Bonfire's Code of Ethics
We want to hear from you!
Bonfire could have never thrived without the contributions of UIC students. However, in order to maintain the transparency of Bonfire, our content must follow a set of guidelines to ensure we are fairly spreading information. If you are contributing any work, please make sure they follow our code of ethics.
Transparency
As student journalists at UIC, we recognize an obligation to serve as watchdogs over the university's authorities, as well as others who hold positions of power on the university, city, state, and federal level.
We also recognize a necessary duty to give voice to the voiceless among our student community.
We strive to serve the interests of UIC’s student community through both journalism and cultural expression.
We recognize that students express themselves in a myriad of ways—with forms of expressions ranging from satire, art, fiction, divination, and commentary. Therefore, we strive to engage student discourse through various different genres and cultural expressions.
Independence
We are granted complete editorial independence from the university. We are not accountable to any of the university’s administrators or departments. We are only accountable to the students at UIC.
We avoid conflicts of interest that demand us to promote private interests over the general welfare of our readers. At the same time, we respect and encourage all of our staff members’ rights to actively participate in public, social, religious, charitable, or civic organizations.
As long as a news story provides relevant, important information to our readers, and doesn’t violate any of our ethical standards, journalists may be permitted to report on an organization which they are associated with. If journalists conduct a news story on an organization in which they are involved, those journalists must disclose in the story their position or role within the organization.
Sourcing
Quotations
Quotations must never be altered – not even to fix grammatical errors or the use of words. If a quotation lacks clarity or contains a significant grammatical error, the journalist must be capable of paraphrasing the quote into statement(s) that remain true to the quote’s original meaning. If the quote's meaning is too vague to paraphrase accurately, then the journalist should avoid using the quote.
Identify and attribute sources
Sources used in a news report must be clearly identified and attributed. When a reporter either paraphrases information, integrates quotes, or mentions ideas of an outside source, the reporter must clearly identify the source used and attribute the source to the details that belong to it.
Anonymous sources
A reporter may only use an anonymous source if the information is accurate and vital to informing the public on an important issue. We submit to The Associated Press’ rule that a news story must explain why the source sought anonymity and give attribution indicating the credibility of the source. A reporter must get their anonymous source approved for publication by the newspaper’s editors.
We submit to The Associated Press’s guidelines for situations in which the use of anonymous sources may be accepted: when the source provides crucial information when there’s no other method to acquire such information, and when we know with certainty that the source is credible and reliable.
Plagiarism
We do not plagiarize the work of others – meaning that we do not take material from others and identify it as our own. If a phrase from another source is used word-for-word in a report, it must be contained within quotation marks and attributed to the source it came from.
Accountability
A person portrayed negatively in a news story must have an opportunity to respond before publication.
If we write a news story about someone in a negative manner – such as alleging one of wrongdoings – we must commit ourselves to acquiring that person’s response. If the subject does not respond in a considerable amount of time, the news story must contain an explanation for what efforts were made to acquire a response. The time given to respond will be determined based on the urgency of the story.
We will take responsibility for the accuracy of our own work. If there is an error in any of the material we’ve published, we will clearly identify the correction and acknowledge the mistake in a public correction note, which will be located at the end of a news report.
Publication
Journalists will represent different perspectives and may not always agree with one another. We support the civic engagement of various perspectives.
Censorship of reporters’ material is a violation. Editors will refrain from censoring any reporter’s ideas and perspectives; instead, editors will edit as a peer educator who seeks to help reporters improve their writing and develop their journalism skills.
Bonfire is a collaborative environment. Our editorial board is structured to provide support to our writers and expedite the editing and publishing process. All of our members have the right to make suggestions about Bonfire practice, activities, content, and operations.
Content
We maintain the right to reject the publication of opinions and information that display inappropriate or obscene material. We prohibit and refuse to publish any material that discriminates against any person because of race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, national origin, marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Transparency
As student journalists at UIC, we recognize an obligation to serve as watchdogs over the university's authorities, as well as others who hold positions of power on the university, city, state, and federal level.
We also recognize a necessary duty to give voice to the voiceless among our student community.
We strive to serve the interests of UIC’s student community through both journalism and cultural expression.
We recognize that students express themselves in a myriad of ways—with forms of expressions ranging from satire, art, fiction, divination, and commentary. Therefore, we strive to engage student discourse through various different genres and cultural expressions.
Independence
We are granted complete editorial independence from the university. We are not accountable to any of the university’s administrators or departments. We are only accountable to the students at UIC.
We avoid conflicts of interest that demand us to promote private interests over the general welfare of our readers. At the same time, we respect and encourage all of our staff members’ rights to actively participate in public, social, religious, charitable, or civic organizations.
As long as a news story provides relevant, important information to our readers, and doesn’t violate any of our ethical standards, journalists may be permitted to report on an organization which they are associated with. If journalists conduct a news story on an organization in which they are involved, those journalists must disclose in the story their position or role within the organization.
Sourcing
Quotations
Quotations must never be altered – not even to fix grammatical errors or the use of words. If a quotation lacks clarity or contains a significant grammatical error, the journalist must be capable of paraphrasing the quote into statement(s) that remain true to the quote’s original meaning. If the quote's meaning is too vague to paraphrase accurately, then the journalist should avoid using the quote.
Identify and attribute sources
Sources used in a news report must be clearly identified and attributed. When a reporter either paraphrases information, integrates quotes, or mentions ideas of an outside source, the reporter must clearly identify the source used and attribute the source to the details that belong to it.
Anonymous sources
A reporter may only use an anonymous source if the information is accurate and vital to informing the public on an important issue. We submit to The Associated Press’ rule that a news story must explain why the source sought anonymity and give attribution indicating the credibility of the source. A reporter must get their anonymous source approved for publication by the newspaper’s editors.
We submit to The Associated Press’s guidelines for situations in which the use of anonymous sources may be accepted: when the source provides crucial information when there’s no other method to acquire such information, and when we know with certainty that the source is credible and reliable.
Plagiarism
We do not plagiarize the work of others – meaning that we do not take material from others and identify it as our own. If a phrase from another source is used word-for-word in a report, it must be contained within quotation marks and attributed to the source it came from.
Accountability
A person portrayed negatively in a news story must have an opportunity to respond before publication.
If we write a news story about someone in a negative manner – such as alleging one of wrongdoings – we must commit ourselves to acquiring that person’s response. If the subject does not respond in a considerable amount of time, the news story must contain an explanation for what efforts were made to acquire a response. The time given to respond will be determined based on the urgency of the story.
We will take responsibility for the accuracy of our own work. If there is an error in any of the material we’ve published, we will clearly identify the correction and acknowledge the mistake in a public correction note, which will be located at the end of a news report.
Publication
Journalists will represent different perspectives and may not always agree with one another. We support the civic engagement of various perspectives.
Censorship of reporters’ material is a violation. Editors will refrain from censoring any reporter’s ideas and perspectives; instead, editors will edit as a peer educator who seeks to help reporters improve their writing and develop their journalism skills.
Bonfire is a collaborative environment. Our editorial board is structured to provide support to our writers and expedite the editing and publishing process. All of our members have the right to make suggestions about Bonfire practice, activities, content, and operations.
Content
We maintain the right to reject the publication of opinions and information that display inappropriate or obscene material. We prohibit and refuse to publish any material that discriminates against any person because of race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, national origin, marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
