Editorial Standards > Editorial Policies
Legal issues
■ Unlike in many countries, the U.S. legal system does not allow people to be arrested or prosecuted in secret. Arrest and court records are considered public records under New York and federal law. A news report about a person being accused of a crime by prosecutors does not reflect any view by the newspaper of the person’s guilt or innocence.
■ We will name people in stories and police blotters who are charged with serious crimes. Typically, such charges are felonies. We will do so only if a defendant’s name is released or confirmed by law enforcement or included in a court record.
■ We will include identifying information such as middle initials and ages, when available, to prevent confusion about who has been charged.
■ We are more likely to report the name of someone who has been charged if the person is prominent in the community, a public-safety employee or a school employee; if the charges were the result of a larger and/or extended investigation; if law enforcement or prosecutors have publicly identified the person, such as via a news release; or if, in the judgment of the editors, the arrest is otherwise of immediate public interest or concern.
■ In unusual circumstances we may name a person who is arrested but not charged, but if we do so we will make clear that no charges were filed.
■ Because we do not have the resources to report on the resolution of every police blotter item, we block such items from being indexed by search engines such as Google. They will, however, remain searchable on our site.
■ When charges are dropped, a person is acquitted or a person is found guilty of only lesser charges, we will update our story or a police blotter item to reflect this if we are able to verify such an outcome. Email [email protected].
■ We do not name juveniles unless they are charged as adults or with serious violent crimes, such as armed robbery, aggravated sexual assault, attempted homicide or homicide.
■ We avoid identifying — by name or photo — children who are connected with a crime as perpetrators, victims or witnesses.
■ If a criminal suspect is at large and believed by law enforcement to be dangerous, we will identify the suspect, including a photo or sketch.
■ In breaking news stories, we do not publish the names of a person who has been killed until authorities have notified the family and released the name, or the family has identified the victim publicly, such as to a reporter or in a public social media post.
■ In rare cases, such as when a sexual assault allegation has been proven to be false and malicious, we may identify a sexual assault accuser.
■ In covering active police or military operations, we will withhold such details as location or tactics planned until after the operation, to avoid endangering police, troops or civilians who could be affected.
Removing archived material
We do not remove published content from our archives but will review requests to update or append an article if provided with sufficient documentation. The editor also will weigh exceptions to this policy in extreme cases, such as abuse or danger to someone’s personal safety. Email [email protected].
Mental health and suicide
■ We will cover mental health and suicide as broad public health issues as consistently as we cover other health matters.
■ We will cover individual events of suicide as news stories if they involve prominent figures or public means. However, we will avoid using the word “suicide” in headlines or spelling out the specific means.
■ In stories that involve suicides, we will include contact information for resources for people in mental-health crises. e.g., “The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day by calling or texting 988.”
No-byline policy
Articles that do not have bylines in print or are attributed online to “Staff” are written by the editor or a senior editor. This is typically because they are brief items based on a single source, such as a press release, or there are multiple contributors, such as a collection of photos.
Obituaries
We treat obituaries posted by funeral homes as news stories and edit them to a standard style, which includes for clarity and length. We will indicate the funeral home was the source of our information. Not all obituaries posted online appear in print. We do not charge a fee to post or print obituaries unless the family wishes it to appear without editing, in which case we will indicate it is a paid notice.
Photo and video
■ When documenting private or traumatic moments in public places, we will not seek permission to shoot but will be sensitive to subjects’ situation.
■ We do not require parental permission to photograph or interview children in breaking news situations, such as a public protest. We will attempt to contact a parent or guardian before identifying a child in a feature photograph unless the photo and identification are provided to us, such as from a school or sports event.
■ We will use drones to capture images in public areas only.
■ We will refrain from doing re-enactments of news events. Otherwise, we will identify posed or re-enacted photos and video, except when it is clearly posed (e.g., an award-winner holding up a trophy).
■ We will refrain from intentionally becoming an active participant in a news story (e.g., taking part in a rescue operation or using our camera to influence a situation).
■ If we believe we can provide help or mitigate harm by actively participating in a situation, rather than only documenting it, we will do so and disclose our participation to your viewers.
