Welcome to The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to informing — and engaging — Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Our mission to engage and inform Texans means our work doesn’t end when we publish a story. We believe it is our duty to actively engage our audience in matters of politics and policy, developing channels for meaningful discourse with and among our readers. The following guidelines are meant to ensure that our platform — including our comments, events and community groups — remains a civil place for you to exchange ideas and information. Thanks in advance for helping us cultivate a safe and sustainable environment to discuss politics and policy issues.

The Texas Tribune welcomes comments on many of our story pages. To join the discussion, create (or log into) your Texas Tribune account. By commenting, you agree to the following guidelines — a set of do’s and don’ts that we may update as our community evolves.

DO

• Be constructive. First-hand experiences, credible information and informed questions help build a constructive dialogue. Personal arguments and attacks do not.
• Be respectful. Debate ideas, not people. Whether you agree or disagree with another comment, please follow the golden rule when addressing others.
• Be relevant. Please keep your comments relevant to the story or topic at hand, and ideally, read the story before commenting on it.
• Flag bad behavior. We rely on our community to help us identify disruptive actors. Please use the flag tool to mark questionable comments for our moderation team to review.

DON'T

• Be abusive. Racist, sexist or otherwise bigoted comments; ad hominem attacks; and threatening language of any kind are all strictly prohibited.
• Be a bully. Commandeering a comment thread, dominating a conversation or other intimidating or disruptive behavior is not allowed.
• Be misleading. Do not post false or misleading information. If you reference another source, please cite it.
• Be spammy. No fundraising, advertising, marketing or self-promotional material allowed. Electioneering is also prohibited. The discussion of issues and ideas is encouraged; campaign or candidate stumping is not.
• Violate someone’s privacy. Don’t post another individual’s email, phone or other personally identifying information.
• See our full terms of service for a more detailed list of prohibited content.

Remember: We reserve the right to remove any user or comment for any reason at any time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can’t I post a comment on your site?
Most likely because you don’t have an account set up. We launched a new comment system on March 27, 2019, that requires all users to register for a new texastribune.org account before commenting. Previously registered users who commented on our site before March 27, 2019, will need to create new accounts. Go here to set up yours now.

I can’t log in and/or forgot my password. How do I change it?
You can reset your password by logging into your account and clicking “don’t remember password?”.

I'm logged in and want to update my password. How do I change it?
Visit the comments of any article and click "reset your password". Then check your inbox for an email from The Texas Tribune with the subject line "Reset your password" and follow the instructions in the email.

I made a mistake. How do I edit my comment?
You have up to 3 minutes after posting a comment to make changes to it by clicking the “edit” link in the upper-right corner of the comment window.

How do I flag an offensive comment?
The best way to flag comments to moderators is to click the “report” link on a specific comment. Texas Tribune moderators will be active Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST. If you need to contact someone urgently about a comment appearing on this site, email abuse@texastribune.org.

What if someone hasn’t violated guidelines but is driving me nuts?
Take a deep breath, and consider ignoring them. You can mute comments from any user by hovering on their name and clicking “ignore user.”

I’ve reported a comment or user, now what?
When a post or user is reported, we will review the content in question. Moderators reserve the right to remove any content and any user account for any reason at any time. Please refrain from reporting a post if it does not break our rules.

What user content is prohibited under Tribune terms of service?
Content that is patently offensive and promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual; harasses or advocates harassment of another person; exploits people in a sexual or violent manner; contains nudity, violence or offensive subject matter, or contains a link to an adult website; or solicits personal information from anyone under 18, among other things. See our terms of service for a more detailed list of prohibited content.

The Texas Tribune hosts more than 60 free, town hall-style events every year to promote civil discussions and foster community across Texas. This includes our annual Texas Tribune Festival, which draws thousands to Congress Avenue for three days of politics and policy discussions each fall, as well as year-round conversations with elected officials, community leaders and policy makers.

Code of Conduct

We encourage event attendees to bring questions and a willingness to participate in respectful conversations. We’re grateful that our community is civil — it’s what makes Texas Tribune events successful. All attendees should feel safe at Texas Tribune events, and we will not tolerate any harassment based on race, gender and trans statuses, sexual orientation, religion, disability, socioeconomic status, age, national origin or ethnicity.

We expect all participants — attendees, speakers, sponsors and volunteers — to follow the Code of Conduct during the conference. This includes conference-related social events at off-site locations and related online communities and social media. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Participants violating this Code of Conduct may be expelled from any Texas Tribune event (including Festival) without a refund, and/or banned from future Texas Tribune events, at the discretion of Tribune staff.

• Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions.
• Passionate conversations are part of solving problems. Disagreements happen all the time and are necessary to consider difficult questions. That said, we ask that you keep conversations professional, respectful and consider other parties’ points of view. In short, don’t make it personal.
• Remember that the boundaries of good taste, humor, personal space and physical interaction differ from person to person; if you sense someone feels uncomfortable — whether they explicitly state it or not — be respectful of those boundaries.
• Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory or harassing behavior. Harassment and inappropriate behavior may include, but are not limited to:
• Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic or otherwise discriminatory jokes or languagePhysical intimidation, stalking or followingSustained disruption of talks or eventsPosting or displaying sexually explicit or violent materialUnwelcome sexual attention. This includes sexualized comments or jokes; inappropriate touching, groping and unwelcome sexual advancesAdvocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior
• Do not bring: chairs, signs, anything that could be considered a weapon of any kind (gun, knife, large stick, projectiles, etc.), graffiti pens or spray paint. Individuals bringing these items may be ejected from the Festival and have credentials revoked without refund. We expect attendees to use good judgment. We reserve the right to disallow any other items we deem inappropriate, dangerous, threatening or inconvenient to others attending the event.
• No political campaigning at Texas Tribune events or Festival venues.

Above text is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted from ONA18 Code of Conduct (Adapted from the SRCCON Code of Conduct and the Citizen Code of Conduct; in consultation with the Geek Feminism community anti-harassment policy, O’Reilly Media’s conference Code of Conduct, the Coral Project’s Code of Conduct, and conversations with multiple community managers in journalism in developing our Code of Conduct.)

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find out about events in my community?
Sign up for our event alerts to get notifications about our upcoming events, including our conversation series with Evan Smith, one-on-ones with elected officials and daylong symposia.

How do I report a problem at a Texas Tribune event?
Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants. Alert Tribune staff if you notice what you assess to be a dangerous situation, someone in distress or violations of our Code of Conduct. For emergencies, please call 9-1-1. You can also reach our team with non-urgent feedback by emailing events@texastribune.org.

What does the Tribune do with my data?
We may share your information with our third-party service providers, such as analytics and email service providers, in order to provide an optimal user experience. We do not rent, sell or share information about you with other people or nonaffiliated companies for direct marketing purposes, unless we have your permission. See our privacy policy for more information.

I have a news tip. How can I contact The Texas Tribune? Email tips@texastribune.org. You may also securely send us confidential news tips here.

• What content is prohibited under Tribune terms of service?
• What is the Texas Tribune’s privacy policy?