How We Publish

Policy effective August 20, 2026

MyPittsburgCA is owned and edited by the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce. This page is our editorial policy — who writes what, exactly what we decline and why, and the numbers that let you check our work. It applies to everything on this site.

1. Who publishes this site

Staff-authored content — news posts, section guides, event write-ups — is written or edited by chamber staff, who are responsible for its accuracy.

Community submissions — events, neighborhood photos, and reviews — are reviewed by a staff member before anything goes live, usually within 2 business days. Nothing submitted by the public appears without human review, and nothing reviewed is altered beyond formatting without the submitter's knowledge.

AI-assisted content — such as plain-language City Council summaries — is drafted with AI tools and reviewed by staff before publishing, and is labeled as such in our Terms. It is never an official record of any government body.

2. What we decline — the complete list

A community submission is declined only for one of the eight reasons below. Every decline uses one of these codes. There is no "other."

Code	Standard
E1 Outside our coverage area	Not about Pittsburg, CA or its residents. We publish local content only.
E2 Commercial or off-topic promotion	Advertising or solicitation outside the surfaces built for it — the business directory, deals, and paid promotions, which are always clearly marked. We never decline a submission for competitive or revenue reasons.
E3 Personal attack or harassment	Targets a person with insults, mockery, or intimidation. Criticism of public decisions and public conduct is fine; attacks on people are not.
E4 Unverified factual accusation	States as fact a damaging claim about a named person or business that we cannot verify. Opinion clearly framed as opinion is fine.
E5 Election or campaign material	Promotes or opposes a candidate or ballot measure. We cover the civic process; we do not host campaigning — for anyone.
E6 Duplicate	Substantially the same as something already published or in review. The decision email links the existing item.
E7 Incomplete or can't be used as submitted	Missing required details (date, location, a readable image) or quality too low to publish as-is. This is our most common code, and it is almost always fixable.
E8 Unsafe, unlawful, or explicit content	Depicts or promotes illegal activity, publishes someone's private information, or is sexually explicit or graphically violent.

Codes marked ↻ invite a revised resubmission — most declines are fixable.

3. Our commitments

Our default is to publish. A community submission is declined only when it fails one of the eight published standards above.
Every decline carries one of these codes. There is no "other."
Money never buys coverage, and money never causes a decline. Paid placements exist (featured events, sponsor banners) and are always labeled; they never change what we publish or where anything ranks.
You always hear back. Every submitter receives an email with our decision — and a decline always includes the reason code.
We publish our numbers. The counts on this page — published and declined, by reason — come straight from our database and update automatically.
Second look, different reader. If you think we got a decline wrong, reply to your decision email; a different staff member re-reviews it against these standards.
We correct our mistakes. Factual errors are fixed promptly, and material corrections are noted on the item itself.

4. You always hear back

Every submitter receives an email with our decision, usually within 2 business days. An approval links the published item. A decline quotes the reason code and standard word-for-word from this page, plus any reviewer's note. (Decision emails began August 20, 2026 — submissions reviewed before that date predate this policy.)

5. The numbers

These counts come straight from our database and update automatically. They are aggregates only — no names, no content.

Surface	Submitted	In review
Community events	1	1
Neighborhood photos	0	0
Resident reviews	0	0

6. Second look

If you believe a decline was wrong, reply to your decision email. A different staff member — not the original reviewer — re-reads the submission against the standards on this page, and the outcome is recorded. You don't need to argue or escalate; asking is enough.

7. Corrections

When we get a fact wrong, we fix it promptly, and material corrections are noted on the item itself. To request a correction, email us with a link to the page: Request a correction

8. Where we stand

MyPittsburgCA is a community service, not a megaphone. The chamber does not use this site to campaign, to settle disputes, or to favor members over non-members — directory listings, event submissions, and reviews follow the same standards for everyone. When we cover city hall, we summarize what happened; we don't tell you what to think about it.