When I took up the editorship of this paper last week, I promised you changes in what we cover and how. I want to thank you all for your patience and now more clearly state our values and goals.

For some months now this paper has given a great deal of space to hypotheses and conspiracies. While it’s fun to speculate, it is a newspaper’s duty to print facts, rather than passing along frightening rumours that can incite needless anxiety and panic. From now on, this paper will not run such accounts unless they can be verified by credible sources.

I want to be clear that this does not mean we intend to ignore your worries and concerns. We still hear you, and we promise to maintain our watch on the matters that trouble you. For example, readers can look forward in the coming issues to several strong pieces on the serpent problem.

I ask for your patience and as always please continue to write to us by owl.

Godfrey Ashmere

Editor