About Gadaa.com

Gadaa.com is an independent online media outlet serving the Horn of African region and its Diaspora. Gadaa.com is also a source of vast information about the Horn of Africa's largest nation, Oromo. The Oromo nation constitutes close to 50% of the peoples in Ethiopia.

Having been named after one of the world's most complicated indigenous systems of governance, the Gadaa System of the Oromo people, Gadaa.com strives to live up to its name by entertaining different points of views. Gadaa.com's writers and contributors, in conjunction with the web publishing team, deliver timely and essential information about the Horn of African region, in general, and the Oromo people and Oromia, in particular.

Gadaa.com has been cited as a professional resource center about the Oromo people by reputable human rights, news and academic organizations, such as:

• Cultural Profile: Oromo - The Center for Victims of Torture, Minneapolis, MN

• Power of the Press: Ethiopian journalist defies brutal government - The Cauldron from the Independence Institute - discussing the persecution of one of Gadaa.com's independent opinion article contributors.

• Multicultural Resources of the Psychology Department at the Bethel University in Minnesota, where the largest Oromo Diaspora lives outside of the Horn of Africa.

Logo Description:

- A sycamore tree (odaa) is shown in the logo as a symbol of Oromo's egalitarian Gadaa system of governance, which is the guiding principle of this media outlet.

- In the center of the odaa tree is shown a beam radiating out. The radiating beam on a previous version of the logo had rays coming out in all directions. The new design doesn't have the rays.

To contact us for feedback or to submit an article, use the Contact page.

News Guidelines and Editorial Policy

In order to promote discussion of issues regarding the Horn of African region, Gadaa.com publishes news stories and articles on a regular basis.

1. For its news stories, Gadaa.com will use at least two independent sources, willing to be quoted on the record as needed; due to the volatile nature of current affairs, no news story will be published if the sources are unwilling to be quoted on the record.

2. Gadaa.com accepts articles on any topic as far as they pertain to the Horn of African region and its Diaspora, and foster Gadaa (Oromo indigenous democracy) values.

3. Gadaa.com welcomes all articles dealing with constructive criticisms; however, Gadaa.com does not publish articles that contain personal attacks, and/or derogatory remarks against an individual or a group of people in the opposite point of view.

4. All submitted articles will be reviewed for quality of content, quality of writing and objectivity - among other factors. The Gadaa.com team will make some necessary technical (such as spelling, but never the content) edits to fit standards.

5. Statements from political organizations are not considered articles. Such statements will not be posted on Gadaa.com unless to report on them in the News and Analysis section - with appropriate quotes and external links to full contents.

6. Advice: Keep in mind that short and to-the-point articles are highly admired by readers - and drive the message home effectively. Many times, long articles lack coherence - avoid them.

7. Two important facts:     1. Submission of an article does not necessarily guarantee publication.     2. Publication of an article does NOT mean the opinions discussed in the article are endorsed by Gadaa.com.

8. Contributors are encouraged to submit their articles through the Contact page. To contribute pictures, use this page on flickr.com (or email at Contact@Gadaa.com).

9. Comments to published posts: Gadaa.com moderates comments submitted in response to published posts; comments that do not meet the aforementioned guidelines will not be published.

10. We (Gadaa.com) reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of this policy at any time.

          Last Updated on May 5, 2012