OVIEDO HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM EDITORIAL POLICY

adapted from the sample JEA media policy

 

The Oviedo High School Journalism Editorial Policy pertains to all OHS media, including the website, OviedoJournalism.com; the newspaper, The Lion’s Tale; TV production, WROR-TV; and the yearbook, The Oviedian. The full editorial policy is available on OviedoJournalism.com.

OHS Journalism productions are the official student-produced media of news and information published/produced by OHS Journalism students. Opinions expressed in these publications do not represent the staffs’ views as a whole, the views of Seminole County Public Schools or those of OHS’s administration and staff.

Our mission is to provide news, feature stories, editorials and opinions relevant to our readers while upholding the highest professional and ethical standards. OviedoJournalism.com and The Lion’s Tale follow copy standards outlined in the Associated Press Stylebook, 42nd Edition, published in 2007 by the Associated Press, and is a member of NSPA and FSPA. WROR-TV is a member of STN and FSPA. The Oviedian is a member of NSPA and FSPA.

 

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR AND COMMENTS

CLICK HERE to submit a letter

1. Letters to editor will be printed in the opinion section of the newspaper or on the website.
2. The following guidelines apply to all submissions.
3. Letters to the editor should be emailed to [email protected].
4. Letters to editor should not exceed 300 words, must be signed and must include writer’s address and phone number for verification.
5. Letters to the editor will be verified by a member of the editorial board to determine the authenticity of the writer.
6. No material will be printed where content is obscene, invasive of others’ privacy, encouraging physical disruption of school activities and/or implies libel.
7. The editorial board reserves the right to withhold a letter or column or other submission and/OR return it for revision if it contains unprotected speech or grammatical errors that could hamper its meaning. Deadlines for letters will be determined by each year’s student staff, allowing sufficient time for verification of authorship prior to publication.
8. The Lion’s Tale will only publish one letter, per author, per issue. OviedoJournalism.com will only publish one letter, per author, per month.
9. All letters to the editor become the property of the school publication upon receipt.
10. Online comments will require a name and email address that are verifiable.
11. Online comments will post after review by staff editors.
12. Personal attacks are not allowed.
13. All publications also welcome ideas for stories.

 

ETHICS

1. Information will be thoroughly gathered and information completely verified.
2. OHS Journalism will serve as an educational academic and career experience for those on staff.
3. Coverage will be accurate and impartial in its treatment of issues that affect the community.
4. OHS Journalism will not avoid publishing a story solely on the basis of possible controversy.
5. Coverage will reflect the school population as effectively and accurately as possible.

 

CONTENT

1. Student editors determine all content as they see relevant and reflective of the school population.
2. The media will emphasize on informing their readers of school news and unique aspects of the OHS community.
3. The media will cover community, state, national and international news if it is directly relevant to the school community.
4. The media will strive to provide coverage to all school organizations and functions.
5. When faced with the undesirable news such as student or staff or faculty crimes, the publications will endeavor to publish the facts correctly, explain the issue and put a stop to any speculative stories that develop.
6. The media will not print unnecessary profanity.
7. Staff interviewers may ask a source to repeat a quote without the use of profane language.
8. All writing/production, other than letters to the editor, will be written by students of the journalism program and will not be accepted otherwise.
9. The editorial board, which consists of the staff ’s student editors, will determine the content of all unsigned editorials. The views stated in editorials represent that of a majority of the editorial board.
10. Signed columns or reviews represent only the opinion of the author.

 

CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES

1. All coverage of controversial issues will occur upon a timely subject.
2. All sides of the issue will be presented and reviewed so as to refrain from any bias, with exception of opinions.
3. In news, all sides of a school, community, city, state, national or international political issue will be presented factually so as to inform rather than promote or endorse.
4. The media will not publish material that is unnecessarily obscene, libelous, unwarranted invasive of privacy.

 

ERRORS

1. Concerns about errors in The Lion’s Tale and OviedoJournalism.com may be submitted though [email protected].
2. The editorial boards retain the right to determine whether, in fact, an error has been made.
3. Errors that are brought to the attention of the school media will be addressed regardless if realized by author, audience or staff member.
4. Staff members will strive to correct errors prior to publication/production; however, if the editorial board determines a significant  error is printed, the editorial board will determine the manner and timeliness of  a correction.
5. Major corrections are determined by the editors and adviser.
6. If changes are made to a web story once a story has been posted, the change will be noted along with the date and time the change was made.

