In all editorial departments, The Argus mandates that writers and editors adhere to our staff policy regarding quotes. This ensures that on a campus where student journalists are often covering our peers or reporting on stories which have a direct impact on our daily lives, we can avoid conflicts of interest and any unethical amendments to comments which are given on the record. 

When an Argus reporter requests an interview, all following correspondence with a source is on the record unless otherwise explicitly stated. For a source to go off the record in an interview or in written correspondence, the source must first ask the reporter whether they are permitted to go off the record, at which point the reporter may grant or deny their request. When a source goes off the record, it is standard practice for the reporter to put down their notes and turn off their recording device. 

In particular circumstances with a clear and identifiable reason, a source may also request anonymity from a reporter before an interview is conducted, and this request will be evaluated by senior members of the editorial board before it is granted. We are careful while making these decisions of anonymity, as being specific with our attribution of quotes and information allows us to provide credible and verifiable coverage. Ultimately, we will only grant anonymity if the information given would endanger the source’s physical safety, employment, or enrollment in the University, though we are open to possible exceptions. We will explain the reasoning behind any decisions surrounding confidentiality both to the source and to readers with clarity and transparency. 

When covering events or gatherings which are open or visible to the general student population, the campus community, or to the wider public, Argus reporters are authorized to record, to attribute, and to publish any quotes or occurrences which are relevant to the article.

Upon request, sources may read over their direct quotes which will be included in the paper and attributed to them. The source should make this request at the time of the interview or immediately following the interview. We do not, however, allow sources to read over anything other than their own direct quotes in the article, nor do we allow sources in any circumstances to make any retroactive additions to or retractions of content which was on the record at the time of the interview, with the exception of making edits to spelling or grammar. If, after an interview and before an article’s publication, a source would like to provide more context for something they said on the record during an interview, they are welcome to do so. If the information substantially changes the meaning of the quote or provides additional information, the clarification may be included with an explicit acknowledgment of the timing in which it was given, at the discretion of the editorial staff. To read our policy about corrections or clarifications, click here.

If you have any questions about our quotes policy, our journalistic processes, or our coverage, feel free to reach out directly to the reporter or to the Argus editors-in-chief at argus@wesleyan.edu or at their Wesleyan emails. You can find the names and contact information of editors on our staff page.