The Cuestonian is an independent student press publication. Understanding what that means, and what it does not mean, helps everyone engage with us more productively.

What is prior review and why don’t we allow it?

Prior review is when someone outside the newsroom, such as a college administrator, a story subject or a third party, requests to read, approve or influence content before it is published. The Cuestonian does not permit prior review by anyone outside the editorial staff and faculty adviser.

This is not a preference or an oversight. It is a foundational principle of a free press. Student journalists at community colleges in California are protected by the Leonard Law (Education Code Section 48907 and 94367), which guarantees the same First Amendment freedoms to student journalists at postsecondary institutions that professionals enjoy. Prior review compromises editorial independence, chills reporting and undermines the public’s right to accurate, unfiltered information.

What about stories that involve me or my department?

Being the subject of a story, or knowing that a story is in progress, does not entitle anyone to review it before publication. Reporters may contact you for comment as part of their reporting, and you are welcome to participate in that process. Your participation or non-participation does not affect whether a story is published.

If you are contacted by a Cuestonian reporter, the appropriate response is to engage with them directly. Reporters are students learning the craft of journalism in a real newsroom environment. Refusing to comment, redirecting to a media relations office or attempting to go above the reporter’s head to stop a story will not change our process, and may be noted in the published piece as a nonresponse.

What about requests to remove or correct a published story?

The Cuestonian is a publication of record. We take seriously our responsibility to accuracy, and we take equally seriously our responsibility to preserve the historical record of our reporting. Those two commitments sometimes create tension, and we navigate that tension carefully.

Legitimate grounds for a correction or review request include:

• A verifiable factual error (a name is misspelled, a date is wrong, a quote is misattributed)
• Personal information that poses a documented safety risk to an individual
• Circumstances that are genuinely extraordinary and demonstrably harmful

All requests must be submitted in writing to [email protected] and must explain the specific concern, identify the factual error or harm, and include any supporting documentation. Requests are reviewed by the faculty adviser and editorial board. The Cuestonian reserves the right to respond with an editor’s note, a correction appended to the original piece, targeted redaction of limited personal information, or, in extraordinary cases, restricted access to content when public harm clearly outweighs the public interest in maintaining the record.

We strive to balance our duty to inform with our responsibility to do no harm, and every request receives genuine consideration.

How do I share feedback or respond publicly to coverage?

The Cuestonian welcomes letters to the editor from anyone in the Cuesta College community. A letter is the appropriate vehicle for a public response to our coverage. See the Letters to the Editor policy below for submission guidelines.

Who do I contact?

All formal requests, concerns and correspondence should be directed to [email protected]. Please do not contact individual student staff members with complaints, correction requests or pressure to alter coverage. Those communications belong in writing to the editorial team.

The following editorial policy governs the operations of The Cuestonian, the student newspaper of Cuesta College. This policy outlines our commitment to journalistic integrity, inclusivity and the best interests of our community.

Article Takedown Requests

Policy: The Cuestonian is a publication of record and does not routinely remove or alter published content. We are committed to preserving the historical accuracy and accountability of our reporting.

However, we recognize that exceptional circumstances may arise. Takedown or correction requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the faculty adviser and editorial board. Requests must be submitted in writing and should explain the nature of the concern, potential harm and any supporting documentation.

The Cuestonian reserves the right to:

• Add an editor’s note or update to provide context or clarification.
• Redact or anonymize limited personal information if it poses a demonstrated risk to an individual’s safety or well-being.
• In extraordinary cases, remove or restrict access to content when the editorial board determines that the public harm outweighs the public interest in maintaining the record.

We strive to balance our duty to inform with our responsibility to do no harm, and we review all requests with care.

Corrections: If an article contains factual errors, we encourage readers to notify us. Verified errors will be addressed through corrections appended to the original piece.

Editorial Leadership and Decision-Making

While The Cuestonian traditionally operates under the leadership of an editor in chief and an editorial board, we recognize that staffing levels and experience may vary from semester to semester. In semesters when no editor in chief is appointed, editorial decision-making responsibilities may be shared among section editors, senior staff or a designated rotating editor system as determined by the faculty adviser.

