Mission statement

The New Political is an award-winning, independent publication run entirely by Ohio University students. We are a digital-first outlet solely dedicated to covering politics and government on the Ohio University campus, in the city of Athens and in the state of Ohio. The New Political seeks to educate and empower the public as an independent voice for Athens.

Awards

The New Political was the recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists Region 4 2017 Mark of Excellence Award for Best Independent Online Student Publication and for Best Digital-Only Student Publication. The New Political was a College Media Association David L. Apple award winner for opinion writing in 2023 and received a second-place Pinnacle Award for Website of the Year at the 2023 College Media Convention in Atlanta, GA.

Code of ethics

The New Political prides itself on reporting stories that impact, influence and enlighten the Athens community. We are able to achieve this by approaching each and every story with a commitment to telling the truth.

Our guiding principle is accuracy, and we take special care to ensure that the work we publish stems from facts and figures. We never want our readers to question the truth behind our stories. On the rare occasion that our work contains an error of fact, we will edit our story to include the correction and maintain a record of the change at the start or end of the piece through an Editor’s Note. Otherwise, we will never alter or remove any content published on our website.

We always make it a priority to remain fair and balanced. In practicing fairness, we will always cover issues with an objective lens and will not allow personal biases to get in the way of covering a story.

Our stories reflect a variety of viewpoints and opinions, and we try our best to equip our writers to cover all of these varying beliefs. If there is ever any ever doubt regarding the background of a certain topic, we will ensure we reach out to appropriate groups to ensure that proper context can be given.

We strive to be balanced in our work and include opposing viewpoints whenever possible. We recognize that there are not always two sides to a story, and we have no trouble reminding our readers of facts when outside voices are decrying the truth. Our balanced reporting does not always mean giving a voice to anyone yelling, but giving a voice to the strongest forms of the argument.

Being fair and balanced also means being complete. Completeness in our coverage is essential, and we aim to include all relevant facts, data and historical context. We want readers to have a good grasp of the big picture, not just individual events or circumstances.

We strongly denounce plagiarism and the blatant theft of ideas from other publications without due credit. Any staff member in violation of this rule will be subject to immediate termination.

As a political publication, our content is more limited in what subjects we cover. We obviously won’t cover sporting events, but we also won’t cover every press release from the Ohio governor’s office. Our content is geared toward helping our readers become more intelligent and useful members of society so that they can ultimately make the most informed decision at the voting booth.

Policies

News

Writers who cover news are prohibited from taking part in any politically-affiliated group on or off campus. Writers are also prohibited from accepting gifts or receiving donations on behalf of any political organization.

News writers are to report to events before they start and stay after they end to ensure the full story can be captured. Interviews must be recorded and later transcribed to ensure accuracy in a source’s given information.

Opinion

Our opinion section provides a valuable forum for Ohio University community members to speak their mind on a wide array of issues. The highest standards of excellence are paramount to ensuring the opinion section contributes positively to national and local discussions.

The opinion section acts independently of the news and editorial staff, and every effort must be made to ensure our readers are aware of this separation. We also must make aware that contributors to the opinion section are from dedicated student staff writers, and any opinion not from a staff member is labeled under “Letter to the Editor.”

All opinion pieces will be labeled “OPINION” before the title of the article. All opinion pieces will include information regarding the author’s year, area of study, and a disclaimer stating the views are that of the author and not reflective of the publication.

With that in mind, we require our opinion writers to ensure all voices are adequately represented in any given piece, especially those of marginalized communities. Oppressed peoples have a history of vilification in national media and their views and experiences must be considered.

When we craft our opinion pieces, we desire a respectful and honest argument. To achieve that, our writers are strongly encouraged to utilize primary sources wherever possible, and when primary sources are unavailable, to only reference accredited, nonpartisan institutions. Our writers must also ensure that their arguments are justified from the information provided by their sources.

Special consideration must also be given to institutions that present information from a minority or marginalized community’s perspective.

Our pieces must use respectful, conciliatory language, intended to engage in a thoughtful and fair discussion, not to tear down or attack. We must also take care to ensure our pieces use language respectful towards marginalized communities. Slurs are obvious, but certain phrases or word choices can be more subtly offensive. Being constantly aware of this is essential for any opinion piece.