Correction, Clarification, Retraction, and Removal Policy

The State News and its websites report the truth as accurately as possible on the news events of the day. Our online archives are part of the institutional memory of the newspaper and a historical record of our community.

No published article, photograph, video, podcast, story comment, editorial, opinion column, graphic illustration or other published digital work will be removed by the State News Media Group except as provided in this policy.

It is the intent of this policy that removal of content from any platform be very rare and take place only in the extraordinary circumstances

Minor corrections — a fix to grammar, spelling, AP style, a date or a similar detail that does not affect the meaning of the work. Editors may make minor corrections at any time and without issuing a retraction, provided the meaning of the work is not affected. Such corrections will be noted in an editor’s note in compliance with the Corrections Policy.

Factual errors and updates — information that was incorrect at the time of publication. Corrections are made only when material is literally inaccurate or misleading. They are not made because a subject or a reader disagrees with the way accurate facts were presented, framed or emphasized. When a factual error is discovered in an article, photograph, video or other work published to any digital platform, the editor-in-chief has the authority to append a correction, clarification or other explanation to the originally published material, and to edit that material to correct the error. The article, photograph or video will not be removed.

Subsequent developments. When it is discovered that subsequent events have made substantial changes to the facts in a previously published work, even though that work was accurate at the time of publication, the editor-in-chief has the authority to append updated information to the originally published material. The originally published material will not be removed.

Editor’s notes. Every correction or update made will carry an editor’s note at the end of the story identifying the change made and the date and time it was made.

Social media. If a comment on social media leads to the discovery of an error in an article, the article is corrected under this section and The State News replies to the comment stating: “This article has been corrected for accuracy.”

Requests from readers

How to submit. All complaints regarding content must be sent by email to feedback@statenews.com for the attention of the editor-in-chief, and must include:

• Name
• Telephone number
• Email address
• URL of the content in question
• An explanation of how the information is inaccurate

Burden of proof. The burden of substantiating a request rest with the requester. If a reader or other outside source states that court documents or other records show that a charge has been dismissed or expunged, or otherwise establish that published information is no longer accurate, the requester must obtain and provide copies of those records.

Content published less than one year ago. Normal internal procedures for checking the material’s accuracy apply, and the reporter may be asked to provide written documentation. Updates or corrections may be added if the material is factually inaccurate. Nothing will be removed.

Content published more than one year ago. The complainant must provide reasonable proof to the editor-in-chief that the content in question is no longer accurate — for example, a copy of expungement papers or a court order in the event criminal charges were dropped. Contested quotes are highly unlikely to be amended without written or audio documentation.

Decision. The editor-in-chief reviews and checks the request and determines whether it is valid. If it is, an update or correction is posted with an editor’s note. Where the request concerns archived content and the error has been documented to the newsroom’s satisfaction, the decision to append an editor’s note rests solely with the current editor-in-chief and the general manager.

Requests for removal. If a requester asks that previously published work be removed, the editor-in-chief or manager will first determine whether factual errors are involved and, if so, apply the correction and append remedies. If removal is still sought, the editor-in-chief will present that request to the newsroom student management team.

Removal

The newsroom student management team shall use the following standards in considering a request for removal:

• Material may be removed if the team believes the requester has a well-founded fear of physical harm, or that continued publication endangers a life. In such cases the least removal possible should be authorized — for instance, a name or a photograph may be removed rather than the entire work.
• Material will not be removed in the interest of protecting a person’s reputation or improving their ability to find a job.
• Material will not be removed because current state news staff believe previously published coverage was poor.
• If the newsroom student management team believes that coverage of a particular person was unfair in that similarly situated persons were treated differently in coverage, then the proper remedy will be adopting a policy specifically governing removal of such coverage for all persons similarly situated, rather than removal in the individual case.

Libel. If material is determined to be libelous, it will be removed from the website and a note published explaining why. That determination is made by the editor-in-chief, content adviser and the general manager in consultation with legal counsel.

Record of removals. Any removal authorized under this policy will be documented in the newsroom’s records, including what was removed, on what ground and by whose authority.