Editorial Policy

Tide Lines is the online and print news publication of Pottsville Area High School. It is produced by the students of the Communications and Mass Media class. It is written for the Pottsville Area School District community and is distributed free of charge. Secondary audiences include other school journalism programs and organizations which promote the development of scholastic journalism, as well as people worldwide with the ability to visit the web site.

Readers can access Tide Lines print issue archives at http://www.pottsville.k12.pa.us/tidelines. Tide Lines online is updated daily and can be viewed at https://www.pahstidelines.com.

The Editorial Board is the decision-making body of the newspaper which governs its day-to-day operation. The Tide Lines staff has adopted the following editorial policy to express the rights, responsibilities and philosophy of the Tide Lines newspaper and web site.

Tide Lines is an accessible public forum which provides information and entertainment in addition to various viewpoints on debatable issues in the form of editorials and columns. Funds for production come from advertising and the Pottsville Area School District.

As an open forum, Tide Lines sells advertisements for publicity and to pay for printing costs. The basic rate is eight dollars per column inch in each print issue or $30 per month on the web site. Tide Lines refuses to advertise any reference to illegal or controlled products, services, substances, paraphernalia or any other advertisement deemed inappropriate to the Pottsville community.

As a responsible newspaper, Tide Lines will not intentionally invade the privacy of any person and will make every effort to correctly spell names and make accurate class and position identifications. Accurate reporting of fact is the goal of the staff.

Opinions will be clearly marked and found on the editorial pages or as designated on other pages. Corrections will be published online or printed in the next issue when mistakes are found or brought to the attention of the staff. Original stories will carry bylines, although stories by someone other than the original author will not receive a byline.

Commentaries and opinion columns are the expressed opinion of the author and not of Tide Lines and its Editorial Board or its adviser. Furthermore, the opinions conveyed are not those of the Pottsville Area School District, faculty or School Board.

Letters to the editor, guest columns and all materials submitted  must include the author’s name, signature and class or position. Typed, double-spaced letters are preferred, but legible, handwritten submissions, are acceptable. Letters can be mailed, hand-delivered or e-mailed. Tide Lines will not publish anything deemed libelous, obscene or in poor taste, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s justified standards. Rights are reserved to postpone, edit or withhold from publication anything submitted which does not meet specifications. The meaning of any submission will not be altered, but Tide Lines reserves the right to correct spelling, grammar and punctuation when necessary. Additionally, Tide Lines refuses to print criticisms that are not constructive and supported by facts.

Tide Lines is a member of the Pennsylvania School Press Association, the National Scholastic Press Association, the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Members of the staff are guided by the Canons of Journalism of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, a code of ethics which outline the principles of responsibility, fairness and accuracy.

The Tide Lines editorial policies reflect the philosophies of scholastic journalism. The goal of Tide Lines is to uphold its policy at all costs, unless it violates the basic protections of journalists or the freedom accorded all journalists under the Pennsylvania School Code.

Tide Lines Contact Information:

[email protected]

(570) 621-2974

Pottsville Area High School, 16th Street and Elk Avenue, Pottsville, PA, 17901