Editorial Policy by Sabrena
Shah
J425 class participant Fall 2001
Mission:
The Viking Press,
Valparaiso High School’s student newspaper, is dedicated
to serving as a limited public forum for students, faculty and
staff. It is our goal and desire to present and investigate
the most relevant and pertinent topics/issues pertaining to the
livelihood of our school community as well as to the interests
of our readers and reporters. Although the dissemination
of information to our readers is one of our top priorities, so
too are the maintenance of journalistic integrity and standards.
We will not go about gathering information in inappropriate, deceitful
or illegal ways. We will strive to show all sides of a topic
and seek out the most knowledgeable/resourceful sources.
As a limited public forum, The Viking Press, will do all
that it can to serve the students and faculty as a means by which
they can express feelings, ideas and other relevant information.
Collectively, the staff of The Viking Press
is dedicated to maintaining journalistic integrity, serving the
school as a limited public forum and presenting up-to-date information
and coverage on issues affecting the school and community.
In striving to create and produce
a comprehensive school newspaper, The Viking Press
staff has agreed on how they will deal with certain issues pertaining
to the newspaper. In order to insure equality and consistency
throughout the newspaper, the following categories/issues have
been discussed and assessed in terms of appropriateness for a
high school newspaper as well as in conjunction with the journalistic
standards that the individual staff members hold individually
and collectively.
Content:
The topics and issues to be covered in The Viking Press,
will stem mainly from staff generated ideas and suggestions.
The use of local beats will also be sources of information to
be included in the school paper. We will rely on these beats
on a regular basis and this consistency will be evident throughout
the issues of The Viking Press. In serving as a limited
public forum for the school, The Viking Press staff is
also willing to listen to and consider ideas or suggestions made
by students and faculty not directly participating in production/publication
staffs of the school. However, The Viking Press
also holds the right to not investigate or run stories, suggested
by these outside groups, when they (the staff and adviser) see
them to be in a conflict of interest with the goals and/or integrity
of the newspaper or of being significantly limited in terms of
newsworthiness.
News reporters and photographers will be responsible for
gathering their information in professional and legal ways.
They will be held accountable for covering the most pertinent
aspects of topics and issues as well as maintaining objectivity
in their reporting and taking of photography.
Profanity:
As a limited public forum for the school, The Viking Press does not see it fit or necessary to include profanity
in its publications. Due
to issues relating to age appropriateness and school standards,
the use of profanity will be used only when absolutely imperative
to the meaning of the story or when contained in a direct quote.
When issues dealing with the use of profanity surface, the staff
agrees to meet and discuss the value of including the profanity
as well as what its exclusion will do to the meaning or message
of the story. In either case, The Viking Press
holds the right to refuse to print profanity as well as the right
to merely allude to the profanity instead of explicitly stating
it. The staff reserves the right to print the first letter of
any profane word, which has been decided to be included, followed
by asterisks or underscored dashes.
Letters to the Editor:
The Viking Press staff views the inclusion of letters
to the editor as being essential to the journalistic process.
The staff feels that these letters provide not only a means by
which readers can voice their opinions or views but also a means
by which future stories and reporting can be based on. However,
given the limited amount of space in the school newspaper, the
staff reserves the right to set standards for the length and number
of letters to be included. The word length of any given
letter to the editor should not exceed 250 words, only in very
special circumstances will this rule be compromised. Also,
all letters must be signed in order to be published, so as to
insure that we (the staff) can verify authorship. Under
no circumstances will anonymous letters be accepted or printed,
unless circumstances exist in which the author contacts the staff
and adviser and can prove to have a legitimate reason for having
their letter be printed without their name. The staff will collectively
decide on whether or not to do so. If a letter is written
by a group of students, one student-the one responsible for the
letter’s creation or for bringing the group together- will
need to be willing to take responsibility in representing the
group as a whole, in terms of authorship of the letter.
Once a letter has been received and meets the above, required
criterion, the staff still maintains the right to decide which
letters will and will not be published. Any letter containing
libelous content or unnecessary profanity, fighting words or other
age inappropriate violations will be subject to not being considered
for inclusion in school publications. However, when the
message of the letter is deemed to be of great importance or reflects
an interesting viewpoint, the staff will take it upon itself to
contact the author and discuss potential rewrite procedures.
When only minimal grammatical/stylistic corrections are needed,
which lead to no change in content or meaning, The Viking Press
staff reserves the right to make the necessary corrections without
direct approval from the author. The author submits to the
staff’s right to make minimal corrections upon sending their
letter.
In serving as a limited public forum for the school, top
priority will generally be given to letters to the editor written
by current students and staff members. However, when letters
surface from outside writers, alumnae, taxpayers and other community
members and are considered by the staff to be newsworthy, their
inclusion in the school’s publications is permissible.