■ We will not manipulate images through Photoshop or other means. We will not obscure or pixelate images, although we have made a few exceptions. For instance, in a photo for a story on city-issued ID cards, we may obscure the subject’s address for privacy reasons, or in a photo of a hate group’s flyer, the website address of the group to avoid unnecessary promotion of its views.
■ We will clearly label all photos or video that are provided by sources.
■ We will identify stock photos used for illustrative purposes.
Advertising
■ We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement or sponsorship. We will decline advertising that we know or believe to be misleading, inaccurate, libelous, fraudulent or illegal, or that fails to comply, in our sole discretion, with common standards of decency, taste or dignity.
■ We do not allow advertisers to have a say in the selection or content of stories and photos. We will consider requests about ad placement but are not obligated to position an ad in any particular location.
■ We use specific, consistent terms such as “Advertisement” and “Sponsored Content” in print, online and on our social media networks to indicate paid material.
■ We require content provided by advertisers to have a different color type or background and a different font than our editorial content. We require that advertisements made to resemble news stories be accompanied by a clear statement that the article was prepared by the advertiser and did not involve our editorial staff.
■ Advertisements designed by The Current cannot be used in other print or online publications or on social media without the permission of The Current.
Political
■ Political ads must include notice of the individual, committee or group that paid for the ad. The federal government requires disclosure on political ads.
■ Under New York State election law, online ads placed by independent third parties must state who paid for the ad and state that it “is not expressly authorized or requested by any candidate,” candidate committee, or candidate’s agent. Political committees must state the name of the committee using the language “Paid for by…”
■ Under New York State election law, if an online ad is not large enough to include the disclaimer, it can use an abbreviated disclaimer that points readers to the full disclaimer, such as a link to another page.
Employment
■ All employment advertising that appears in The Current or at highlandscurrent.org is subject to Section 296 of state Human Rights Law, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference based on religion, sex, familial status, arrest record, national origin, color, age or disability. This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertisement for employment which is in violation of the law. Employment opportunities advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis.
■ New York State law requires employers to list salary ranges in job postings and advertisements. The law covers employers that have at least four employees. This compensation range is the lowest and highest annual salary or hourly range of compensation that the employer believes in “good faith” to be accurate at the time of the advertisement or posting. For commission-based positions, employers may satisfy the disclosure requirement by stating that the compensation shall be based on commission.
Real estate
■ All real estate advertised in The Current or at highlandscurrent.org is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All dwellings advertised as available must be offered on an equal opportunity basis.
Cannabis
■ State regulations of advertising placed by retailers licensed to sell marijuana are complex. For digital ads, publications must have a “mechanism designed to keep those under the age of 21 from visiting the website.” Because The Current does not have that mechanism, we do not currently accept digital advertising for marijuana.
■ The state requires that print publications have “reliable evidence that at least 90 percent” of the target audience is “reasonably expected to be 21 years of age or older.” The Current can meet this standard and so will consider print ads, as long as they meet other legal requirements set by the state, such as those listed below. The full regulations are posted here.
Ads must include the licensee’s name and license number. | Ads cannot depict minors, toys, characters, or cartoons or use cartoon-like fonts. | Ads cannot claim cannabis is safe or healthy or organic, or that it has curative or therapeutic effects unless supported by substantial evidence. | Ads cannot promote potency or THC concentration. | Ads must contain one of these warnings, rotated so each warning appears in an equal number of the licensee’s advertisements: Cannabis can be addictive. / Cannabis can impair concentration and coordination. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of cannabis. / There may be health risks associated with the consumption of this product / Cannabis is not recommended for use by persons who are pregnant or nursing. | Ads cannot contain colloquial references to marijuana, e.g., “stoner,” “weed” or “pot.” | Promotions, such as giveaways or coupons, are prohibited. | The NYS HOPEline information (Text HOPENY, call 1-877-8-HOPENY or visit oasas.ny.gov/HOPEline) must be included in each ad. | All ads must include the New York State Department of Health’s “Know the Facts” educational campaign website address.
■ Questions? You can reach our advertising manager at [email protected].
