Policies

About Us

Mission Statement

Since 1962, the Independent has been a public forum for the Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) and the community around NEIU and its satellite campuses, El Centro in the Avondale/Logan Square community and Jacob C. Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies in Bronzeville. The Independent is completely student-run and receives no prior review of its content by anyone other than its student editors. The Independent publishes online and in print throughout the academic year.

Deadlines are five (5) days prior to the issue in which a contribution is to appear. Views expressed in letters are those of the university community and not those of the Editorial Board. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the content of the Independent, and views presented do not necessarily represent those of the administration, faculty or students.

The Independent is a member of the Illinois College Press Association and Associated Collegiate Press.

Freedom of Press

The student press at NEIU is a public forum free of censorship and advance approval of copies. Its editors and managers are free to develop their own editorial policies and news coverage or content. Freedom of the press as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of Illinois is not impeded or interfered with by this university or any of its agencies, staff, faculty or administrators. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Purpose

The Independent purpose is:

To inform the university community about newsworthy content and developments concerning the NEIU community or issues that may affect it in an unbiased and unprejudiced manner.
To provide forums for the exchange of information and opinion among members of the university community on issues that concern them.
To serve as a continuous record of NEIU history.
To offer students practical experiences in journalism, management and the operation of a newspaper.

Policy

Letter to the Editor Policy

The Editors and staff at the Independent have a space for NEIU’s community members to share their concerns and opinions through the Letter to the Editor.

The word count for letters is 1,500 words.

Letters have to include a full name. Letters SHOULD? include a major if a letter is written by a student at NEIU, or a job position if an alumni or community member. Letters cannot be written anonymously, unless under extreme circumstances.

We reserve the right to edit letters for spelling and grammar. We also reserve the right to reject any letters.

Letters can be submitted to [email protected] or to other editors listed on the site.

Photo Policy (workshop)

The Independent’s writers and photographers take pictures to accompany their articles. We will disclose names for photo credit. Writers provide captions associated with each picture and are responsible for providing alternate (or alt) text descriptions.

Comment Policy

The Independent encourages readers to leave comments. Each comment posted is reviewed by the Online Editor. The following comments will be rejected: spam, hateful speech toward others, speech inciting violence or harm to others.

AI Policy

The Independent does not use AI to write their articles. AI is limited to creating titles, and transcription. If AI titles or transcriptions are used in an article, they are reviewed by the editor-in-chief and managing editor.

Anonymous Sources Policy

The Independent places the highest value on transparency and accountability. Our primary goal is to use named sources whenever possible. We may consider granting anonymity if the source faces a legitimate risk of harm, reprisal, or undue hardship by being identified. We thoroughly vet anonymous sources and information, taking extra steps to confirm their credibility before publication. Decisions on anonymity require careful consideration and approval from the editor-in-chief and managing editor. When we rely on an anonymous source, we strive to explain to our readers why anonymity is necessary while providing as much context as possible to judge the source’s reliability.

Plagiarism policy (workshop)

The Independent has zero tolerance for plagiarism. This can take different forms, copying exact words from websites, or student articles. The Independent verifies that the article before publication. However, we will have an email for the NEIU community to reach out to if there are concerns regarding an article at [email protected] (double check later)

Affiliation Guest Post Policy

As a student-run publication, the Independent does not accept affiliation guest posts, paid content collaboration, paid posts from outside groups/organizations, guest posts, and link insertion or link exchange with domain rating (DR) sites.

Coverage of Meeting

The Independent abides by the Open Meetings Act, in compliance with the Illinois General Assembly. The Independent is allowed to cover meetings that are accessible to members.

Except from Act:

The General Assembly further declares it to be the public policy of this State that its citizens shall be given advance notice of and the right to attend all meetings at which any business of a public body is discussed or acted upon in any way.

Please refer to the Illinois General Assembly: /www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=84&ChapterID=2

Code of Ethics policy

The staff of NEIU Independent shall strive to uphold the code of ethics for behavior presented by the Society of Professional Journalists. Please refer to the SPJ website: http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

The staff of NEIU Independent shall strive to uphold the code of ethics for writing presented by the Associated Press. Please refer to the AP website: http://www.ap.org/company/newsvalues

Bylines Policy

The Independent gives credit to each article. Depending on the status of the writer, these are the following descriptions of each status.

Contributing writer produces five stories (two beat stories with 500 words or less, one collaboration story with a staff writer or section editor, and two longer forms with more than 800 words to 1,500 words). Contributing writer reviews the suggested edits of section editors and copy editors and are required to follow up on the editorial process of their stories. Each contributing writer is a student of NEIU.

Staff writers are (should be?) knowledgeable of the editorial process including the basics of AP StyleBook, successfully write a lede, and use at least three sources, Staff writer produces consecutive stories throughout the semester and meet the mandatory instructions to follow up on the editorial process of their stories. Each staff writer is a student of NEIU.

Alumni contributing writers will not be paid, due to not being a student. They will have to connect with the section editor and EIC to verify alumni status and review the suggested edits of section editors and copy editors. They are required to follow up on the editorial process of their stories.

Community writer have to be a person not involved as a student or alumni, review the suggested edits of section editors and copy editors, and required to follow up on the editorial process of their stories.

The writer’s name will be placed at the bottom of the Letter to the Editor. It is required, except for extreme circumstances. It will also have to have a job position next to the name or student status. Issues will have to be focused based off of issues in the Independent or NEIU community.

Recording Policy

Illinois is a two-party state, the Independent does have to abide by that for interviews. However, we can recording meetings that are open to the public. We are also able to receive illegal recordings, as the First Amendment states.

Correction Policy

The Independent will issue a correction. Please email the Online Editor at [email protected]

Submission Policy

The Independent accepts written submissions from community writers and alumni writers. Please email the Online Editor at [email protected]

Retraction Policy

The Independent does not retract op-eds or letters to the editor published online or in print. If the event that interviewer who was previously published in an article in the Independent decides that they would like their piece removed from the website, they must make an email request to the Online Editor [email protected]