Mill Valley News staff policies
Mill Valley News is an online publication of the Mill Valley High School journalism department. As journalists, we will be objective, credible and accurate in all that we do.
All policies for the JAG and JagWire staff members are also applicable to Mill Valley News. This includes the preamble, censorship policy, code of ethics, obscenity policy, letters to the editor policy, photography policy, obituary policy, advertising policy, staff responsibilities and late work policy. The following policies additionally apply to Mill Valley News content and staff. Social Media Policy Mill Valley News will use social media posts on Facebook and Twitter to report on and share news. The staff will post a story about a news occurrence within a day of posting about it on social media to give readers further information, if necessary. All information posted on social media accounts will be verified before posting, just as how facts are verified before being included in a story. If the staff finds out information posted on social media is incorrect, the post will be deleted or corrected. Mill Valley News social media accounts will only share or retweet content as a means of reporting or audience engagement. Sharing or retweeting is an endorsement of the post, not the account. |
About the project
Published in Mill Valley News staff manual In partial on Mill Valley News One of my goals when I applied to be editor-in-chief of Mill Valley News was to make web-related staff policies so the site could be more credible, both to other staff members and to our readers. These policies are based on ones I found while researching other sites, but the end product is original. JEA curriculum areas Law & ethics Leadership & team building |
Mill Valley News staff members will be expected to tweet about their online posts via their personal Twitter accounts, both during the news gathering process and once their content is posted. These tweets may be retweeted by Mill Valley News to share and promote the staff member's content. As such, staff members should keep their personal Twitter accounts professional and refrain from tweeting anything that would call their or the publication’s reputation into question (as determined by the editors-in-chief and adviser).
Multimedia Policy
As an online publication, Mill Valley News will not only provide news through stories and photos, but also through various multimedia elements. All multimedia elements — including, but not limited to, videos, Thinglinks, Storifies and infographics — will be held to the same journalistic standards as stories and photos. Staff will only incorporate verified facts into multimedia elements, and all multimedia elements should be objective, credible and accurate.
Corrections Policy
If an error is noticed by a staff member or reported by readers, the staff will correct the error. Online content should be altered to fix any errors once they are noticed. If a post is corrected, a staff member will add a notice to the bottom of the post detailing when it was corrected and what was corrected, as such: "Correction: An earlier version of this post misspelled a source’s name. The correct spelling is Smith."
No material will be taken off Mill Valley News unless it is proven to be factually incorrect or violates the law. The editors-in-chief and the adviser will have full discretion to take down posts for other unforeseen circumstances.
Developing stories will be denoted at the bottom of the post, as such: "This is a developing story. Check back for updates." These stories will be edited as new information becomes available. Readers will be notified of new information in a developing story by updates placed at the top of the post. Each update will include the time and date of the newly-published information, as such: "Update: Tuesday, Aug. 18, 7:47 p.m."
Multimedia Policy
As an online publication, Mill Valley News will not only provide news through stories and photos, but also through various multimedia elements. All multimedia elements — including, but not limited to, videos, Thinglinks, Storifies and infographics — will be held to the same journalistic standards as stories and photos. Staff will only incorporate verified facts into multimedia elements, and all multimedia elements should be objective, credible and accurate.
Corrections Policy
If an error is noticed by a staff member or reported by readers, the staff will correct the error. Online content should be altered to fix any errors once they are noticed. If a post is corrected, a staff member will add a notice to the bottom of the post detailing when it was corrected and what was corrected, as such: "Correction: An earlier version of this post misspelled a source’s name. The correct spelling is Smith."
No material will be taken off Mill Valley News unless it is proven to be factually incorrect or violates the law. The editors-in-chief and the adviser will have full discretion to take down posts for other unforeseen circumstances.
Developing stories will be denoted at the bottom of the post, as such: "This is a developing story. Check back for updates." These stories will be edited as new information becomes available. Readers will be notified of new information in a developing story by updates placed at the top of the post. Each update will include the time and date of the newly-published information, as such: "Update: Tuesday, Aug. 18, 7:47 p.m."