Student publications and the student press are a valuable aid in establishing and maintaining an atmosphere of free and responsible discussion and of intellectual exploration on the campus. They are a means of bringing student concerns to the attention of the faculty and institutional authorities and of formulating student opinion on various issues on the campus and in the world at large. Financial and legal autonomy is not possible, therefore, Olympic College, as the publisher of student publications, may have to bear the legal responsibility for the contents of the publications. In the delegation of editorial responsibility to students, the institution must provide sufficient editorial freedom and financial autonomy for student publications to maintain their integrity of purpose as vehicles for free inquiry and free expression in an academic community. At the same time, the editorial freedom of student editors and managers entails corollary responsibilities to be governed by the canons of responsibilities such as the avoidance of libel, indecency, undocumented allegations, attacks on personal integrity, and the techniques of harassment and innuendo. As safeguards for the editorial freedom of student publications, the following provisions are necessary:

(1) The student press should be free of censorship and advance approval of copy, and its editors and managers shall be free to develop their own editorial policies and news coverage consistent with Canons of Journalism.

(2) Editors and managers of student publications shall be protected from arbitrary suspension and removal because of student, faculty, administration, or public disapproval of editorial policy or content. Only for proper and stated causes should editors and managers be subject to removal and then by orderly and prescribed procedures of the publishing organization.

(3) It is expected that campus student publications shall have a written editorial policy consistent with the above.