The following is the editorial policy for Bearing News.

Editorial Board: The paper’s editorial board, made up of the Editors-In-Chief of The Rock and Bearing News and the Advisor of the Journalism Department will review all opinion pieces, including staff written editorials, submitted for publication, for us in the opinion pages only. Opinions expressed in signed works are those of the author and not necessarily of the entire staff.

Statement of Purpose: Bearing News is published and updated multiple time a day for the benefit of the population of Rock Bridge High School and the community. The purpose of the publication is to inform, involve, educate, enlighten and entertain our readers fairly and accurately. In addition, Bearing News operates as an open forum for student and faculty expression.

Letters to the Editor: The paper encourages letters but reserves the right to edit or reject material based on the standards set by all members of the journalism staff.

All letters with grammatical errors will be printed as received. Anyone wishing to submit a letter must sign with a valid signature. The author of the letter will be named. If a group writes a letter, all members must present a valid signature.

Content: The Rock staff will write all stories for publication with the exception of letters to the editor, pieces submitted by students of the Journalistic Writing class or guest writers. Every story is reviewed by the editorial board and the editor of the section of the story.

Removing names from articles: Names or images of sources that appear in stories that have been published on Bearing News will not be removed, as to not adjust the truth of the situation as of the time of publication. Furthermore, if part of the article is altered in such a way, the article itself must come down, which is not fair to the writer, the artist or photographer and the other sources quoted.

Bylines and Credits: The Rock assigns bylines to every published story to make the responsibility of the article publicly known. 

Staff editorials are the only articles in The Rock which will appear without a byline. Staff Editorials are reflect the opinions of the staff on particular issues. For each Staff Editorial, The Rock staff votes on the issue and the result of the vote is published. 

The Rock will assign photo and art credits to every photo or piece of artwork that is published. Such credits are the responsibility of the editor of the section in which the photo or artwork appears. Photographers are responsible for the photo and its caption. Artists are responsible for the artwork.

Death of a student of faculty member: The Rock will handle a student or faculty member’s death as follows: a single news story reading “In Memoriam;” a standard scan of the student or faculty’s current ID or a picture chosen by The Rock staff and a 400-500 word obituary, including the student or faculty member’s date of birth and date of death.

All memorials will be published on The Rock or in Bearing News, depending on timing. The Rock welcomes additional submissions in memory of the deceased person to our email: [email protected].

Error: Any noteworthy factual misinformation made in The Rock will be corrected in the succeeding issue and on Bearing News upon request or detection by staff.

Advertising: Month-long and year long advertisements are available on Bearing News. Each billing period comprises the 1st of a month to the final day of that month. The top sidebar and bottom sidebar positions in the main slot are both available for $50 at 300 x 250 pixels. The upper position of the main location is available for $50 at 630 x 90 pixels. These are expected to have 1,000 impressions (views) per month. The lower right position of the homepage is available for $100 at 468 x 60 pixels, the middle position of the homepage is available for $100 at 728 x 90 pixels, the upper right position of the homepage is available for $100 at 300 x 250 pixels, and the upper left position of the homepage is available for $100 at 160 x 620 pixels. These are expected to have 4,000 impressions per month. The top and bottom sidebar of the inner page position are available for $150 each at 300 x 250 pixels. These are expected to have 10,000 impressions per month. The header at the top of the site, viewable on all pages, is available for $200 at 728 x 60 pixels. This is expected to have 20,000 impressions per month.

An email will be sent about two weeks before the start date of the billing period requesting a digital copy of the advertisement in the appropriate size. If you need our staff to design your advertisement, please contact us specifying the content of the advertisement, and we will email a digital copy for you to approve prior to publishing. Please note that designing advertisements take more time, so an immediate response would be greatly appreciated. Artwork, typesetting and design are all included in the price of the advertisement. Advertisers may opt to provide an online-ready copy.

Account holders will be sent an invoice after the billing period ends, and the account may be payable upon reception of this invoice. Payments should reach our office no later than two weeks after the end of the billing period. After this date, a late fee of $1 per day will be instituted. There is no deadline for placing ads; however, the invoice will reflect the entire billing period regardless of whether the ad was online for the entirety of the billing period. Cancellations will not be accepted after the start of the billing period.

The Rock has the right to reject any part of an advertisement on the basis of poor taste, libel or the promotion of illegal substances.

The Rock staff recognizes and appreciates the contributions of private citizens and businesses who help support the publications through their advertising, trade of services and/or sponsorship. 

The Rock purchased a subscription to the Associated Press Photos and all AP photos are used with the permission from AP.

Publication: Bearing News is a joint publication produced by the staff of The Rock newspaper, the Honors Seminar editor class and the Flashback yearbook and is advised by Robin Stover. Bearing News is run from Rock Bridge High School, on 4303 South Providence Road, Columbia, Mo. 65203. The members of the Journalistic Writing class also publishes pieces on Bearing News.

Comment Policy: Bearing News encourages comments to further discussion in the school and community and to engage readers. The Bearing News staff has the right to approve or deny any comments to a story. Comments should not contain provocative language, dubious language or profanity and cannot constitute personal attacks. The person commenting must enter his or her first and last name and email to comment on a story.

Editorials: Opinion pieces, including commentaries, blogs and editorials are all featured on Bearing News, and express the opinionated views of the writer. All opinions expressed in signed works are those of the signer and not necessarily those of the Bearing News staff, the RBHS faculty and staff or the administration of Columbia Public Schools. Opinion pieces express the opinion of the author and not necessarily the entire staff.

Individuals may submit content by emailing it to [email protected]. The Bearing News staff holds the right to edit the letter to the editor as needed to hold it to the website’s standard and style. When a group submits a letter to Bearing News, each person in that group must sign with a valid signature.

The Bearing News editorial board, made up of Honors Seminar students, will review all opinion pieces, including staff-written editorials, submitted for publication for use in the Op/Ed section of Bearing News.

Contact Information: Please call us with comments or concerns at 573-214-3141 ext. 1 or email us at [email protected].