KSU Media
New Staff Agreement and Ethics Form
Thank you for
considering a KSU media organization! Your first responsibility
as a student media staff member is to read the following:
The
Student Media Board Bylaws, including the Statement of Principles (All applicants. A pdf file)
The
Sentinel staff manual and addendum, including the ACP Code of
Ethics (Sentinel applicants only. A pdf file)
All staff members must be registered
and maintain a 2.0 GPA. In order to validate your application, it
is necessary for the media adviser to check your GPA and KSU Net ID
number.For payment purposes, we must also
have your social security number. Competition of a staff application
gives the adviser permission to review this information for business
purposes only. Your KSU ID and social security numbers will not be
shared with students.
You must also
read and agree to abide by our Plagiarism Policy & Ethics Statement
below.
By submitting this New Staff Agreement
& Ethics Form, you signify that you have read and understand all
these materials including the GPA policy, Plagiarism Policy and Ethics
Statement. You may not work for or receive payment for any student
media organization until you have done so.
Submission is NOT
complete until the fields are completed at the end of this form and
it is submitted.
If you have any questions,
comments or suggestions concerning the information within these documents
or any aspect of Kennesaw State student media, please get in touch
with your editor in chief or the media
adviser.
Plagiarism
Policy and Ethics Statement
Plagiarism
at The Sentinel shall be defined as submitting another person's
work, whether previously published or not, as your own, or taking
portions of another person's work, whether published or not, and presenting
them as your own in your work without properly attributing them to
the person who created the work. In terms of the law, if the plagiarized
work is then published in the newspaper, that is called copyright
infringement. These rules apply to staff of both the newsroom and
advertising, as well as Talon Feature Magazine.
Any person caught committing plagiarism and/or copyright infringement
will face the following disciplinary action:
- 1. The employee will be immediately fired from the newspaper and will
never be permitted to work for the newspaper again.
- 2. The editor in chief, or any other editor, or any of the newspaper's
advisers, may submit the student's name to the University's judicial
system for adjudication and punishment.
- 3. A person who commits copyright infringement must pay all costs
related to settling with any aggrieved party. For example, if the
writer of a previously published piece demands payment, the student
who committed the plagiarism must pay the requested price to The Sentinel.
The newspaper will then pay the person to whom payment is owed.
- 4. Any student refusing to fulfill the financial obligations incurred
from copyright infringement will have his/her records and registration
frozen by the University until the debt is settled with The Sentinel
All staff at The Sentinel are expected to know and understand these
rules and to submit the Plagiarism Policy & Ethics Statement as
acknowledgement of having received this policy, which also appears
in the newspaper's Staff Manual.
Ethics Statement For Editorial Staff
I, [Complete submission fields below] understand
that as a staff member in the editorial department of The Sentinel,
I must adhere to the following ethical principles in doing
my work. I also acknowledge that I have reviewed all documents required
in the application process and that I am responsible for adhering to
the newspaper's Policy for Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement.
1. I will never submit plagiarized or fabricated material. Plagiarism
at The Sentinel shall be defined as submitting another person's work,
whether previously published or not, as your own, or taking portions
of another person's work, whether published or not, and presenting
them as your own in your work without properly attributing them to
the person who created the work. In terms of the law, if the plagiarized
work is then published in the newspaper, that is called copyright
infringement. Fabrication at The Sentinel shall be defined as attributing
to a fictional or incorrect source.
2. I will never submit work (story or photograph) about an organization,
business, social group, or academic society to which I belong or to
which I previously belonged without the approval of the editor. If
an editor offers such a story to me, I will immediately disclose my
conflict of interest and request another story.
3. I will not use a roommate, relative, employer, employee, professor
or close friend as a source, including (but not limited to) someone
in an organization to which I belong, or someone with whom I have
an intimate or close personal relationship, or with whom I have an
outside business or professional relationship. I will select, as sources
for my story, informed people with whom I have had no prior personal
or business relationship, or informed people whom I know only casually
and with whom I do not socialize or work. In the event that I write
a story that requires me to mention or interview a staff member of
The Sentinel, I will make my editor aware of this fact.
4. While working for The Sentinel, I will not take a job with any
office of Kennesaw State University that disseminates information
to the news media, including (but not limited to) University Relations
or the Office of Sports Information.
5. I will not promise anonymity to a source. Only my editor can promise
anonymity to a source. If a source requests anonymity, I will tell
the source that I can make no promises and can only honor the request
if my editor agrees.
6. I will not print anything in the newspaper that is untrue, or that
I have reason to believe is untrue. If I believe a source may not
be telling the truth, I will not print what s/he says, and I will
seek a more reliable and credible source. I will also point out any
such suspicions to my editor.
7. I will not accept free gifts of any substantial value from a newsmaker
or a source, nor will I accept free food while covering a news event,
with the exception of a token offering, such as a non-alcoholic beverage.
8. When I cover a news event or interview a source, I will always
dress appropriately and behave courteously. I will not get personally
involved in any news event that I cover, nor will I take part in any
activity that occurs at a news event, unless my editor has assigned
me to write about the event from the point of view of a participant.
9. I will only claim to represent The Sentinel when doing an assignment
for the newspaper. I will not speak on behalf of the newspaper, claim
to represent the newspaper, or claim the identity of the newspaper
(reserved for the Editor in Chief) in any personal or private matter,
such as on a web site or internet chat room. I also will not claim
to represent The Sentinel in any personal or private matter in an
effort to get special favors or to persuade someone to act in my favor.
10. If I become involved in any political or social advocacy group,
or any other student or community activity, I will notify my editor
immediately. While I may pass on tips and information, I understand
that involvement in such a group means I cannot report on or write
about issues related to that group, and that if my advocacy becomes
too public and I become a newsmaker, I may be asked to resign my position
with The Sentinel.
