“The Paw Print” Editorial Policy
“The Paw Print” Editorial Policy
“The Paw Print,” published online at www.wlhspawprint.com, is a public forum, with its student editorial board making all decisions concerning its content.
Unsigned editorials express the views of the majority of the editorial board.
Letters to the editor are welcomed and will be published as space and time allow. Letters must be signed, although the staff may withhold the name on request. The paper reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and clarity, and all letters are subject to laws governing obscenity, libel, privacy, and disruption of the school process, as are all contents of the paper.
Opinions in letters are not necessarily those of the staff, nor should any opinion expressed in a public forum be construed as the opinion or policy of the administration, unless so attributed.
The Newspaper Classroom
The primary goal of the Journalism class is to produce “The Paw Print,” the online news publication of Wilde Lake High School. As per Howard County guidelines, the advisor is responsible for assigning the roles of the newspaper staff. Each student is responsible for fulfilling the responsibilities of his or her role on the staff.
The Editorial Process
The “editorial process” refers to the way in which the newspaper classroom takes a story or “project” from an idea to print. Each project undergoes rigorous peer editing before it is “sent to print.” Generally, project ideas are conceived during brainstorming sessions and develop through teaming and research. Editors are responsible for assigning deadlines for each project and distributing the workload of producing the newspaper among newspaper staff. Each project must be approved before it is “sent to print” by the Editor-in-Chief, Section Editor, Advisor, and the original writer. In this way, responsibility is shared for the quality of each project.
Hierarchy
The newspaper class teaches leadership and values the kind of learning that can come from working on a team. Because the editorial process requires decision making and the delegation of work, a hierarchy is necessary. The teacher-advisor to the newspaper and Journalism teacher is responsible for selecting student editors. Student editors are responsible for determining the direction of the newspaper and for making editorial decisions. The hierarchy, per Howard County guidelines, is as follows.
Advisor
Editor-in-Chief
Section Editor
Writers / Photographers / Business Managers / Page Designers
“Flagged” Stories
Should it be determined that a story is “flagged” by an editor or the advisor (it contains material that may be considered damaging, harmful, offensive, inappropriate for our audience . . . ), the advisor and administrator is alerted as to the content and direction of the story. “Flagged” stories are approved by the advisor and the school administrator before publication.
