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Editorial Guidelines

Both TippNews.com and Tippecanoe Gazette are committed to delivering the best in reported news coverage relevant to members of our community. We seek to balance our rights to freedom of expression and information with our responsibilities, for example, to respect the privacy of others, and protect children.

Both TippNews.com and Tippecanoe Gazette Editorial Guidelines are a statement of the values and standards we have set for ourselves. They also codify the good practice we expect from the contributors and reporters of all TippNews.com and Tippecanoe Gazette content whether it is made for:

* radio
* television
* online
* mobile devices
* interactive services
* or the printed word.

As different technologies evolve, these guidelines apply to our content whoever produces it and however it is received.

Truth and accuracy

Our reporters strive to be accurate and establish the truth of what happens in our community. While reporters attempt to weigh all relevant and available facts and information to get at the truth, the voracity of all articles must be judged by its individual merit and the trust that we hold for each other as residents of our community. The editor of our online publication and our newspaper will not attempt to establish independent fact-checking or research on any subject, article, or posting.

Impartiality & diversity of opinion

As a community we strive to be a fair- and open-minded people and as a publication we want to reflect these goals. Comments submitted by readers within our social media channels should be considered User Generated Content that can fall outside of our editorial integrity standards. Both TippNews.com and Tippecanoe Gazette reserves the right to remove articles or comments that do not respect the privacy or reputation of others. In our opinion, everyone in our community is a ROCKSTAR and should be treated as one.

Editorial integrity & independence

Both TippNews.com and Tippecanoe Gazette is independent of both state and partisan interests. Our audiences can be confident that our decisions are influenced neither by political or commercial pressures, nor by any personal interests. It is for those reasons why we do not print or disseminate political literature, candidate articles, or op-eds.

Serving the public interest

We seek to report and source stories of significance. Our contributors and reporters will produce content “of the people, for the people”. We will ask searching questions of those who hold public office.

Fairness

Our output will be based on fairness, openness, and straight dealing. Contributors will be treated honestly and with respect. The Editor(s) reserve the right to remove any comments that assail the integrity of our contributors, reporters, businesses, or organizations and do not respect others or their viewpoints.

Privacy

We will respect privacy and will not infringe it without good reason. Private behavior, correspondence and conversation will not be brought into the public domain unless there is a clear public interest.

Harm and offense

We aim to reflect Tipp City and the surrounding area as it is, including all aspects of the human experience and the realities of the natural world. But we balance our right to both broadcast and publish innovative and challenging content with our responsibility to protect the vulnerable.

Children

We will always seek to safeguard the welfare of children and young people who contribute to and are featured in our content including their right to be heard.

Accountability

We are accountable to our local audience and will deal fairly and openly with them. Their continuing trust in TippNews.com and Tippecanoe Gazette is a crucial part of our social contract with them. We will be open in admitting mistakes and encourage a culture of willingness to learn from them.