Matchsticks and Gasoline: Going Forward

If you haven't noticed, there's been some smaller changes lately: more serious pieces, bringing a graphic designer around to help with image macros, and- very quietly- Justin Azevedo (not the hockey player) being added to the masthead.

This last part is a large part of the big news: Justin will be our Flames beat reporter this year. We're in talks with the organization to get him credentialed full time, and while that's still a work in progress, we've already been offered a 4-5 game trial press pass. In addition to games, he'll cover Flames community events, fundraisers, and whatever else he has time for. We're glad to welcome Justin aboard and looking forward to growing this relationship with the Calgary Flames organization. If you want to see his writing, I'd suggest looking back for the development camp reports.

On a personal note- I've known Justin for some time now, and he was my writing partner at the defunct 4th Line Blog. I can't think of someone more suited to this given his ability to remain both passionate for the team and professional.

With this development come some changes in the site regarding our writing policy. Now, these have always existed, just never in a hardline codified format. With that, I present the Official Matchsticks and Gasoline Writing and Community Standards and Practices. Special thanks to Peter Raaymakers who originally developed these for sister SBN blog Silver Seven and was gracious enough to allow us to use them.

Matchsticks and Gasoline, the unofficial Calgary Flames blog
Writing and Community Standards and Practices

 

Our Mission

Matchsticks and Gasoline is a fan site, and that fact is never disguised: We are a community of Calgary
Flames fans moderated by Flames fans and written primarily for Flames fans. With that in mind, we seek
to foster discussion among the Flames fan community about the issues facing the team in an honest,
fair, and respectful manner.

Our Values

Accuracy

Any good opinion must be based on a solid foundation, and Matchsticks and Gasoline is committed to
properly, thoroughly, and clearly presenting the background to all articles published on the site.

Fairness

Although fans can quickly and easily develop favourable and unfavourable perceptions of players and
other employees their favourite team, this will not affect the treatment of those individuals while
discussing or analyzing their performance or behaviour in any articles on Matchsticks and Gasoline. This
means there will likely be criticism of the team at various points, however any and all criticism will be
rooted in statistical fact and will never descend into strawman or ad hominem attacks. We respect all
members of the Calgary Flames organization.

Integrity

No story will be published on Matchsticks and Gasoline unless it is a verifiable statement, or an opinion
supported by verifiable statements. Unfortunately, sites across the Internet have gained notoriety by
publishing reports from anonymous sources, but this is not a game Matchsticks and Gasoline has or will
ever play.

So what does this mean on a practical level for the website? Not too much, but we will watching the line between joke and insult/disrespect much more closely going forward. It also means we expect you, the readers and members of this community, to hold us accountable. If something is published that fails to adhere to these guidelines, Hayley and myself will try and catch and remove it asap. If we fail to do so or fail to recognize something as such- call us out on it. This is why we are publishing these publicly. 

We are indeed moving to a little more journalistic coverage, however that doesn't mean too much as far as content will change: I'll still rant and rage against false narratives, Ryan and Hayley will still give you the same brilliant statistical analysis, and by George, I sure hope Mitch remains optimistic about the team, because someone's got to. Craig will remain completely silly and ridiculous, and you- well, you have an opportunity to write for the website.

Traditionally community members can contribute via Fanposts, however with expanding coverage of the site, we are looking to add another features writer, and depending on what comes up, possibly other writers in other positions too.

I'll release full details tomorrow on how you can become a valued member of the Matchsticks and Gasoline staff, but it will happen in the form of a writing contest. The SBN Devils blog, In Lou We Trust, was the inspiration of going about it this way, so you can expect it to be a variation on the contest they used. 

Congratulate Justin in the comments, and feel free to speculate on the contest and the few other surprises Hayley and I have up our sleeves.