Standards

Editorial Us
InJournalism.co.uk is committed to publishing the best work of the journalism and media students at the University of Sunderland.

Editorial Values
InJournalism.co.uk is honest, good for you journalism. It’s up-to-date, and understandable. It’s a mix of media (video, audio and text) and is both entertaining and informative. It’s also easy to use, easy to comment on, up for your feedback, and part of a vibrant community of media innovation that goes well beyond the walls of the place we study.

Editorial Board
InJournalism.co.uk is a staff-led and student-run publication. That means the student journalism team at the University of Sunderland are the editors, contributors and administrators of the site. It’s ours, and we love it. A number of the lecturers here, as well as students from other departments, and specialists in their fields, also contribute to the site, which we feel makes it a fully professional online magazine. Some of that contribution comes in the form of sitting with us on our editorial board to help with the smooth management and running of the site. Not least to represent the publisher, our very our Journalism and PR department. While we pretty much get on with running the site as the student editorial team, it’s good to know that the staff here at Sunderland are both fully involved and do, when necessary, step in to help us make some of the tougher decisions. Thanks people.

Truth and Accuracy
We know the lecturers are watching (see above: Editorial Board) but hey! That’s not why we’re accurate or truthful. These are the things that brought us to journalism in the first place (well, at least some of us, others want to work for PopBitch!) But let them do as they will – while we write for InJournalism.co.uk, we will do all in our power to make sure what you read is truthful and accurate.

Diversity
Diversity at the heart of what we do. Did you know that Sunderland is one of the leading universities for widening participation in Higher Education from underprivileged groups? We work to be open-minded and reflect all opinions across the site. In particular, we look to highlight issues within our world—whether that’s the university, our city Sunderland, our region, our country or just inside our own heads—of gender, colour, race, religion, disability and opportunity. Yes, we strive for fair balance of opinion, except on climate change, where the sceptics are just plain wrong, and we make sure that we give everyone (even the sceptics) a right of reply. Email us at editor [@] injournalism.co.uk.

Editorial Independence
InJournalism.co.uk is part of, but independent from, the School of Arts, Media, Design and Culture at the University of Sunderland. The Journalism and Public Relations Department of the school has very nicely agreed to be our publisher. Thanks Dept. In return, we agree that all views expressed here and errors made are the author’s own, and not those of the publisher.

Children
Love ‘em? Well, at least keep them safe; but also give them voice, particularly because in just a few years they’ll be writing for us anyway. We will always seek to safeguard the welfare of children and young people who contribute to and feature in our content. We also take steps to ensure our content is suitable for children and that our site is certificated to work with child protection software.

Accessibility
Good accessibility benefits all of us, not just specific groups. We will do everything we can to ensure we are in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act and all the great and wonderful guides to making websites work, e.g. W3C, RNIB. If we can do better, let us know at feedback [@] injournalism.co.uk.

Comments and Moderation
Did you know that over 80 percent of mainstream news sites (BBC and Guardian included) moderate comments on their site? Long gone are the days when the ‘wise monkeys’ defence was good enough, either for legal defence or, more importantly, for quality of content and debate. This is why we moderate your comments. But it’ll be quick, and we will only reject if they are defamatory, rude, obscene, advocating violence, offensive to individuals, malicious (social or technological) or just miles off-topic. Engage with us like an adult, and you will be heard.

Privacy
If you give it to us, we will keep it safe. We will never use the information you provide to us for any reasons other than those which you have agreed to.

Media Enquiries
Come on, right about us, sing our praises, link and link again! Or, for more formal requests of information, you can contact our Media Centre on 0191 515 3592 and ask for Head of Journalism and Public Relations, Chris Rushton.

Publisher
InJournalism.co.uk is published by the Journalism and Public Relations Department in the School of Arts, Media, Design and Culture at the University of Sunderland.