Mission Statement and Ethics Code
Valor Dictus, part of the Robinson Secondary School student news media, is an open forum for student, parent, faculty and staff expression at Robinson Secondary School. All are invited to share their opinions on matters of interest, importance and concern to the community.
The content of Valor Dictus is determined by the editor-in-chief and other editors. Opinions expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the entire Valor Dictus staff, the faculty adviser, the administration of Robinson Secondary School, or Fairfax County Public Schools.
Our Mission
Robinson student news media informs and entertains the school community using facts and interviews from trusted sources to report timely news. We engage community members in conversation, inspire public debate, and provide a snapshot of life in and around the school.
Our Public Forum
- Letters to the editor are accepted at [email protected] and in person in The Newsroom, B226. Letters must be signed and must include contact information for the author. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters may be edited for grammar, usage, punctuation, clarity and length.
- Guest commentaries are also accepted at [email protected] and in person in The Newsroom. Drop off your completed commentary, or meet with an editor if you need guidance on writing or recording one. Commentaries must be signed and must include contact information for the author.
- Robinson students in good standing are invited to blog about any topic they like on valor-dictus.com. All content posted on student blogs must be original work created by the blog author and must be free of any copyright. All content must be school-appropriate. The editor reserves the right to refuse publication of any blog or blog post. To start a student blog, contact the editor at [email protected] and arrange a meeting in The Newsroom.
Our Advertising
Advertising is accepted from students, parents and faculty members, as well as from businesses and services from within the wider school community. We reserve the right to refuse advertising that is not appropriate for a school environment, as determined by the editor-in-chief and editorial staff members. Toadvertise, contact journalism adviser Chris Moore or stop by The Newsroom for details.
Our Code of Ethics
The Valor Dictus staff adopts the following ethical code modified from the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics.
- We Strive to Be Accurate
- We strive to gather and report accurate information, and eliminate perceived biases. We conduct interviews in person, and never via email, text or through social media. Telephone interviews and video interviews are permitted, but in-person interviews are preferred.
- We Seek a Variety of Sources
- We represent ourselves as reporters when working on assignments, and do not include information gathered in casual conversation in our stories. We strive to conduct at least three interviews from a variety of sources for each assignment, and we understand that stories are strengthened by having more than three sources.
- We Seek Diverse Opinions
- We allow unpopular views to be expressed, even when they conflict with our beliefs. We rely on facts that we can verify, and never plagiarize, make up information or sources, or embellish quotes.
- We Are Compassionate
- We show compassion and sensitivity to sources and strive to share facts that the public needs to know, while remaining cautious about sharing private information about individuals that does not further public interest.
- We Avoid Conflicts of Interest
- We avoid reporting on activities, classes or clubs in which we are directly involved. We will not report on our own clubs, activities, classes or sports teams, or any other similar teams or clubs, or any of the students, coaches or parents associated with the team or club.
- We Are Independent
- We avoid interviewing our friends. We deny favored treatment to advertisers, sources and other groups. We welcome news tips and story ideas, but will act independently to determine what we cover and how we choose to cover it. We do not allow anyone to view our work before it is published.
- We Are Accountable
- We admit our mistakes and take action to correct errors. We respond to complaints or inquiries as quickly as possible. We justify our decisions to our readers, and invite people with differing opinions to write letters or guest columns with their views.
- We Strive to Be Objective
- We do not act as a public relations tool. It is our responsibility to report the facts we discover and the opinions we hear from the school community, and not to portray any person or organization in a positive light.