E&H Campus Media Board

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I. Statement of Ownership

Responsibility and authority for all campus media outlets at Emory & Henry College is vested in the Board of Trustees which delegates such authority to the President of the College. The President, in turn, delegates responsibility and authority to the Dean of Students and a Campus Media Board. The policies and regulations of the College regarding campus media have been established to support the educational mission of the College. While attempting to grant maximum freedom of expression, the College reserves the right to control content, change editors and staff, and terminate any or all campus media. 

II. Statement of Policy

It is the policy of Emory & Henry College that the official college-sponsored campus media of Emory & Henry College, The Whitetopper, The Sphinx, the Ampersand have been established as forums for student expression. As such, each media outlet should provide a full opportunity for students to inquire, question, and exchange ideas. Content should reflect all areas of student interest, including topics about which there may be dissent or controversy. 

III. The Campus Media Board

  1.  Composition 
    1. The Campus Media Board shall be comprised of six members, appointed as follows: one student appointed by the President of the Student Government; one student appointed by the President of the College; one student senator selected by the Student Senate; one faculty member selected by the faculty; and the Associate Dean of Students. The Dean of Students shall serve as an advisor to the Board, without a vote. Further, apart from the student senator selected by the Student Senate, no member of the Board shall be a student senator, editor/manager/director of a campus media outlet, or student staff member of a campus media outlet. No member of the Board shall be a faculty or staff advisor to a campus media outlet. 
    2. Each person selected to serve on the Board shall be selected for a two-year term. Any member of the Board may be reappointed to additional terms. 
    3. Persons/bodies responsible for making selections of the six members of the Board shall do so on or before the 15th day of April, each year. 
    4. The Campus Media Board shall select a chair from among the appointed student members. The chair shall serve for one year. 
  2. Responsibilities
    1. The Campus Media Board will act in a regulatory and advisory capacity for the official college-sponsored campus media of Emory & Henry College: The Whitetopper, The Sphinx, and the Ampersand. 
    2. The Campus Media Board shall serve in an advisory capacity to the campus media outlets.
    3. The Campus Media Board will be in charge of administering the funds provided to the Campus Media Board by the College by allocating monies to the various media based on their budget requests. All funds provided to the Campus Media Board shall be allocated each year. 
    4. The Campus Media Board will select the editor of The Whitetopper, the editor of The Sphinx, and the editor of The Ampersand, on an annual basis.
    5. The Campus Media Board may remove the editor of The Whitetopper, The Sphinx, or The Ampersand only for just and stated causes wherein an editor or station manager fails to adhere to the highest journalistic or broadcast standards as set forth by the profession and expected by the College Mission Statement and policies. 
      1. Process for Removal 
        1. If an advisor, faculty member, member of the administration, or staff member believes an editor has violated the spirit or letter of the media policy, the violation should be reported in writing to the Campus Media Board and the Dean of Students. 
        2. The editor will be given a formal opportunity to present their case to a charge of misconduct. 
        3. By majority vote, the Campus Media Board may remove an editor whose performance is determined to be unprofessional. 
      2. Appeal 
        An editor removed by the Campus Media Board will have one final appeal to the President of the College. This appeal must be in writing and should clearly state the reason for the appeal. 

IV. Goals and Objectives of Campus Media

The goal of campus media outlets shall be professionalism in all aspects of operations; in news coverage, editorial comment, and in the conduct of staff. 

  1. Objectives: The Whitetopper 
    1. To report fairly and objectively appropriate community and campus news; 
    2. To establish and maintain a climate for free and responsible exchange of ideas about current issues and events; 
    3. To provide a vehicle for the exploration of intellectual concerns on campus; 
    4. To provide an outlet for representative sampling of student thinking; 
    5. To provide an opportunity for student experimentation with written expression of new and original ideas; 
    6. To provide a vehicle for the exchange and formulation of student opinion on current issues on campus and in the world at large; and 
    7. To bring representative concerns of students to the attention of the faculty and institutional authorities. 
  2. Objectives: The Sphinx 
    1. To provide a pictorial and text record of the history of one year in the lives of students, professors, and administrators at Emory & Henry College; 
    2. To provide a vehicle for the experimentation of written expression, photographic techniques, and artistic arrangements; 
    3. To provide an opportunity for students to learn orderly development of information and ideas; 
    4. To provide an opportunity for students to learn the problems and techniques of publishing; 
    5. To create a product that will be a source of reference for future generations. 
  3. Objectives: The Ampersand 
    1. To provide a forum for creative expression by members of the Emory & Henry College community; 
    2. To provide an opportunity for students to learn the problems and techniques of publishing; and 
    3. To provide a vehicle to showcase student writing. 

V. Responsibilities of Student Journalists and Broadcasters

  1. Student journalists and broadcasters shall: 
    1. Determine the content of publications and broadcasts, keeping in mind that ideas can be conveyed and news can be reported accurately and honestly without the use of pictures, words, or descriptions that a significant portion of the readership or listeners finds offensive. Tastefulness is part of the trust a journalist or broadcaster holds and applies to all contents of a publication or broadcast, including advertising and reader contribution. 
    2. Rewrite material, if necessary, to improve sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. 
    3. Check and verify all facts and verify the accuracy of all quotations; 
    4. In the case of editorials or letters to the editor concerning controversial issues, provide space or time for rebuttal comments and opinions. 
    5. Make a clear distinction between news accounts and editorial comment or any other kind of writer or broadcaster opinion. 
    6. Make every effort to correct significant mistakes with reasonable prominence. 
  2. Editorial freedom. 
    1. The campus media shall be free of censorship and advance approval of copy.
    2. Editors shall be free to develop their own editorial policies and news coverage. 
    3. Editors shall be protected from arbitrary suspension or removal because of student, faculty, administrative, or public disapproval of editorial policy or content. Only for proper and stated causes shall the editors or station managers be subject to removal. 
  3. Legal responsibilities of student editors, journalists, and broadcasters.
    The editorial freedom of student editors, journalists, and broadcasters entails adherence to the canons of responsible journalism and broadcasting:
    1. Students shall not publish, broadcast, or distribute material that is obscene, libelous, an invasion of privacy, or which would cause a substantial disruption in college activities.
    2. Students shall not publish or broadcast undocumented allegations, attacks on personal integrity, or use the techniques of harassment and innuendo. 
    3. Students shall publish and adhere to the annual publication schedule as approved by the Campus Media Board. 
  4. Financial responsibilities of student editors. 
    1. Editors shall prepare a budget for the publication they edit. 
    2. Editors shall stay within their allocated budgets. 

VI. Responsibilities of Campus Media Advisors

Each official college-sponsored campus media shall have an advisor from the faculty or staff. The advisor’s responsibilities include the following: 

  1. As supervisors the advisors shall guide rather than censor. 
  2. Advisors shall let it be known they are willing to give guidance, provide counseling, and be there when needed. 
  3. Advisors shall share their knowledge of journalism and broadcasting with the staff, stressing that professional standards and ethics be followed at all times. 
  4. Advisors shall offer pre-publications/pre-broadcast advice when it is sought and shall offer post-publication/ post-broadcast criticism.
  5. Advisors shall approve payment of bills, student payroll, and other necessary expenditures and provide general budget supervision.