Image Policy Statements
Philosophy Statement
The newspaper’s primary obligation is to inform its readers about events in the school and community and of issues of national or international importance which directly or indirectly affect the school population. The newspaper, while serving as a training ground for future journalists as part of the school curriculum, recognizes all rights and responsibilities under the First Amendment. Operating as a public forum, student editors will apply professional standards and ethics for decision making as they take on the responsibility for content and production of the newspaper. While the student staff encourages constructive criticism of any part of the newspaper, authority for content rests in the hands of the student members of the newspaper staff. Students will not publish material considered to be legally unprotected speech, or libel, obscenity, material disruption of the educational process, copyright infringement, or unwarranted invasion of privacy.
I. Ownership
A. The Board of Education is the Image publisher, but the responsibilities for content and production of the paper rests with the student staff. The newspaper operates as a public forum where students make all decisions regarding content.
B. The staff recognizes and appreciates the support of the community merchants who help finance the Image through their advertisements.
II. General Guidelines
A. The staff agrees to respect the rules and regulations as established in the Lafayette Student Handbook.
B. The use of profanity, vulgarity and words which have acquired undesirable meanings shall be avoided in published material.
C. The staff shall report news and/or features in an objective manner with the best interest of the school and community in mind.
III. Editorial/Op-Ed Page Guidelines
A. Opinions expressed on the editorial page do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints or official policies of the school administration.
B. All editorials (unsigned) represent a majority opinion of the Editorial Board. Members of the Editorial Board include all staff editors.
C. Signed editorials, columns, editorial cartoons and reviews reflect the views of the author and not necessarily those of the Image Editorial Board.
IV. Obituary Policy
A. In the event that a current student or staff member passes away during the course of the school year, the Image will include the death in its coverage in the next edition.
B. The death will be reported as a combination news story and standard obituary and will be carried on the most appropriate news page according to the timeliness of the publication.
C. The newspaper will maintain the dignity of the student or staff member by striving for accurate, fair coverage of the death.
V. Prior Approval Policy
A. Image policy does not allow sources to see stories before they are published.
1) Reporters are responsible for getting the information right.
2) A reporter may check direct quotes or some information with sources if he chooses. However, allowing sources to read stories before publication is generally considered poor procedure because it allows sources to rewrite stories for their benefit.
B. In some cases, the Editorial Board may agree to allow a source to see the story before it is published.
VI. Advertising Policy
A. The Image reserves the right to refuse any business which seeks to advertise any product which is illegal or generally considered unhealthy or undesirable for students as determined by the Editorial Board.
B. The Image may choose to publish public service ads at the discretion of the Editorial Board.
C. The Image will print political ads which comply with federal, state and local campaign laws.
VII. Letters to the Editor Policy
A. Participation through letters to the editor by students, faculty and the community is encouraged.
B. Letters must be signed but names will be withheld upon request and with the concurrence of the Editorial Board.
C. Letters should be limited to 300 words. The Image reserves the right to reject, edit or shorten letters.
D. Deadlines will be announced in the school bulletin and in each issue of the paper.
E. Letters may be submitted in writing in Room 213, or to any Image staff member, or via e-mail to smithnancy@rockwood.k12.mo.us
VIII. Reporting Policy
A. Students who are interviewed for any Image story should be made aware beforehand that their name will be published in the school newspaper.
B. Students involved in a school sponsored event or public activity may be photographed for publication without explicit permission.
C. Reporters should make every effort to interview sources in person, not through notes, e-mail or over the telephone. The writer of a story should conduct all of his/her own interviews. If another reporter completes some interviews, he/she must be given credit at the end of the story.
D. If a reporter would like to tape an interview, the source must give permission in advance.
E. All sources in stories must be named. Only the Editorial Board can decide to withhold a sources name if privacy is necessary for the source. The adviser must be made aware of the identity of the source if it is to be withheld from the story.
F. Reporters should make sure all stories have a minimum of three sources, two of which should be current and local interviews.
Legend Policy Statements
Philosophy Statement
The yearbook’s primary obligation is to inform and entertain its audience in a broad, fair, and accurate manner on all subjects that affect readers in the areas of student life, academics, activities, sports, and community. The student body of each high school constitutes the target audience for the yearbook with secondary audiences including school personnel, community members, and other scholastic journalism groups. Content focuses on coverage which will meet the wants and needs of the majority of these audiences. Student editors will apply professional standards and ethics for decision making as they take on the responsibility for content and production of the yearbook. While the student staff encourages constructive criticism of any part of the yearbook, authority for content rests in the hands of the student members of the yearbook staff. Students will not publish material considered to be legally unprotected speech, or libel, obscenity, material disruption of the educational process, copyright infringement, or unwarranted invasion of privacy.
I. Ownership
A. The Board of Education is the publisher of the Rockwood student yearbooks, but the responsibilities for content and production of the yearbook rests with the student staff.
B. The staff recognizes and appreciates the support of community merchants who help finance the yearbooks through advertisements.
II. Reporting/Photography Policy
A. Sources who are interviewed for the student yearbooks should be made aware beforehand that the contents of their interview and their name will be published in the school yearbook.
B. Students involved in a school sponsored event or public activity may be photographed for publication without explicit permission.
C. If a reporter would like to tape an interview, the source must give permission in advance.
D. All sources in stories must be named. Only the editor and adviser can decide to withhold a source’s name if privacy is necessary.
E. Reporters should make sure all stories are balanced have a minimum of three sources.
III. Portrait Policy
A. All students are asked to have their portraits taken with school photographers for the yearbook.
B. Underclassmen will have their portraits taken at school during registration/orientation.
C. Seniors will schedule individual sittings with the school-approved photographer at the studio; all students who have had a senior portrait taken will be included in the senior section of the yearbook.
D. By having portraits taken by only approved photographers, the yearbook staff can be assured of the highest quality reproduction and consitency of all portraits.
E. Student portraits will appear in the section of the yearbook consistent with the official classification at the end of first quarter. This information will be provided by the registrar.
IV. Obituary Policy
A. Should a student and/or member of the school staff pass away anytime during the current coverage period, the yearbook staff will treat the death in a tasteful, respectful manner.
B. The portrait of that individual will appear as it would under normal circumstances.
C. A memorial box will be placed in the closing section of the yearbook with only the name of the person and dates of birth and death.
D. This uncommanding treatment will provide adequate memory of the individual for those closely associated while not overemphasizing it for other readers.
V. Advertising Policy
A. All advertising must meet the same guidelines as editorial content.
B. Acceptance of advertising does not constitute and endorsement by the school, by the staff as a whole or its individual members.
C. Students who appear in advertisements must sign a model release form acknowledging that they will accept no payment from the client and their appearance is one of support for the yearbook rather than the business or professional.
D. The student yearbooks reserve the right to refuse any business which seeks to advertise products or services which are illegal or generally considered to be unhealthy or undesirable for the students in Rockwood.
VII. Book Sales Policy
A. Any customer who does not wish to keep his/her book may obtain a refund provided that the book is returned in the same condition in which it was distributed. Once returned, the book becomes the property of the staff and can be resold at the current cost.
B. Exchanges can be made for books with minor flaws if no writing has been done in the book. If a book has been written in, then no exchange can be made unless the adviser feels the flaw in the book is of major proportion (pages missing, pages upside down).
C. It will be the responsibility of the buyer to provide proof of purchase if no record can be provided by the staff. A canceled check or receipt will constitute proof of purchase.
D. Books not claimed at the end of the first quarter of classes in the fall automatically become the property of the yearbook staff and can be sold at the current price. Refunds for unclaimed books will be available until the end of the first semester.