Bylines and Credit lines:
In order to maintain journalistic integrity and conform
to “normal/established” journalistic standards, The
Viking Press, has decided that the inclusion of bylines and
credit lines is of the utmost importance. Not only does
their inclusion allow readers to know who wrote a story or who
took a picture, but so too does their inclusion hold the student
responsible for the information/photograph provided. The inclusion
of bylines and credit lines will most likely, and justifiably
so, encourage and require students to work hard when gathering
information so as to have their name associated with a journalistically
viable source of information.
Errors/Corrections:
While the staffs of Valparaiso High School’s publication
programs are dedicated to conforming to journalistic norms, which
include attention to detail and verification of sources, we also
realize that this is not always possible. When situations
arise involving the need for a correction, the newspaper will
run an immediate correction and/or clarification in the next newspaper
issue. The error/correction process, while slightly more
difficult to accomplish within a yearbook, is given no less importance
than to those pertaining to the newspaper. However, with
no immediate outlet for correction, the yearbook staff has agreed
to publish any and all necessary corrections in the following
year’s yearbook. For any corrections that the staffs
appear to neglect or miss, readers are encouraged to contact the
adviser and/or staff members-so as to bring the situation to their
attention.
Controversial issues:
The staffs of Valparaiso High School’s publications programs
see an imminent and valuable need for the inclusion of controversial
issues. However, maintaining student integrity and school
safety supersede the importance of any controversial story.
It is our goal through our publications to expose and reveal issues
that students are dealing with, whether controversial or not.
When controversial issues surface, which we (the staffs) determine
to be newsworthy, we will strive to cover the story from all pertinent/relevant
angles. Issues such as teen pregnancy, divorce, drug use,
and sexual orientation…all carry the potential to not only
inform but at the same time to cause serious repercussions for
those individuals involved or named. In order to prevent
any unnecessary issues/problems from arising, the staff will take
special care to talk with individuals before publication to insure
their approval of the story. Also, when the staff and adviser
see it fit and necessary, parents of minor students will be contacted
for further approval of topics/stories. The goal of the
newspaper is by no means to expose students in any inappropriate
or harmful way; we do however find covering teen-related topics
and issues to be very important. In covering these topics,
we will strive to remain objective, to be courteous to participants
involved and to take special care in deciding when and when not
to cover certain stories, based on the positive and negative aspects/situations
that are likely to arise.
Gossip/Trivia:
By having a mainly student-centered readership, the staffs
of Valparaiso High School’s publications realize the need
at times to include things of this nature (gossip and trivia).
However, in terms of gossip we are reluctant to allow this to
become any sort of prominent part of our paper, which in our minds
potentially jeopardizes our credibility. However, in sections
deemed-for whatever reason- to be blatant comedies or parodies,
gossip will be allowed as long as those being mentioned or referred
to are in agreement with the publication of this information.
It is important that we do not in any way facilitate the direct
harm or embarrassment of a student. This is why we hold
the right to refuse any form of gossip that we deem inappropriate
or that a student involved does not agree to have printed.
As a long-standing tradition of our school, senior wills
will be allowed to be printed, however, they will not appear collectively
in the newspaper or yearbook. Instead, they will be compiled
and printed in a packet form, which will then be distributed to
seniors. Students who choose to participate in senior wills,
must be aware of taking responsibility for what they say and write.
No libelous or harmful/hurtful wills will be allowed. However,
we understand the potential there is for certain problematic “wills”
to slip by the attention of those compiling them. If this
situation arises, the student who wrote the “will”
will be directly held responsible and accountable for their actions.
Should matters such as the one described arise, school administrators
will take the necessary actions in conjunction with school disciplinary
rules.
Reviews:
Reviews provide an interesting insight into one aspect or type
of journalistic coverage. In order to expose students to
as many aspects of journalism as possible, reviews will be included
in our publications. However, at the same time the staff
realizes the need to establish guidelines in order to insure objective
and comprehensive reviews. The main source of reviews will
stem from school and or class productions. However, when
the staff feels that a community program/event is newsworthy,
coverage and review of the event may take place. Also, for
those students who are interested in focusing on a certain aspect
of news coverage, the arts, music, literature…they will
also be given the opportunity to review certain products or exhibits.
They too will have guidelines to conform to, in that they must
remain objective and seek out sources that can offer different
insights and information pertaining to the topic at hand.
The goal of these reviews is not solely to criticize or support
and event, product or performance but rather is to expose readers
to events taking place and provide a summary of general happenings
as well as possible high and low points of certain events.
