About

The Cougar Chronicle is the online newspaper of Central Kitsap High School, located at:

10140 Frontier Place NW
Silverdale, Washington 98383

Editor-in-Chief: Dani Crossen

Assistant Editors: Amanda Repine & Dani-lou Gemmer

Sports Editor: J.J Majette

Publicity Manager: Ashley Repine

The students in Mrs. Miller’s journalism class are the reporters, photographers, and videographers.

Adviser: Mrs. Katherine Miller
[email protected]
360.662.2400 ext 2518

 

Editorial Policy:

 

INTRODUCTION:

Expression made by a student in a school-sponsored media is not necessarily the expression of school policy. Pursuant to Chapter 28A.600 RCW, neither a school official nor the governing board of the school or school district may be held responsible in any civil or criminal action for any expression made or published by school-sponsored media.

All content decisions will be made in occurrence to the following provisions while keeping in mind that the overall purpose of the Cougar Chronicle is to:

1. 1. Inform, interpret, and entertain their viewers through accurate and factual reports, where information has been thoroughly gathered and information has been completely verified;
   2. Serve as an educational laboratory experience for those on staff;
   3. Be accurate, fair, and impartial in its coverage of issues that affect the school community;
   4. The Cougar Chronicle will not avoid publishing a story solely on the basis of possible dissent or controversy;
   5. Cover the total school population as effectively and accurately as possible;
   6. The staff of the Cougar Chronicle will strive to report all issues in a legal, objective, accurate and ethical manner, according to the Canons of Professional Journalism developed by the Society for Professional Journalists. The Canons of Professional Journalism include a code of ethics concerning accuracy, responsibility, integrity, conflict of interest, impartiality, fair play, freedom of the press, independence, sensationalism, personal privacy, obstruction of justice, credibility and advertising.

REGARDING ERRORS:

1. 1. Concerns about errors in the school media may be submitted through the adviser, through the Cougar Chronicle Website at www.cougarchronicle.org 
   2. The editorial board retains the right to determine whether, in fact, an error has been made.
   3. Known and or found errors that are brought to the attention of the school media will be addressed regardless if realized by the author, audience, or staff member.
   4. Staff members will strive to correct errors prior to publication; however, if the editorial board determines a significant error is published, the editorial board will determine the manner and timeliness of a correction.
   5. Major corrections are determined by the editors.
   6. If changes are made to an article after publication, the change will be noted along with the date and time the change was made.

 PRIOR REVIEW POLICY:

1. 1. Sources will be able to have quotes read back at the time of the interview.
   2. Sources will not be able to arbitrarily demand to read the reporters’ completed story and then perform editing tasks on that story.
   3. The media reporters will endeavor to include the name and identity of all sources if the reporter believes that doing so will not result in endangerment, harassment or any other form of undue physical, mental, emotional anguish for the source.
   4. The media reporters will not, within all boundaries of the law, reveal a source who asked to remain nameless.
   5. All media interviewers will respect the interviewees’ rights to have information remain “off the record” if the fact is known before giving the information to the interviewer.
   6. The media will not be reviewed by anyone outside of the editorial board aside from the adviser prior to its release to the public, the adviser is allowed to review the publication, but not required to, for the sole purpose of acting as legal consultant and educator in terms of unprotected speech; the adviser reading content is not considered prior review unless he/she makes changes or directs changes.

Policy credit to JEA digital media

 

Podcast Policy:

In accordance with Washington state legislature chapter 28A.600 RCW, neither a school official nor the governing board of the school or school district may be held responsible in any civil or criminal action for any expression made or published by school-sponsored media. The communicator, and the opinions expressed during the interview process by students, faculty, and representatives of the Central Kitsap School District do not reflect official statements on district issues.

 

Commenting Policy:

The Cougar Chronicle is interested in courteous, articulate, and thoughtful conversations about our journalism. We host those discussions in the comments section of each article. 

We welcome your advice, criticism, and insights on the stories we cover. It is appreciated when you share your personal experiences and expertise related to those stories with the community. Feel free to ask us questions and suggest areas that you would like us to explore further. 

Comments are moderated by staff members of The Cougar Chronicle. 

We moderate comment submissions to provide a space where our readers can exchange intelligent, thoughtful commentary that enhances their understanding of our news and information. While most comments will be kept public if they meet our guidelines, The Cougar Chronicle has the right to remove any comments that go against the guideline. We moderate with the goal of providing a positive experience for not just the commenters, but also the far larger number of people who are interacting with the article. 

The following will not be permitted:

• Name-calling, hateful language, obscenity, vulgarity, cursing (including expletives), promotion of self-harm, commercial promotion, impersonations, and incoherence. 
• Hate speech or slurs based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or other protected traits.
• Contains links, links to downloads (including PDFs), anything that might contain viruses, spyware, paywalls, anything of such manner, or content that needs a log in
• Libel, defamation, spreading misinformation or conspiracy theories.
• Personal attacks, harassment, threats or bullying against staff, other commenters, or the subjects of an article. 
• Excessive comments on the moderation policies of The Cougar Chronicle, including comments challenging us to approve a comment. 
• Excessive commenting or spam. 
• Fraud, impersonation or promotion of illegal or dangerous activities. 
• Violations of intellectual property rights, copyright, trademark, patent and privacy rights, or disclosure of others’ private information. 
• Sexual, abusive, or suggestive content. 
• Excessive capital letters.