This policy guides everything MU Student News publishes. Student editors review it at the start of every school year with our faculty adviser.
Accuracy
We publish what we can verify. Reporters confirm facts with sources, documents or their own observation before publication, and clearly distinguish between what we know and what is still unconfirmed. Speed never justifies publishing something we are not sure about.
Fairness
People and organisations criticised in our reporting are given a genuine opportunity to respond before publication. We describe events and positions accurately even when we disagree with them.
Attribution
Information that is not common knowledge or the reporter’s own observation is attributed to its source. We do not present other publications’ reporting as our own. Quotations are reproduced accurately and in context.
Conflicts of interest
Staff members do not report on clubs they lead, teams they play for, or events they organise. When a connection is unavoidable in a small community, we disclose it in the story.
Anonymous sources
We prefer named sources. Anonymity is granted only when a source could face real harm for speaking, only with an editor’s approval, and only when the information can be corroborated. We explain in the story why a source is not named.
Opinion labelling
Reported news and opinion are kept clearly separate. Columns and editorials appear in the Opinion section, carry the author’s name or the label “Staff Editorial”, and represent the views of their authors — not of MU Student News as a whole or of MU.
Corrections
We correct errors promptly and visibly. The full process is described in our Corrections Policy.
Student privacy
We take particular care with reporting that involves grades, health, discipline or family circumstances. Being a student at MU does not by itself make private information newsworthy.
Photography
Photographs are captioned accurately and are not manipulated beyond basic adjustments such as cropping and exposure. Staged images are identified as illustrations. We credit every photographer and illustrator.
Artificial intelligence
Reporting, quotations and opinions in this publication are the work of the credited students. AI tools may be used for narrow supporting tasks such as transcription or copy-editing suggestions, always under human review. We do not publish AI-generated text presented as reporting, and we do not use AI to fabricate images of real events or people.