Policies

From The Harbinger Handbook and Policies:

Advertising

• The Harbinger will not accept advertising for products that are illegal for minors to purchase and/or use.
• The publications will not run advertising without a proper signature on the advertising contract which explains cost, terms of payment, content, size, and publishing dates.
• The Harbinger staff will provide complimentary advertising design services and will maintain ownership of any advertisements created for by staff members for publication in The Harbinger.
• All submitted ads must be approved by the editorial board; any ad not deemed appropriate by the board will not run.
• The publication will cease to publish advertising of any advertiser that does not meet payment obligations specified in the contact.
• If a published advertisement is incorrect in substantive content and the fault is The Harbinger’s, a reduced price or corrected run will be negotiated.
• Advertising that appears in The Harbinger is not necessarily endorsed by The Harbinger or its staff members, editorial board or adviser.

Bylines

• All articles, graphics, photos, artwork, columns, pages, reviews, and other material creatively conceived, with the exception of staff editorials, mug shots and cut-outs, will be bylined with the producer’s name.
• All bylined writers will be held accountable for their work.
• When more than one person has contributed to a piece of work, any person who has contributed to the work must be bylined as a producer (co-producers will be listed alphabetically in the byline) or listed at the end of the article as a contributor.

Guest Writers/Columnists

• All writing in The Harbinger, other than letters to the editor, will be written by students of the journalism classes or The Harbinger Staff.  All students at Algonquin Regional High School are welcome to join The Harbinger Staff.
• Any writing (such as a guest column) submitted from an outside source for use will be accepted upon request of the editorial board and will be reviewed by the editorial board for verification.
• Any material submitted from an outside source can be edited by the editorial board and must comply to this policy.
• Writing must be the original work of the writer and not previously published in any publication.
• The Harbinger will not publish any material for which there is evidence that the author is using the paper for inappropriate personal gain.

Letters to the Editor & Online Comments

• Letters to editor will be printed in the opinion section of the newspaper and/or in the Letters to the Editor section online.
• Letters to the editor may be submitted to [email protected].
• Letters to editor should not exceed 300 words, must be signed with position or year of graduation, and must include the writer’s email address and phone number for verification. Anonymous letters will not be published.
• Letters to the editor will be verified by a member of the editorial board to determine the authenticity of the writer.
• 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. The editorial board will not edit or revise Letters to the Editor.
• The Harbinger will only publish one letter, per author, per issue.
• All letters to the editor become the property of The Harbinger upon receipt and will not be returned to the author.
• Online comments are monitored and approved before publication.  Approval is not based on expressed opinion.
• No material will be printed (as an online comment or in a letter to the editor) where content is obscene, invasive of others’ privacy, encouraging physical disruption of school activities, and/or implies libel.
• Personal attacks are not allowed in Letters to the Editor or Online comments.

Corrections Policies (and take-down requests)

• Concerns about errors in The Harbinger may be submitted to the Editors in Chief.
• The editorial board retains the right to determine whether, in fact, an error has been made.
• Staff members will strive to correct errors prior to publication; however, if the editorial board determines a significant error is printed, the editorial board will determine the manner and timeliness of a correction.
• Corrections in print will run in the next print issue of The Harbinger on the Editorial page. Corrections with be clearly labeled with reference to the issue, page, and article name.  The error will not be repeated in the correction, but accurate, corrected information will be provided.
• Corrections online will be clearly labeled as a note below the corrected article. This note will include the nature of the correction and the date the correction was made.
• The Harbinger does not grant take-down requests of published material, whether the request is from the subject of an article, a former staff member, or some other entity. If a story is inaccurate, the editors will look into the matter and, if needed, publish a correction or update in the form of an editor’s note.

Social Media

• The Harbinger editors and staff members who post to the publication’s social media accounts may only do so after signing a Social Media Contract.
• Staff members post as representatives of The Harbinger to inform readers, engage the audience, promote The Harbinger website and its articles, foster community, report on news and events.
• Social Media (ex. Twitter) and Online Publications (arhsharbinger.com) must follow standard  journalistic ethics.
• The Harbinger does not tweet or retweet rumors, opinions, or biased information.  If reporting a source’s opinion, the source will be attributed and all information verified before posting.
• Mistakes made on social media posts will be corrected as soon as possible and any deleted posts should be acknowledged in subsequent postings.