Policies and Guidelines

The Argus strives to maintain a community of respect, and is committed to creating a fun and comfortable environment in which all members of the Wesleyan community can learn about and participate in publishing a newspaper. While all members of The Argus contribute to the paper in different ways, we must appreciate any and all work that people put into the production of the paper. Writers, photographers, social media editors, copy, production, and layout staff members, ads, business, distribution, and web managers all perform essential functions for the paper, and no one job is more important than another. 

The Argus’ group constitution, which includes The Argus’ Sexual Violence Prevention Policy, Values, and Institutional Memory Policy, can be viewed here. 

By joining the staff of The Wesleyan Argus, you are agreeing to the following standards of conduct. These standards should govern your interactions with Argus staff members and members of the Wesleyan community. Behavior in violation of these guidelines could result in punitive measures as decided by the Community Managers and Editors-in-Chief.

When engaging in Argus business with anyone, including peers, University faculty, and members of the Middletown community, staff members should:

• Keep confidential information, including off-the-record interviews and content involved in investigative pieces, confidential (i.e. between the reporter, relevant section editors, and editorial leadership).
• Treat individuals equally without prejudice on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, veteran status, ability, sexual orientation, sex, gender, or gender expression. Hate speech of any kind is not tolerated.
• Communicate respectfully and professionally with whomever you are speaking, emailing, or messaging.
• Recognize and appreciate the different kinds of work each staff member puts into the paper.
• Acknowledge power dynamics within staff/editor relationships and how these dynamics can result in intimidating or harmful situations. Under no circumstances should you exploit these relationships in or outside of the office.

The Argus mandates that all writers and editors adhere to our policy regarding quotes. This ensures that on a campus where student journalists are often covering peers or reporting on stories which have a direct impact on our daily lives, staff members can avoid conflicts of interest. 

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. Argus reporters should clarify with the source whether their off the record comments are on “background,” meaning that the reporter may reference the source’s information, unattributed, in their article, or whether they are entirely off the record, meaning they cannot be referenced.

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. The Argus will only grant anonymity if the information given would credibly endanger the source’s physical safety, enrollment in the University, or employment, legal, citizenship, or immigration status. The editorial board reserves the right to grant exceptions to this policy. We will explain the reasoning behind any decisions surrounding confidentiality both to the source and to readers with clarity and transparency. 

When covering events, gatherings, or demonstrations which are open or visible to the general student population, the campus community, or the wider public, Argus reporters are authorized to record, attribute, and publish quotes or occurrences without the speaker/actor’s express consent.

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.

The Argus strives to be a record of Wesleyan’s history, and its online and print archives serve as necessary means to this goal. Alterations of The Argus’ historical record is contrary to its mission as a newspaper, and allowing the alteration of our archives for any but the most serious of reasons would hinder the paper’s ability to report faithfully. In order for The Argus to remain unbiased and effectively serve the Wesleyan community, it must retain full editorial control over all content, including archived stories.

There are only two reasons The Argus will consider altering or removing content from its online archives:

• The content is factually incorrect.
• The content is libelous, dangerous, or otherwise illegal.

Content that falls into either of the aforementioned categories will be handled on a case-by-case basis by the editors-in-chief. The Argus will not consider removal requests for any of the following, given that they do not also fall under the criteria for removal:

• Opinion pieces 
• Letters to the editor
• Quotes previously provided to an Argus reporter or otherwise falling within The Argus’ Policy on Quoting Practices and Anonymous Sources
• Personal profiles in The Argus, including but not limited to Wespeaks* and Wesceleb interviews**

We appreciate your understanding and ask that you consider this policy carefully before contacting us with removal or alteration requests.

*On Nov. 14, 2013, a clarification was added to the online form for Wespeaks reminding writers that their submissions will be permanently preserved on the newspaper’s online archives. Upon the author’s request, Wespeaks submitted before that date can be removed from most search engine results.

**Beginning in Dec. 2013, reporters are required to remind students chosen for Wesceleb interviews that those interviews will be permanently preserved in the online archives. Due to their exceptionally casual nature, Wesceleb interviews published before Jan. 2014 may be removed from search engine results at the interviewee’s request.

For concerns regarding the removal, rather than the correction, of an article, please refer to the Policy on Article Removal and Archives (found above).

The Argus aims to be meticulous and thorough with our reporting, as well as transparent with our readers if our work needs to be amended. We are student journalists, and while we try our best to be diligent and accurate with our coverage, errors may occur. As soon as we are made aware of an error in one of our articles, we promise to take swift and responsible action to correct it on our website, which holds all of the coverage in our print edition. There is no limit to how long after an article’s publication we can issue corrections. With that in mind, we welcome our readers to contact section editors and the editors-in-chief about any errors that make their way into the paper. The best way to do this is to email the article’s author or the editors-in-chief at argus@wesleyan.edu.

If we need to run a correction or a clarification, the editors-in-chief will issue a formal statement at the bottom of the online article that will inform readers of what is being changed, how we are making the change, and our rationale for the change. A correction will be issued if there is a factual inaccuracy or a misspelling of a proper noun within the article. A clarification will be issued if we decide that our original language, though factually correct, leaves ambiguity or room for misinterpretation. The editors may also issue a clarification if they wish to add a comment from an additional source which they feel is necessary for the article’s comprehensibility, or if there has been noteworthy reporting since the time of publication that will make the article more factually accurate. In case of a substantial correction, the editors-in-chief, if they deem it appropriate, may also issue an editor’s note in the print version of the paper explaining the update.

If a misspelled word (not a proper noun) or a minor grammatical error which does not impede the facts of the article make it past our copy-desk and is published, the editors-in-chief may permit a section editor to make the change on the digital version without issuing a formal correction at the end of the article. This does not include a significant change in syntax or re-writing—such a case would require a clarification. If factually inaccurate information makes it on one of our social media platforms, the editors-in-chief may delete the original post and must issue a formal correction through that platform that acknowledges the mistake and rectifies it. For a developing story, a formal notice on the digital version of how the story has been changed will not be necessary. Instead, the editors should put a notice at the bottom of the digital article that the story is developing, followed by a time-stamp when the story has last been updated.

The Argus encourages students to submit academic work to The Argus, especially to the Opinion and Features sections. However, given that professors may hold students to different sourcing standards than journalistic outlets, students hoping to publish their classwork in The Argus must follow special requirements:

• All classwork submitted to The Argus will follow the standard editing practice and must follow The Argus’ copy style.
• If, in the course of reporting, you include on-the-record quotations from sources, students must obtain consent from those sources for publication in The Argus.
• The Argus encourages students to inform sources before on-the-record correspondence that the student also hopes to publish the piece publicly, not simply for a class essay.

The Argus welcomes thoughtful debate and critique in its comment sections. The goal is to provide a civil forum where all voices can be heard and readers can exchange spirited commentary. Accordingly, The Argus reserves the right to moderate and delete comments. Examples of commentary that will not be tolerated include: personal attacks, defamation, hate speech, commercial promotions, and impersonations. The Argus also reserves the right to ban repeat offenders.