About

The Evanstonian Online began in 2011 as a continuation of the Evanstonian.

The Evanstonian is the official student newspaper for Evanston Township High School, 1600 Dodge Ave., Evanston IL, 60204, published as an open student forum. It began at ETHS in 1916 and has continued to be an integral part of the school, gaining recognition both nationally and locally.

The Evanstonian welcomes comments and criticisms from its readers.

Our staff can be reached at evanstonian@eths202.org. or (847) 424 – 7038. 

Social Media

Twitter: @TheEvanstonian
Instagram: @theevanstonian

The following is our working editorial policy. Feel free to contact us with questions about our working policy.

Evanstonian’s Editorial Policy (working version):

The following editorial policy pertains to all Evanstonian media. This editorial policy will be available on evanstonian.net.

1. Freedom of Student Press
   1. Constitutional Freedom: According to the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law…abiding the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
   2. Student Press Law: The Evanstonian is also protected by the Illinois New Voices Act (2016). The Evanstonian will strive to report on issues relevant to the ETHS student body ethically according to the Canons of Professional Journalism as provided by the Society for Professional Journalists.
   3. Content of Evanstonian: The Evanstonian is the official student-produced newspaper of Evanston Township High School. The Evanstonian is a public platform for student voices. It will not be reviewed or restrained by school officials prior to publication. The content of the Evanstonian is determined by the student staff and does not reflect the views of the entire student body or the school staff and administration. The content of the Evanstonian is the decision of the staff. Content will be vetted by the editorial board during monthly budget meetings.
2. Staff: (Description of Positions)
   1. The Editorial Board consists of the Executive Editors and Section Editors.
   2. Decisions made by the editorial board will be based on majority decision (see section f for exceptions). Assistant Editors may be called upon to participate in select board decisions.
   3. Executive Editors will be the representatives and leaders of the editorial board. Executive Editors will be responsible for communicating and leading section editors and the greater staff in upholding the mission of the Evanstonian and adhering to the editorial policy. Execs are required to produce the editorial per issue. Execs are responsible for overseeing writing, editing drafts for articles, and determining the layout design of his/her respective sections in collaboration with the Layout Editors. Editors must regularly communicate with the advisor about concerns regarding the respective section to meet the mission statement of the Evanstonian. Each Exec will be responsible for mentoring specific editors and staff members.
   4. Section Editors are the mentor writers for sections. Editors are required to produce one article per issue. Section editors (i.e. news, opinions, in-depth, features, entertainment, sports) are responsible for mentoring writers in sections through story ideas, editing early drafts of articles and communicating with Execs about the progress of stories.
   5. Working Objective: The mission of the Evanstonian is to accurately deliver the news that most affects Evanstonian (members of the ETHS community and Evanston community at-large) in a precise, honest and courageous fashion. Space for Learning: As a student-run publication, the Evanstonian will be a space for experimental learning for students.
3. Ethics: The Evanstonian adheres to the guidelines laid out by the Society of Professional Journalists. The Evanstonian is not a professional or paid-for-profit publication.
   1. Editorials: Editorial topics are selected by the editorial board and the majority vote of the current staff must agree upon the position of the editorial. The editorial is written by the Executive Editors.
   2. Controversial Issues: The Evanstonian will not publish material determined by the editorial board and the adviser as libelous, obscene, an invasion of privacy, violation of copyright, promotion of illegal activities defined by state or threatening to student or staff physical or emotional safety.
   3. Deaths
      1. The Evanstonian will not publish an obituary in the case of the death of a current or previous student. Exceptions are detailed below.
      2. The Evanstonian may publish obituaries for current faculty members and previous faculty members only if the information is publically released and/or permitted by family of deceased.
      3. The Evanstonian may publish details of a student’s death if it is related to coverage of a story vetted through our budgeting process. In such a case, the editorial board will only publish details that are publically available and will reach out to the family of the deceased. The Evanstonian will respect the wishes of the family foremost in publishing any details regarding the deceased.
   4. Photography
      1. The Evanstonian will make all efforts to keep student and staff who have “opted out” of news coverage.
      2. Any student or staff wishing to “opt out” of being published content should fill out the ETHS “opt-off” form.
      3. During public events, students and staff wishing to opt-out of being mentioned or pictured should notify the Evanstonian adviser or student staff member within 24 hours of the event.
   5. Errors
      1. The Evanstonian welcomes public comment on errors.
      2. The Editorial Board will determine if an error has occurred and will make a decision on printing corrections that will be featured in the following print issue.
   6. Advertising
      1. Advertisements cannot contain any libelous, slanderous or content deemed unethical by the Public Relations Editor and the Adviser.
   7. Letter to the Editor and Online Comments
      1. Letters to the Editor can be submitted to the Editorial Board to evanstonian@eths202.org or the Evanstonian Office (S103).
      2. The Editorial Board reserves the right to publish all or parts of the letter.
      3. The Editorial Board reserves the right to ask the writer of the letter to edit the submission for clarity and space restrictions.
   8. Social Media
      1. The Evanstonian reserves the right to participate in social media.
      2. The Evanstonian’s social media accounts will be facilitated by the Public Relations Editor and the Executive Editors.
      3. The Evanstonian has the right to tweet or post out its own content, retweet or repost the content of other publications and school organizations and comment on posts relevant to the Evanstonian’s objective.
   9. Prior Review:
      1. Sources may ask to review quotes at the time of the interview and with the agreement of the reporter.
      2. Sources may not demand prior review of a reporter’s story.
      3. Reporters will provide the accurate identity of sources as long as doing so does not potentially endanger the source.
      4. Reporters will not reveal a source’s name for sources who request to remain anonymous.
      5. Sources have the right to disclose information “off the record” if the source clearly states intent to exercise this right at the time of the interview.

4. Adviser

1. The adviser will make the final decision in placement of editorial board members given the input of prior year’s editorial board and assessment of potential editor’s completed application, portfolio of journalistic works and interview. Decisions will be made no later than the last day of the previous school year.
2. The adviser reserves the right to review stories and serve as an educator regarding ethical content, writing style and relevance to the ETHS community.
3. The adviser reserves the right to seek legal advice from other sources inside and outside ETHS regarding controversial issues that may put student and/or safety and privacy at risk.
4. The adviser reserves the right to dismiss staff members if the staff member has violated any of the following:
   1. Editorial board policy (i.e. plagiarism, ethical violation of source right and information).
   2. Repeatedly missing deadlines without communication to the Editorial Board and/or Adviser.
   3. Vandalism or theft.
   4. Threatening the safety of any student physically or emotionally.
   5. Sharing pre-published content of the Evanstonian with outside sources without the approval of the Editorial Board.
   6. Neglecting description of position.
   7. ETHS school rules outlined in the “Pilot” (i.e. vandalism, theft, possession or use of substances, harassment).

5. Adviser reserves the right to prohibit a previously dismissed staff member from reapplying to the Evanstonian for subsequent years.