 

ADVERTISING POLICY

1. The publication will not accept advertising for products that are illegal for minors to purchase and/or use.
2. The publication will not run advertisements that violate legal restrictions (libel, obscenity, invasion of privacy, disruption of the educational process) or that are counter to established journalistic ethics.
3. All ads need to be approved by the editorial board, with the adviser’s guidance and input; any ad not deemed appropriate by the board will not run.
4. The publication will not run advertising without a proper signature on the advertising contract.
5. Placement of an ad does not imply endorsement by the staff, adviser, administration or the School Board of Seminole County.

Specifics for advertising with The Lion’s Tale and OviedoJournalism.com and The Oviedian

1. The publication will not accept personal or classified advertising.
2. All contracts are due at least one month prior to the publication date.
3. All payments are due at least two weeks prior to publication date.
4. If payment is not received on time, the ad will not be published. The ad may be published in a later edition once payment has been received.
5. All ad materials, including camera-ready artwork or design instructions, are due at least two weeks prior to publication date, or the ad may be delayed until a later edition.
6. If a published advertisement, as designed by the publication, is incorrect in substantive content, a reduced price or corrected run will be negotiated.
7. All print advertisers will receive a complimentary copy of The Lion’s Tale edition in which their ad has run.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

1. Social media will be used to promote OHS Journalism, to promote published content and to engage the community.
2. The editorial board reserves the right to remove comments that violate any provisions outlined by this policy.
3. Information posted on social media platforms should be held to the same standard as all other reporting in terms of information gathering and fact checking.
4. The official social media accounts should avoid promotion of events and remain objective, reporting what is fact. Reporters using personal social media to cover events should do the same.
5. Information gained through social media channels should be verified through multiple channels before passing it along to others.
6. Audience engagement through social media should be done in a professional manner.
7. Staff members using applications to post updates to social media accounts should have separate applications for their personal account and for the school media accounts. This will limit the chance of a post being sent from the wrong account.
8. Mistakes made on social media posts should be corrected as soon as possible.

 

PRIOR REVIEW

1. Sources will be able to have quotes read back at the time of interview or at reporter’s initiative.
2. Sources will not be able to arbitrarily demand to read the reporter’s completed story and then perform editing tasks on that story.
3. The media reporters will endeavor to include the name and identity of all sources if reporter believes that doing so will not result in endangerment, harassment or any other form of undue physical, mental, emotional anguish for the source.
4. The media reporters will not, within all boundaries of law, reveal a source who asks to remain nameless.
5. All media interviewers will respect the interviewee’s rights to have information remain “off the record” if the fact is known before giving the information to the interviewer.
6. School administration has prior review for the print newspaper.

 

STAFF SELECTION PROCESS

1. Editor-level positions are chosen by faculty adviser, with input previous year’s editorial board.
2. New and returning staff are judged by application, previous work, potential and class work.
3. Applicants are not turned down because of age, race, sex, religion, mental or physical handicap that do not impair editorial responsibilities.

 

STAFF DISMISSAL

1. All individuals involved with OHS Journalism are considered a team, each member is expected to complete all assigned stories, pages, photos, videos, etc. on or before the assigned deadline. Staff members, including editors, may be dismissed from their positions and/or the publications staff itself if any of following violations occur:
   1. Continuously missed deadlines (dismissal procedures will take place by choice of adviser and editors)
   2. Plagiarism or quote falsification
   3. Vandalism or theft of publication equipment
   4. Continuous negative or pessimistic attitude toward staff member or adviser
   5. Failing to fulfill job as outlined in job description
2. Major infractions will result in immediate dismissal from staff duties and dismissal from class and staff at the end of semester (major infractions include but are not limited to following: plagiarism, vandalism, theft).
3. Minor infractions will be given a written warning for the first one. The second one is immediate dismissal from staff duties and dismissal from class and staff at end of semester.
4. Warnings will be written and signed by the adviser and editor-in-chiefs, as well as staff member in question.
5. An editor will be stripped of his/her title if suspended.
6. The academic nature of the journalism classes allows removal of editors or staff members when school and/or established media policy is violated.
7. Staff dismissals are not limited to the listed infractions.
8. A dismissed staff member receiving academic credit may be given a grade of F and will not be allowed to register for any other journalism courses (will not preempt school policy).
9. Dismissal procedures are reviewed and approved by the editorial board
10. The dismissed staff member may appeal their dismissal in writing to the editorial board within three school days following dismissal.