Policies

Editorial Policy:

The editorial staff of The Round Table is the decision-making body of the news organization which governs its day-to-day operation. The Round Table staff has adopted the following editorial policy to express the rights, responsibilities and philosophy of this newspaper. The Round Table is an accessible public forum which provides information and entertainment in addition to various viewpoints on debatable issues in the form of editorials and columns. Funds for production come from advertising and a yearly stipend from Stamford High School.

Letters to the editor, guest columns and all material submitted for publication must include the writer’s name, signature and class or position. Typed, double-spaced letters are preferred, but legible, handwritten submissions are acceptable. The Round Table will not print anything in the newspaper that is deemed libelous, obscene or in poor taste, in accordance with the Supreme Courts justified standards. Rights are reserved to postpone, edit or withhold from publication anything submitted which does not meet the specifications. The meaning of any submission will not be altered, but we reserve the right to correct spelling, grammar and punctuation when necessary. Additionally, The Round Table refuses to print criticism which is not constructive and not supported by facts. The editors and advisers will make the final decision on all material appearing in The Round Table. Letters should be addressed to the editor, and given to a member of the staff or to one of the advisers.

As an open forum, The Round Table sells advertisements for publicity and to pay for maintenance costs. Please contact the adviser for information about advertisement rates. We will refuse any advertisement which makes reference to illegal or controlled products, services, substance or paraphernalia. We reserve the right to refuse any other advertisement deemed inappropriate to the Stamford community. As a responsible newspaper, The Round Table will not intentionally invade the privacy of any person and will make every effort to correctly spell names and make accurate class and position identifications. Accurate reporting of fact is the goal of the staff.

Opinions will be clearly marked and found under the opinions section. Articles and notifications posted to the “community” section are provided by various representatives of school organizations, and do not constitute original content by Round Table writers. Corrections will be uploaded when errors are found or brought to the attention of the staff (these corrections will also be accompanied by an editor’s note explaining the change, in the case of factual errors only). Original stories will carry bylines, although stories rewritten by someone other than the original author will not receive a byline. Commentaries and opinion columns are the expressed opinion of the author and not of The Round Table and its editors or its adviser. Furthermore, the opinions conveyed are not necessarily those of the Stamford High School faculty or school board.

Members of the staff are guided by the Canons of Journalism of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, a code of ethics which outlines the principles of responsibility, fairness and accuracy. The Round Table editorial policy reflects these philosophies of scholastic journalism. We will do our best to uphold our policy at all costs, unless it violates the basic protections of journalists or the freedom accorded all journalists under the Connecticut School Code.

We wish to provide truthful and accurate information to our readers. We promise to collect and disseminate information from the widest variety of sources we deem credible. The Round Table does not cite information from sources with unverified claims that are not necessarily based on fact. We strive to avoid biases and conflicts of interest, but when they are unavoidable we promise to disclose such information. We strive to earn the respect of the members of our community because our duty is to provide them with the most accurate news possible. Lastly, we will do everything in our power to prevent the dissemination of disinformation and falsifications of information.

Ethics Code:

The Round Table has adopted the Online News Association’s Social Newsgathering Ethics Code, which reads as follows:

• Endeavoring to verify the authenticity of user-generated content before publishing or distributing it, holding it to standards that are equal or equivalent to those maintained for content acquired through other means.

• Being transparent with the audience about the verification status of UGC.

• Considering the emotional state and safety of contributors.

• Considering the risk inherent in asking a contributor to produce and deliver UGC, including whether it incentivizes others to take unnecessary risks.

• Considering technical measures to ensure the anonymity of sources when required.

• Seeking informed consent for the use of UGC through direct communication with the individual who created it.

• Being transparent about how content will be used and distributed to other platforms.

• Giving due credit to the owner of the content providing that consideration has been given to potential consequences, including their physical, mental and reputational well-being.

• Endeavoring to inform and equip journalists to confront the dangers of engaging with sources through social media networks and the digital footprint they leave behind.

• Supporting and assisting journalists who are confronted with graphic or otherwise disturbing content. Maintaining an organizational culture that enables journalists to seek help or speak out when they need to protect their mental health.

Byline Policy: 

All articles, graphics, photos, art, columns, pages, reviews and other material creatively conceived–with 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 creatively to a piece of work, any person who has contributed to the work must be bylined as well.

Death Policy:

The Round Table will acknowledge the death of a student, teacher or faculty member if they worked at/attended SHS during the years the current editorial staff (composed of seniors) attended SHS. The matter will be addressed with a straight news story which contains a picture of the deceased (if available), the date of birth and the date of death and manner of death, if appropriate. Any coverage of suicide will say “died;” the word “suicide” will not be used.

Comments Policy:

The Round Table allows its readers to express their opinions on articles in the comments section located under each published piece. Comments are monitored for profanity and The Round Table reserves the right to withhold any comments due to bad language, criticism that is not constructive, or that it deems otherwise inappropriate.

Corrections Policy:

When factual corrections have been made to a story, they will be noted at the end of the story along with the date and time the correction was made. However, grammatical or stylistic corrections will not be noted.