City Voice Charter

This is a draft of the 2025-2026 City Voice Charter. For the elected statement see the 2021-2022 City Voice Charter here.

Mission Statement:

The City Voice school newspaper exists to promote freedom of expression and create opportunities for City High/Middle students. These opportunities include, but are not limited to, the opportunity to write, the opportunity to learn, the opportunity to discuss, the opportunity to share opinions, and the opportunity to be published. The denial of any of these opportunities from students is permissible under certain conditions but not to be taken lightly. Violations of the Guidelines and Responsibilities must be demonstrated before opportunities can be denied.

Transparency

In the event of any decision, action, or veto, anyone has the right to publish a statement about or transcript of the discussion or vote in the newspaper.

Guidelines and Responsibilities

All participating members of The City Voice must follow certain guidelines and adhere to certain responsibilities when taking advantage of the opportunities the club offers. These include the responsibilities to:

  1. Ensure all current events journalism is based on factual information from at least two reliable sources;
  2. To express the explained opinions of the writer in an opinion piece, editorial, or op-ed;
  3. To ensure reviews begin by discaliming the official US Motion Picture Association film ratings for movies and shows and the amazon.com “Reading Age” range for books;
  4. To support all claims with evidence;
  5. To adhere to the policy that The City Voice does not tolerate any form of hate speech, defined herein as “abusive or threatening speech or writing that expresses prejudice against a particular group, especially on the basis of race, religion, or sexual orientation;”
  6. To adhere to the policy that The City Voice does not tolerate obscenity as defined by Miller v. California;
  7. To adhere to the policy that The City Voice does not tolerate any infringement on the intellectual property of others, including but not limited to the duplication of research, ideas, writing or images without proper acknowledgement; and
  8. To treat everyone with respect.

It is understood by the student body and editorial board that the above guidelines should remain an overall framework even if they do not account for the intricacies of specific situations. Any violation of the above, whether in the specific or the abstract, may be grounds for the denial of certain opportunities.

Leadership Structure

Branches

The City Voice is made up of the following branches:

  1. General Membership
  2. Editorial Board
    1. Senior Editors
  3. Editor-in-Chief
  4. Faculty Advisor

General Membership

As The City Voice is a student led newspaper, the general student membership is the largest and most important branch of the club. In all cases, the other branches should do their best to assess the ideas and opinions of the general membership and act accordingly. If able, decisions should be made by general anonymous vote among all members, but it is understood that this is rarely convenient. In many cases it is acceptable for members of the editorial board or the faculty advisor to make decisions on issues that are urgent, or even unimportant, without consulting the general membership. However, should any member wish to call an anonymous vote or start a discussion about any issue or decision, this must be supported. Additionally any decision made by the faculty advisor and/or the editorial board may be challenged by an aforementioned anonymous vote. Members of this body must uphold any and all other duties as assigned by other sections of the charter.

Editorial Board

The editorial board consists of a select few student editors. To ensure that the editorial board has experience and understanding, members of the editorial board must have contributed to The City Voice for at least one year prior to their appointment and must have published at least ten articles. Prior editing experience within or outside of The City Voice is not required but may weigh into consideration for election.

At the end of each school year any student member of The City Voice may apply for consideration as a new member of the editorial board. The editorial board must then review the applications and present their recommendations to the Editor-in-Chief, who makes the final decision as to the makeup of the editorial board for the following year. Any member of the editorial board may also be removed at this time. All decisions must be verified by the faculty advisor.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

The role of the editorial board is to advise any and all contributors to help them to make their writing more clear, concise, and effective, regardless of content. The editorial board takes a neutral position on most issues and will support any and all writing that adheres to the guidelines and responsibilities. Advising writers to make their writing most effective and enforcing the guidelines and responsibilities of The City Voice are the two most chief tasks of the editorial board. They also must adhere to any and all other duties as assigned by other sections of the charter.

Senior Editors

Social Media Manager

In order to ensure the mission of The City Voice as a student-run organization with many such students at the forefront of its publication, the responsibilities of all social channels will be delegated to one student editor. The student may already participate on the editorial board or apply for the position on the editorial board application form. The student must already have or be able to use various social media softwares. The election of this position will be the same as the editorial board and the responsibilities of this position are as follows.

Responsibilities of the Social Media Manager

  1. Use one or more social media applications under The City Voice account name;
  2. Post at minimum every week about the latest edition of the newspaper and other school or nonschool news;
  3. Serve as the newspaper’s primary communicator for any channel not covered by the Editor-in-Chief and faculty advisor; and
  4. Any and all duties as assigned by other sections of this charter

Managing Editor

The Managing Editor of The City Voice is the second-in-command to the Editor-in-Chief and all student matters pertaining to the newspaper. The Managing Editor will be appointed by the Editor-in-Chief and go through the same verification process as any other editor. A student appointed this way must have served on the editorial board for at minimum one year and be willing to accept the following responsibilities.

Managing Editor Responsibilities

  1. In case of the absence, leave, or other happenings to the Editor-in-Chief, the temporary assumption of all responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief, as well as all of the below guidelines:
  2. Assisting in preparing weekly editions;
  3. Working with the rest of the editorial board to edit and publish articles;
  4. Resolving minor issues and conflicts before the Editor-in-Chief and faculty advisor get involved, if able;
  5. Representing The City Voice among students and administrators;
  6. Working closely with the Editor-in-Chief to ensure the newspaper’s success;
  7. In the case of a tie in anonymous voting, work as a tiebreaker. For the editorial board, if a tie occurs and a Managing Editor’s vote is cast, it counts as double to break the tie; and
  8. Any and all other duties as assigned by other sections of the charter

Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief is an exemplary student journalist who serves as the student leader of the editorial board, guiding the publication’s tone and style. The Editor-in-Chief, like all students, may participate in general votes and editorial board votes. The Editor-in-Chief is appointed by the previous Editor-in-Chief with the approval of the faculty advisor and majority approval of the editorial board.

The Editor-in-Chief must adhere to the following responsibilities and may be removed by the other branches if they fail to uphold these guidelines. This may be done by a majority vote among both the general members and editorial board and requires faculty advisor approval. If removal occurs, then the Managing Editor assumes the responsibilities unless a majority of the editorial board disapproves. In such a case, they must vote on a new Editor-in-Chief who is approved by the faculty advisor. Otherwise, the Editor-in-Chief appoints a new Managing Editor.

Editor-in-Chief Responsibilities

  1. Running the newspaper’s website and preparing weekly editions;
  2. Providing the faculty advisor with information about the latest publication in a timely fashion;
  3. Serving as the primary student voice of the editorial board;
  4. Serving as the primary representative of The City Voice to City High/Middle students and administration; and
  5. Any and all other duties as assigned by other sections of the charter

Faculty Advisor

The faculty advisor is a teacher at City High Middle who advises the student newspaper. The faculty advisor has the power to veto any decision of the editorial board or general membership, except in the case of a unanimous student vote. It is critical that they work with the Editor-in-Chief to ensure all guidelines and responsibilities are upheld, and must also undertake the following duties.

Faculty Advisor Responsibilities

  1. Advising students;
  2. Reviewing the final draft of each week’s publication;
  3. Representing the school and GRPS in editorial decisions; and
  4. Any and all other duties as assigned by other sections of this charter

Other Policy Clarifications

  1. While we support freedom of speech, The City Voice is a limited public forum reserved for student expression;
  2. The student editorial board reserves the right to make decisions about what content is published; and
  3. The City Voice contains no advertising at this time and collects no information about users with the intent to advertise.