About
Our Mission
The Campus Lantern’s mission is to provide an open forum for civic dialogue while adhering to the highest standards of journalistic ethics and Springside Chestnut Hill’s Code of Conduct.
Our Purpose
The purpose of The Campus Lantern is to serve its readership in the following ways:
- Balanced, objective, accurate and relevant school, community, and global news reportage
- Informed opinion writing that encourages open versus closed dialogue
- Ideas-driven feature writing that strives to foster social, political and economic engagement with current events
- Relevant and timely sports coverage
- Informative and inclusive profile writing
- Inclusive representation of the diverse opinions, interests, ideas and experiences of the SCH community
Our Commitment to Freedom of Expression
The Campus Lantern endeavors to promote freedom of expression and open civic discourse, two principles that are fundamental to our democratic society. In line with our country’s ideals and our SCH mission, The Campus Lantern seeks “to inspire unbounded curiosity and independent thought in every one of our students,” Additionally, the newspaper “extends the educational environment well beyond the classroom, nurtures students’ knowledge of themselves and the world, and prepares students to lead lives characterized by thoughtfulness, integrity, and a quest to effect positive change.” In this civic forum, students have the opportunity to practice the school’s core values of courage, integrity, diversity, resilience, and thoughtfulness.
In line with our school mission, opinions that target an individual or group based on identity will not be published.
Additionally, in accordance with the Pennsylvania Administrative Code of Student Rights and Responsibility, The Campus Lantern will not publish “any material determined by student editors or the student editorial board to be unprotected, that is, material that is libelous, obscene, materially disruptive of the school process, an unwarranted invasion of privacy, a violation of copyright or a promotion of products or services unlawful (illegal) as to minors as defined by state or federal law.”
The Editorial Board is responsible for all of The Campus Lantern’s published content. Final content decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief who works in conjunction with the faculty advisor.
Our Code of Ethics
We hold both our reporters and our editors, who hold leadership positions, to the highest ethical standards.
First and foremost, our editors uphold the SCH mission statement:
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy’s mission is to foster unbounded curiosity and independent thought, preparing students from preschool through 12th grade to lead lives of thoughtfulness, integrity, and to effect positive change, utilizing a unique environment extending beyond campus to nurture their potential and understanding of the world, all grounded in core values like Integrity, Courage, Diversity, Thoughtfulness, and Resilience.
Professional journalists, whose duty it is to seek truth and report it, must be and be perceived as impartial and credible disseminators of information. As such, many professional newsrooms have widely accepted ethical guidelines and, in many cases, specific employer-mandated policies about how their journalists can share their political views on personal social media. Editors for The Campus Lantern are expected to conduct themselves as professional journalists would, following the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, copied below:
Seek Truth and Report It
Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.Journalists should:
- Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible.
- Remember that neither speed nor format excuses inaccuracy.
- Provide context. Take special care not to misrepresent or oversimplify in promoting, previewing or summarizing a story.
- Gather, update and correct information throughout the life of a news story.
- Be cautious when making promises, but keep the promises they make.
- Identify sources clearly. The public is entitled to as much information as possible to judge the reliability and motivations of sources.
- Consider sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Reserve anonymity for sources who may face danger, retribution or other harm, and have information that cannot be obtained elsewhere. Explain why anonymity was granted.
- Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing.
- Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information unless traditional, open methods will not yield information vital to the public.
- Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable. Give voice to the voiceless.
- Support the open and civil exchange of views, even views they find repugnant.
- Recognize a special obligation to serve as watchdogs over public affairs and government. Seek to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in the open, and that public records are open to all.
- Provide access to source material when it is relevant and appropriate.
- Boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience. Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear.
- Avoid stereotyping. Journalists should examine the ways their values and experiences may shape their reporting.
- Label advocacy and commentary.
- Never deliberately distort facts or context, including visual information. Clearly label illustrations and re-enactments.
- Never plagiarize. Always attribute.
Minimize Harm
Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect.Journalists should:
- Balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness.
- Show compassion for those who may be affected by news coverage. Use heightened sensitivity when dealing with juveniles, victims of sex crimes, and sources or subjects who are inexperienced or unable to give consent. Consider cultural differences in approach and treatment.
- Recognize that legal access to information differs from an ethical justification to publish or broadcast.
- Realize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than public figures and others who seek power, influence or attention. Weigh the consequences of publishing or broadcasting personal information.
- Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity, even if others do.
- Balance a suspect’s right to a fair trial with the public’s right to know. Consider the implications of identifying criminal suspects before they face legal charges.
- Consider the long-term implications of the extended reach and permanence of publication. Provide updated and more complete information as appropriate.
Act Independently
The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public.Journalists should:
- Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
- Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility.
- Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; do not pay for access to news. Identify content provided by outside sources, whether paid or not.
- Deny favored treatment to advertisers, donors or any other special interests, and resist internal and external pressure to influence coverage.
- Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two. Prominently label sponsored content.
Be Accountable and Transparent
Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public.Journalists should:
- Explain ethical choices and processes to audiences. Encourage a civil dialogue with the public about journalistic practices, coverage and news content.
- Respond quickly to questions about accuracy, clarity and fairness.
- Acknowledge mistakes and correct them promptly and prominently. Explain corrections and clarifications carefully and clearly.
- Expose unethical conduct in journalism, including within their organizations.
- Abide by the same high standards they expect of others.
Act with Integrity Wherever You Are
Editors, as well as all reporters, should avoid actions on social media that would damage the credibility of the journalism they do for The Campus Lantern. Serious partisan advocacy or offensive personal attacks risk undercutting a the editor’s and the newspaper’s credibility. The Campus Lantern advisor may decide not to offer or rescind leadership appointments if they believe a journalist’s online presence shows poor judgment or could undermine The Campus Lantern‘s or the school’s mission. — Adapted from The New York Times
Role of the Advisor
As stated in the Upper School Student Handbook, “The role of the advisor in an activity is to help student leadership set goals and outcomes and assist with the organization and execution of meetings. Advisors act as facilitators of student leadership development and seek to help student leaders problem solve and think strategically. The advisor retains authority over student leaders and acts to uphold the integrity of the activity, its membership, and its operations.”
In addition to the responsibilities put forth in the Student Handbook, The Campus Lantern adviser must also follow the Code of Ethics, adapted from the Journalism Education Association Advisors’ Code of Ethics.
Advisors will:
- Model standards of professional journalistic conduct.
- Empower students to make decisions of style, structure and content by creating a learning atmosphere where students will actively practice critical thinking and decision-making.
- Encourage students to seek points of view and to explore a variety of information sources in their decision-making.
- Emphasize the importance of accuracy, balance and clarity in all aspects of news gathering and reporting.
- Remain informed on press rights and responsibilities across media platforms; be able to provide students with sources of information on legal matters.
- Display professional and personal integrity in situations that might be construed as potential conflicts of interest.
- Model traits of a life-long learner through continuous professional development in media education along with membership and involvement in professional media organizations.
- Champion inclusion so that all students not only see themselves and their ideas represented, but also see themselves as able to contribute to and to lead student-determined media.
- Foster cooperation and open communication with administrators and other stakeholders.
- Encourage journalistically responsible use of social media in schools and educate students, school officials and community to its value. Educate students about the ramifications of its misuse.
- Work collaboratively with the administration to keep the administration informed and to seek advice on legal or ethical matters.
- Hold final say over content decisions.
Role of the Administration
The administration works beside the editor-in-chief and faculty advisorr to ensure that the newspaper and its staff meet the standards for excellence laid out in to the mission, purpose, commitment to freedom of expression and journalism code of ethics outlined above.
