLDP blog administrator: An authorized WFLDP official who reviews, authorizes and allows content submitted by blog authors and public commenters to be posted to the WFLDP blog site.