An editorially independent publication that meets the spirit
of public forum requirements
Spokesman-Review
all-student paper
Spokane, WA (for Spokane County and parts of northern Idaho)
• Public and private schools contribute, plus some homeschooled students
• The Vox
• Adviser: Erin Daniels
• Contact info: 509-459-5489; erind@spokesman.com
• Media Web site: http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/vox/
• Willing to talk with others about forum status
• The Vox is a forum by both policy and practice for 2 years.
As of now, we follow the same ethics policies and values statements as the city paper--our publisher. Link is here:
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/about/ethicscode/
• Other points of significance:
Daniels said the group is currently making plans to develop a code and policy that points just to the Vox's mission. Everything students print is made possible by the fact the students determine all content. All work is in the archives section of their blog.
Daniels said, "Our forum status is due to the fact we are "sponsored" by a major city newspaper, not a specific high school. However, we do distribute to our local high schools and maintain the expected professionalism of any newspaper as we do so. Our city paper realized that TRUE student-sponsored journalism is an endangered animal, and publishes this paper to keep that idea alive."
Points of interest in the S-R code we closely follow:
• We reflect the life of our community in all of its wholeness and complexity. All in our community should see themselves, their family, friends and co-workers, their triumphs, tragedies, dreams and aspirations reflected in our pages in an authentic way.
• We give voice to the voiceless and defend the defenseless, recognizing the unique role the newspaper can play in representing the interests of individuals and groups that don’t always have a place at the public’s table.
• We recognize the positive lives led by our community's young people every day. Young people should be reflected in our paper in ways that recognize they are more than victims or perpetrators of crime.
• We will do good, not just good work. We understand that our first responsibility is to the communities we serve. We won’t produce journalism for professional contests, but for citizens.
Click here for the paper's masthead.
The Vox is student-produced and student-led. I serve as adviser. We distribute our circulation of 30,000 to area high schools (for free) in two states. The city paper that publishes us serves only to provide equipment and advice as needed.