Policies for Los Baños Times

Editorial Policies

Scope. The Los Baños Times Editorial Policies extend to all forms of content or material published and/or posted in all its community news platforms and covers all stages of story development, from data gathering to publication.

Ethics. The Los Baños Times strictly subscribes to the Philippine Press Institute (PPI)’s Journalists’ Code of Ethics, with emphasis on fair and honest dealing with all parties involved in the material or content development.

The Los Baños Times staff, students, and community collaborators are expected to observe the code. Content contributions from members of the community shall be reviewed and/or modified by the editorial board to conform to the code.

Responsibility. The Los Baños Times editorial board reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted material deemed as inadequately developed content, malicious, obscene, and perceived as threat to public order and community morale and interests

The editorial board will be responsible for ensuring that all content published are in line with the publication’s editorial policies.

Content and credits. The Los Baños Times publishes a wide range of stories relayed in various forms such as articles, photo stories, videos, infographics, and works of art, among others. Creators of such content shall be properly cited in all Los Baños Times platforms. The editorial board makes the decision on the final lineup of articles to be published.

Development-oriented content. All content of the Los Baños shall focus on food security and nutrition, natural resources and management, education, health and well-being, entrepreneurship, and local culture.

Research . Research is viewed as an important aspect of its operations for it to be responsive and relevant to the community. Needs assessment, readership studies, monitoring and evaluation, including effects to the community must be periodically conducted to guide planning, management, production, and distribution.

Writing Principles. We subscribe to Strunk and White’s principles of clear and effective writing in crafting content for our news platforms, emphasizing accuracy, brevity, and clarity in our reports.

Community engagement and diversity of local perspectives. The Los Baños Times actively seeks contributions from community members and experts on various fields. We hold equal regard for various points of view and present multiple perspectives in an issue.

We make sure that community members can benefit from our expertise, facilities, and resources. The Los Baños Times publishes community posts free of charge. Community posts can come in the form of announcements and invitations for agency activities, pleas for assistance in the retrieval of missing family members or properties, membership announcements of local cooperatives and associations, among others.

Student and community collaborators are trained on the basics of storytelling, production skills, and other skills needed to successfully run a community news platform.

Sponsorship and external funding. Being a non-profit entity, the Los Baños Times will accept donations and sponsorships for the sole purpose of sustaining its operations and in accordance with the University rules and regulations. Donations and sponsorships shall in no way hinder the Los Baños Times from realizing its purpose for the community.