The Horizon is the official student newspaper of Whatcom Community College. Editorials reflect the sole opinion of the author. Articles, commentaries, photographs and cartoons are welcome from any enrolled student for possible publication. The Horizon is a public forum funded primarily by student S&A fees and is entirely student-produced. Advertisements in the Horizon do not reflect the opinion of the newspaper.
The address and e-mail address for submissions is under the contacts page.
The production of the Horizon is guided by our policy handbook which can be accessed in full at:
http://faculty.whatcom.ctc.edu/tsonnema/horizon/policy.htm
How the Horizon works:
The Horizon is a college newspaper run by its editors, managers, and the editorial board, which is made up completely of the students on the newspaper staff. The editors, managers, and editorial board make all decisions about coverage for the college, and are responsible for the content, advertising, production, and distribution of the paper. This includes:
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Publication
of the Horizon happens four times a quarter (with an optional Welcome Back issue in the early fall), on dates set prior to the quarter Staff meetings, editorial board meetings, story deadlines, and production days (including copy proofreading) are at arranged times, specified by a schedule each quarter. Attendance is required at staff meetings, editorial board meetings, and production days. Editors are required to meet once weekly separately from the rest of the staff.
Horizon Management
| Because publishing a newspaper affects the whole college community–requiring a thorough understanding of ethical and legal concerns—and is also a technical process that must operate within inflexible deadlines, it is necessary to concentrate executive authority in the hands of one person – the editor. |
Adviser’s role
| The adviser’s role is to advise the editor, editorial board, editors and individual staff members about news judgment, writing and placement, content, page design, professional ethics and conduct, and other journalistic principles and techniques | |||||
| As an instructor, the adviser will also hold class sessions to directly teach journalistic techniques and principles, give students guidelines to meet class requirements, and evaluate and grade writing. | |||||
| The advisor can often supply information or suggest sources that may be necessary to understand facts about a story or write a complete and balanced story. | |||||
| While the adviser may suggest possible stories and make suggestions about how those stories could be shaped or written, she or he will not give assignments directly (except as directed by the editor), or write any content for the Horizon. | |||||
| The adviser will join in with the group in editing and proofreading the paper, and give advice on the process, but it is not the job of the adviser to fix all errors, produce the paper, bring it to the printer, or distribute it. All of these activities, from writing to layout, proofreading, and production, must be done by students – that’s what makes it a student paper. | |||||
| The adviser will not impose editorial positions | |||||
| The adviser will be present at editorial board meetingsEditorial Board
General The student editorial board consists of all Horizon staff. The editor is the chairperson of that staff. The editorial board makes decisions as to what is included and omitted in the newspaper, including news and feature coverage, editorials, columns, cartoons, photographs, and advertising Responsibilities of members
Responsibilities of editorial board While the Horizon reserves the right to criticize, responsibility and mature judgment are expected to be brought to bear in advance. All sides should be discussed before criticism is published. The editorial board determines the print worthiness of all materials questionable from the standpoint of obscenity and taste, with the final decision reserved to the editor. The Horizon does not print profanity for profanity’s sake. We follow AP guidelines in this regard. The editorial board will consider complaints and grievances leveled at the Horizon from both inside and outside sources Editorial board discussions are confidential. If a Horizon staff member is approached by someone expressing dissatisfaction with the newspaper, the staff member should refer the critic to the editor, or suggest that the critic write a letter to the editor The editorial board will follow Horizon policies on columns, editorials, opinions, letters to the editor, and advertisements as outlined below. |
Horizon policies on columns, opinion page, letters to the editor – adapted from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges’ policy manual
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- Opinion Page
| The masthead will always run. | |
| Opinion columns and letters to the editor can run on pages other than the opinion page if they are clearly labeled, but news has priority over opinion on pages other than the opinion page | |
| Conflicts among columns and/or letters because of space limitations on the opinion page shall be resolved by the editor. | |
| In general, letters have priority over all other items on the opinion page. Which items shall be published shall be determined on the basis of the available columns and other materials for the opinion page. | |
| All art expressing an opinion shall come before the Editorial Board for discussion and a vote on its suitability and consistency with Horizon policies. | |
The opinion page represents the Horizon and its staff, not the editor alone
Complaints about content in the Horizon should be addressed to the editor in writing, with a request for a response. If the complainant is not satisfied by the editor’s response, he or she can contact the advisor with a request to present the written complaint to the Editorial Board. The Editorial Board will discuss the complaint and vote on how to respond to it. Their decision is final. |