It is extremely important to note that the staffs have
agreed that a certain amount of care needs to be included when
reviewing school productions, especially in terms of criticism
of individuals or groups. At the same time, the staffs recognize
the fact that by participating in a public event/program, an individual
creates a situation for themselves in which criticism can potentially
occur, a situation that all publication staff members subject
themselves to with each new issue of the newspaper or yearbook.
It is our goal therefore to minimize unnecessary criticism while
at the same time maintaining the publication’s integrity
in being honest and describing the actual accounts of what happened
to our readers.
Illustrations:
The staffs recognize the undeniable importance of illustrations
in the production of both newspapers and yearbooks. It is
therefore our goal to include illustrations which enhance
or help describe a story and that are visually interesting. Many
times a single illustration can illustrate an idea or happening
more so than any number of words ever could. At the same
time, journalistic values need to be adhered to in terms of quality
and authenticity of illustrations.
The staffs of the school’s publications programs
will strive to include illustrations that recount certain, realistic
and relevant aspects of events, in a way that is generally pleasing
and appealing to all. It is however impossible to assure those
photographed that their photograph will represent them in the
way they wish to be represented. In situations in which
there is a discrepancy between an individual’s desired appearance
and the overall context/quality of a photograph, the latter of
the two will carry more weight in terms of whether or not to include
it.
In today’s day and age, the staffs recognize the
potential for illustration alteration through the use of several
computer design programs. Alterations will not be tolerated
or found to be acceptable, except under very specific circumstances.
When circumstances arise in which there are no alternatives but
to alter an illustration to make it acceptable, the necessary
alterations will be made. However, a disclaimer will also
be provided below the photograph or within the content of which
the illustration is part of. The use of altered illustrations
is by no means an acceptable practice on a regular basis, and
therefore it is the goal of the publications staffs to use them
only when absolutely necessary and when the changes concur with
ethical and journalistic values that the staff holds. No
one person will be in charge of deciding whether alterations are
acceptable or not, instead the staffs will meet collectively to
come to a decision.
Other forms of illustrations, such as graphs, maps and
charts will be used when they enhance or clarify a certain aspect
of a story. They will be used as visual sources that are
deemed important in terms of helping explain or express something
to the reader in a concrete manner. Their use will be limited
to times in which the staffs feel they are important to the meaning
of the story or when the staffs feel that they will significantly
clarify and/or explain the material being presented. The
amount of space devoted to these types of illustrations will vary
depending on their importance and detail. However, the staffs
will try to use as little space as possible, so as to continue
to focus more on actual journalistic writing than on illustrations.
Advertising:
Advertising policies will vary between publication programs and
the procedures by which advertisements are acquired will vary
depending on the staff’s decisions and wants. Rates
for advertisements will be based upon the size of the advertisement
and on the current costs of publication for both the newspaper
and yearbook. A pricing guide and size guide will be created
upon the time when figures for cost are made available. However,
there are certain advertisements that both publications are unwilling
and will not accept. Advertisements for any illegal product
or service will not be permissible. This includes advertisements
for alcohol, cigarettes and any form of drug paraphernalia.
Advertisements for these products are not deemed by the staffs
to be newsworthy or age appropriate for the targeted readership.
The decision to accept certain advertisements will be the
collective decision of the staffs and/or those specifically responsible
for the advertising aspect of the publications. As a means
for the transmission and presentation of diverse ideas and views,
the publications are willing to look at advertisements on an individual
basis, all the while maintaining the right to refuse any advertisement
that does not fit/conform to the standards and mission of the
publication.
Obituary policy:
The staffs of both the newspaper and yearbook are dedicated to
respectfully covering the deaths of any students and/or faculty
that passes away during the school year. In order to establish
a consistency when dealing with obituaries, they (the obituaries)
will contain the same information for the most part, with the
possible exception of cause of death. Obituaries will include
a picture, the name of the student or faculty, their birth and
death dates as well as a brief, concise and possibly standardized
statement on the part of the school, which would state that the
school is sad and mournful for the death of any student or faculty
member. Obituaries for the newspaper will be printed in
the immediate issue following the death and for the yearbook,
if time permits in that year’s issue, or the following year’s
issue, if that is not possible. Also, the individual who
died will still be included in the individual class portrait section
of the yearbook, with their birth and death dates printed below
their name.
As far as news coverage pertaining to the death of a student,
several factors will be taken into consideration by the staff.
First and foremost are the feelings of the surviving family members.
Other issues to be taken into consideration will be manner/cause
of death and overall newsworthiness. These situations will
be dealt with on an individual basis and in terms of how the staff
feels the issue does or does not support the goals of the newspaper.
For any questions regarding further editorial
policies please ask the publication’s adviser, who will
be able to provide you with the given answer and/or direct you
to where to find the information.
Bibliography
Hartman, Mary. “Official Guidelines &
editorial Policies: Remedying the Confusion.”
Scholastic Editor.