138th Board Discusses Website’s Privacy Changes
In response to recent press about our school, many of us are troubled by actions of our peers and mentors, and are now provoking thoughtful action for the future.
The Exonian’s 138th Editorial board and Brandon Liu, Chief Digital Editor, write this now to reaffirm our commitment to all in the Exeter community, past and present. As a student newspaper, our role is to report the news of Phillips Exeter Academy and the diversity of student voices on campus. Simultaneously, we share the important obligation to respect the privacy and ensure the safety of students on campus, many of whom are minors.
In order to make our work accessible to the entire Exeter community, we find it essential to publish all content online where those off-campus can access it, and where the content can be digitized for future generations of Exonians. We also recognize that the scope of our work reaches much farther than the immediate Exeter community, mostly for better, but sometimes for worse.
In consideration of the safety and privacy of the school’s students, The Exonian’s Executive Board proactively put the website “under construction” over the summer to take time to clarify and formalize our standards as a publication. The result was two documents: The Exonian Charter, and The Exonian Media & Content Use Policy, both of which can be found on our website.
Our Charter’s purpose, like its counterpart at Andover, is to define our newspaper’s broader responsibilities as a publication and establish, in writing, the boundaries between the school and the student press.
The aim of our Media & Content Use Policy is to provide transparency in our practices and prevent our content from being lifted without permission, so that community voices are not unduly removed from proper context, or singled out for expressing their views.
Our policies are the product of months of prior discussion, consultation with The Exonian’s advisers, school administrators as well as outside journalism legal experts, and ultimately allow all, including those outside of Exeter, to retain access to our content.
In addition to this, on Sept. 9, 2016 The Exonian Executive Board implemented a login screen that requires new visitors to submit their email and a standard password. The password is “FreePress” and displayed publicly on the website. The screen serves not to prohibit certain groups from viewing the page, but to remind all visitors of accountability, and to act as a step to discourage potential misuse of personal information that may be published on our website. This addition to the website arises out of a conversation between The Exonian and the administration that originally centered around our digital policy, but moved towards this solution of a login screen as the administration pushed for a more concrete way to ensure the protection of student safety and privacy.
We stand firm with the school administration in the critical goal of preventing the unfair targeting of students and misappropriation of personal information.
That being said, our board was reluctant to construct any extra barrier for those seeking to visit our website, read our content and learn more about the school.
It is the 138th Board’s belief that the strongest response to this issue is not to screen, restrict or impede access to our newspaper’s website in any way, but rather to inform, educate and reaffirm our commitment to safety and journalistic integrity, throughout our student staff and readership. We sought to accomplish this through the thoughtful formulation and dissemination of clear, specific policy, with the Media & Content Use Policy and The Exonian Charter.
Moving forward, the 138th The Exonian Board is now more than ever committed to informing the community. If Exeter is to heal, and ultimately grow from this year’s news, we need to begin with a newfound culture of candor, and a rededication to open discussion.