Ethics & Policies


Ethics

The Decatur Independent follows the Society of Professional Journalist’s ethics code, which states, “public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough.” The SPJ’s ethic code, in a nutshell, demands journalists seek truth, report it, minimize harm, act independently and be accountable and transparent. The full ethics code can be found at: https://www.spj.org/spj-code-of-ethics/

Corrections Policy

We will correct factual errors, spelling/grammar errors or other issues with a story within 24 hours of being informed of them. If you see an error in a story, please contact us at nmaxwell2@proton.me. Put "Correction" and the article headline in the subject line of the email and tell us what the error is inside the email.

We do not allow sources to read an article prior to publication.

Comments Policy

We encourage all readers and social media followers to comment on our work, within the following boundaries:

  • No language promoting hatred towards, discrimination against, or the dehumanization of people on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity or disability is allowed. Comments containing slurs or hate speech will be removed. This applies to the comments section for each issue of the Decatur Independent and to the comments section on all of our social media accounts. Slurs or hate speech on social media will result in the account posting those comments being blocked.
  • No bullying of any other readers, commenters or followers. This will result in the comments being deleted. If it is on social media and persists after the person bullying another reader, commenter or follower has been asked to stop twice, the person making those comments will be blocked on social media.
  • We utilize Facebook's moderation assist settings to cut down on spam. Those settings hide any comments on the Decatur Independent Facebook page that contain profanity, images, links and other common indicators of a spam post.

First Amendment

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.