eSomethin Policies
eSomethin is an digital newspaper published by the Technical Writing class at Perrysburg High School (13385 Roachton Rd) in Perrysburg, Ohio. Our primary readership consists of the 1,500 students and approximately 100 faculty on our campus.
eSomethin is part of a long-standing tradition of student journalism at Perrysburg High School. A print edition of our student newspaper, The Somethin, circulated our student body from 1922 until 2012. That school year, The Toledo Blade stepped in as a sponsor of the newspaper, and helped students create eSomethin.com.
eSomethin is an online publication whose content is updated and maintained by students in Perrysburg High School’s Technical Writing class. We are a moderated forum for student expression as outline by Perrysburg school board policy 5722.
Student journalists of eSomethin will publish only legally protected speech, following the legal definitions of libel, obscenity and invasion of privacy. The staff also will refrain from material (including submissions from the community) which so incites students as to create a clear and present danger of the commission of unlawful acts or the substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school.
The adviser of eSomethin will supervise production and offer advice to help the student staff maintain professional standards of English and journalism. The adviser will also maintain the other provisions as required by Ohio state law and the policies of the Perrysburg Board of Education.
Opinion Editorials
The Editorial Board, which consists of the editors of eSomethin, will determine the content of the website, and all unsigned editorials, with the guidance of the adviser; therefore, the material may not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Perrysburg High School, its faculty, administration or the Board of Education. Signed columns or reviews represent only the opinions of individual authors.
Unsigned editorials
On occasion, the staff of eSomethin will publish unsigned staff editorials, signifying unified agreement among the student-staff of the opinions expressed. These, like signed op-eds, do not necessarily reflect the views of the adviser, school personnel, or the Board of Education.
Ethical Concerns
eSomethin staff will work to meet the standards set by the National Scholastic Press Association’s Model Code of Ethics for High School Journalists.
eSomethin staff will not alter the content of news photos through technological or other means. Image enhancements for technical clarity are always permissible. Photo illustrations are acceptable, but should be clearly labelled. Likewise, the staff will not stage or recreate news events for photographs. eSomethin staff will not publish images or other work without properly crediting the creators of that work and obtaining reprint/rebroadcast permissions of copyrighted work.
eSomethin will not engage in plagiarism in any form.
In the interest of representing a broad range of views, eSomethin staff will make efforts to avoid having a staff member interview his or her friends or classmates when possible; instead, eSomethin will seek out a broad range of sources for site content.
Social Media
eSomethin uses guidance from the American Society of News Editors regarding the best practices for social media use in news organizations. Our policy is as follows:
1. Traditional ethics rules apply online.
2. Assume everything you write online will become public.
3. Beware of perceptions.
4. Independently authenticate anything found on a social networking site.
5. Always identify yourself as a journalist when working a story.
6. Social networks are tools, not toys.
7. Be transparent and admit mistakes.
8. Keep internal deliberations confidential.
Corrections
Staff members will strive to correct any error before publication – and will correct errors after posting when necessary; if the editorial board determines a significant error has been published, a formal correction will appear on the site and remain as a part of the site’s permanent archive. To submit a correction, email [email protected].
Comments
We welcome and encourage reader comments, but review all reader comments prior to publication.
Through reader comments, we hope to create a moderated forum where readers exchange informed ideas that add to the subject being discussed. Abusive and/or off-topic comments will not be published.
We will, at our discretion, approve comments that are informed and relevant to the topic discussed. We will not publish comments containing commercial promotions, personal attacks, libel or obscene language, profanity or spam. Criticisms and accolades for our work will also be published if they meet the above guidelines.
Readers are strongly encouraged to register with their real names when leaving a comment. The decision to publish or not to publish each comment is a collaborative decision of the eSomethin staff and sometimes the class adviser. Comments are held to the same policy standards put out by the Perrysburg Board of Education.
Community submissions
eSomethin welcomes student opinions and encourages eSomethin staff, Perrysburg students, and guest authors to submit content for publication
Letters, comments, guest submissions, story ideas and photos may be submitted through the “Contact Us” tab on the website or by emailing the club adviser, Tim Kitson ([email protected]).
All submissions become the sole property of eSomethin and may be edited for length, clarity, or accuracy. They cannot be returned and will be published at eSomethin.com at the discretion of the editorial staff in consultation with the club adviser.
Content removal
eSomethin staff will consider requests to remove posted content if a reader provides a written request that the content in question
- is factually inaccurate
- contains significant grammatical errors that hinder the reader, indicating the story was not ready for publication at the time of print
- is needlessly vulgar or graphic in a manner inappropriate for a school setting
To request content be removed from eSomethin, use this form.
Decisions to remove content are made at the discretion of the student editorial board of eSomethin in collaboration with its adviser.
In the event of disagreement among the editorial board, the Editor-in-Chief will contact the Student Press Law Center for consultation.
Death of a current student or faculty member
eSomethin will address the death of a current student or faculty member as follows: a single story titled “In Memoriam” with the deceased’s official school photo, or a picture chosen by the editorial staff and adviser from those submitted to eSomethin. Obituaries will be approximately 200-words in length and include factual information like the the deceased’s hobbies, interests, birth and death dates.
