Proposed Letter of Intent

The purpose of the student newspaper (“Flashings”) of Freeport High School will be to provide the interested students with the opportunity to practice the fundamentals of journalism, including editorial expression, in a responsible, fair, and fruitful manner. It shall also be the purpose of the paper to provide for a timely and lively expression of the issues relevant to the students of Freeport High School, as determined by the editorial board of the newspaper with the assistance of the faculty advisor. The intent of all who participate in the production of the newspaper – the faculty advisor, the editorial staff, the art staff, and any other contributors – should be able to conform to the highest levels of journalistic purpose and responsibility. The faculty advisor for the newspaper shall be appointed by the Board of Education on a yearly basis. The role of the faculty advisor is to provide professional guidance and assistance to students with the challenges posed by the creation of a student newspaper and to function as the paper’s ombudsman. In this role, the advisor can assist students with the challenges that all editors and reporters face, e.g. ensuring accuracy, legitimacy, fairness, and sensitivity. All sections of the newspaper, save for the editorial page and/or opinion page, must be fact-based, and report news in an unbiased, evenhanded, and properly-sourced manner. The paper shall use a standard guideline for proper journalistic newsgathering and reporting; this guideline is to be determined. The editorial/opinion page of the paper is a forum for expression and debate on the issues relevant to the students of Freeport High School. Individual columns should be identified as individual opinions. Editorials should be identified as product of the majority opinion of the editorial board of the newspaper. It is expressly understood that the editorial/opinion page is reflective of the news and views of students, not the editorial thrust of the paper. A special Review Committee will be formed. This committee will be composed of the High School Principal, Faculty Advisor, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, and three members of the high school government who do not work on the paper. When the faculty advisor or principal believes that the students are prevailing upon him/her to publish information which does not conform to the standards set forth in this document, or is perceived to be needlessly sensational, personally hurtful, or potentially litigious, the Review Committee will be asked to review the article(s) and or editorial in question and render judgment on whether the article(s) should be printed. Failure to reach consensus on this issue shall move the decision to the Office of the Superintendent. All staff and students are cognizant that the de facto publisher of the newspaper is the Board of Educaiton [sic] of the Freeport School District, which provides the taxpayer funds to support this endeavor. Accordingly, it is understood that the editorial board and faculty advisor must be responsible to the publisher’s frame of reference as the conventional production of any newspaper. Content must be consistent with the District’s Educational Mission.