One of the few public newspaper policies with online-specific components. They include:
Use of Internet sources
• Verify all facts reported from an online site unless you are confident of its source. For instance, the official Pulitzer Prize Web site can be regarded as a reliable source for names of past winners; a trade association site may not be.
• If using a source via Internet or e-mail, verify the source by phone or in person. Make certain a communication is genuine before using it.
• Generally, credit photos and graphics downloaded from the Internet. Usually, generic mug shots and icons do not need credits.
Researching the Internet
• Internet-derived information should be attributed, just as we would information from any book, magazine or other publication. Our prohibition against plagiarism applies to this information.
• Linking to Web sites from a story ? Always review Web sites listed in stories. If you have concerns about including a site in a story because of inappropriate content, check with an editor.
Internet communication
• Use the same standards of representation as you would using the telephone or in person. Using deceptive methods to gain information, including the failure to reveal one’s identity as a journalist while using a computer or the use of false identification to obtain access to computer systems, is corrosive to truth telling.
