About

Editorial Policy

• The staff of the HoofBeat will strive to report all issues in an impartial, fair, legal, accurate, and ethical manner, according to the Canons of Professional Journalism developed by the Society for Professional Journalists. The Canons of Professional Journalism include a code of ethics concerning accuracy, responsibility, integrity, conflict of interest, impartiality, fair play, freedom of the press, independence, sensationalism, personal privacy, obstruction of justice, and credibility.
• The HoofBeat will not publish any content that includes anonymous sources.
• The HoofBeat will not publish any content that includes anonymous subjects.
• All published articles must include a byline.
• No material will be printed where content is obscene, invasive of others’ privacy, encouraging physical disruption of school activities, and/or implies libel.
• All online comments will require a name and CPS email address. These comments may be removed if they violate any of the editorial policies.
• The HoofBeat will not publish any content that has the potential to incriminate or harm a student.
• The HoofBeat will not publish any content that attacks anyone, anything, and/or has the potential to cause harm. (There is a difference between voicing a critique and attacking).
• The HoofBeat will not publish any critiques of student productions or school events (Covering the school musical should not be treated the same as reviewing a film at the box office.)
• The HoofBeat will not print profanity. The editorial board reserves the right to edit any quote that includes profanity to keep language appropriate.
• The HoofBeat will only publish articles that have been written by staff members.
• Any articles that contain outside sources will be appropriately cited as outlined by the Associated Press.
• Coverage of important events will be covered promptly (within the two weeks following the event so as to remain relevant).
• Articles covering controversial and/or polarizing issues will be presented in an unbiased, fair manner.
• Coverage of deaths:
  • Any current student, staff member, faculty member, or building administrator who dies during the year will be recognized in the HoofBeat, with proper family input.
  • The article will commemorate the life of the person who passed away.
  • The school media will treat all deaths in a tasteful, respectful way.
  • The family will also have the right to rescind their publication approval at any point.
• The HoofBeat will not publish any photographs, graphics, or artwork without a byline and caption.
• Concerns about errors in the HoofBeat may be submitted through the adviser or editors.
• Known and or found errors brought to the HoofBeat staff’s attention will be addressed regardless of whether they are realized by the author, audience, or staff member.
  • A factual error will be corrected, and a short statement will be placed at the end of the article stating that we corrected the error.
  • Grammatical errors will be fixed without a statement.
• Significant updates to the HoofBeat website will be made biweekly.
  • During extended vacations, staff will have prepared articles to be published over the break. However, no one will be expected to write new articles during any time off from school.
• Letters to the editor will be published in the website’s opinion section and submitted through the adviser or editors. Letters to the editor will be published at the editorial staff’s discretion.
• Interviewees will not be allowed to review the article they are featured in before publication.
  • However, the journalist conducting the interview can read back quotations after an interview to ensure they are accurate. The journalist should also provide a brief overview of the article’s intent prior to the interview if requested.
• Staff must ask every student to be referenced in an article by name if they consent. If they decline, the article will not be published, or they will be taken out of the story.
• If there is a concern that an article does not meet our editorial standards after it has been published, it will be appropriately reviewed by the editorial staff. During this review period, the article will be removed from the paper. Once the review period has ended, expect one of the following: the article will go live again with no changes, go live with changes, or be fully removed from the paper.
• Plagiarism, quote falsification, and continuously missed deadlines will not be tolerated.
• The staff of the HoofBeat will strive to publish fair, accurate articles; create a learning environment for everyone involved; and represent Northside and the surrounding community with integrity, pride, and fairness.
• The Hoofbeat will publish an April Fools’ Day issue around April 1 that will be respectful and fun.  Of course, facts will be thrown out the window.  We will identify this issue as our April Fools’ Day issue shortly after publication.