In the absence of an editor in chief, the faculty adviser may assume a more active facilitative role in guiding publication decisions, helping to coordinate the editorial process while still respecting student editorial independence.

All major editorial decisions, such as those involving takedown requests, ethical concerns or sensitive reporting, will be handled collaboratively by the available editorial leadership and the faculty adviser to ensure journalistic integrity, educational value and ethical practice.

Ethical Standards

• Accuracy: All articles must be thoroughly fact-checked, with sources verified for credibility and accuracy.
• Objectivity: Staff writers and editors will strive for impartiality, avoiding conflicts of interest or bias in reporting.
• Diversity and Inclusivity: The editorial team is committed to representing the diverse voices and perspectives of the Cuesta College community.

Editorial Independence

• Freedom of the Press: The Cuestonian operates as an independent student-run publication, free from external influence or censorship by college administration or other entities.
• Editorial Authority: The editor in chief holds ultimate responsibility for all published content, ensuring adherence to the publication’s mission and ethical guidelines.

Letters to the Editor

• Relevance: Letters to the editor must be relevant to the Cuesta College community, addressing issues, concerns or topics pertinent to students, faculty, staff and the local area.
• Accuracy: Letters must not contain demonstrably false statements of fact. The Cuestonian reserves the right to request clarification, supporting information or to decline publication of letters that include factual inaccuracies.
• Submission Requirements: Letters should be no longer than 300 words, include the writer’s full name and indicate their relationship to Cuesta College (e.g., student, faculty, staff or community member).
• Editorial Rights: The Cuestonian reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, clarity and length while maintaining the writer’s original intent.
• Exclusions: Letters containing hate speech, personal attacks, libel or vulgarity will not be published.
• Submission: Send letters to the editor to [email protected].

Submissions and Content Contributions

• Eligibility to Contribute Articles: The Cuestonian accepts article contributions exclusively from enrolled students in the Cuestonian class (Journalism 202 or equivalent) and members of the Cuestonian Contributors Network, a vetted group of current Cuesta students granted ongoing publishing privileges. This ensures all published content meets journalistic, ethical and educational standards.
• Ownership and Rights: All accepted content becomes the property of The Cuestonian. Contributors grant The Cuestonian the right to publish, reproduce and edit their work in both print and digital formats.
• Editorial Discretion: The Cuestonian reserves the right to reject or edit any submission that does not meet our editorial standards, journalistic integrity or the publication’s mission.

Social Media and Digital Platforms

• Engagement: The Cuestonian will use social media to promote published content, engage with readers and encourage community dialogue.
• Conduct: Comments or feedback on digital platforms must adhere to standards of respect, civility and relevance. Inappropriate or harmful comments may be removed at the discretion of the editorial team.

Correction Policy

• Commitment to Accuracy: Errors in published content will be corrected promptly upon verification.
• Process: Corrections will be clearly labeled and appended to the original article with an explanation of the changes made.

Editorial Review Process

• Standards: All articles, opinion pieces and other content undergo a thorough editorial review to ensure adherence to journalistic standards, including accuracy, fairness and clarity.
• Transparency: Opinion pieces and editorials are clearly labeled and reflect the views of the author(s) or editorial board, not necessarily those of Cuesta College or its governing bodies.

The Cuestonian introduced guidelines and policies about artificial intelligence (AI) for the fall 2025 semester with the help of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies (www.poynter.org).

Generative artificial intelligence is the use of large language models to create something new, such as text, images, graphics and interactive media. These terms will be referenced throughout this policy:

• Generative AI: A type of artificial intelligence that creates new content, such as text, images, or media, by interpreting and generating based on input data.
• Large language models (LLMs): AI systems trained on vast datasets of text to understand and generate humanlike language, and is the information backbone that powers Generative AI.
• AI prompt: A specific input or instruction provided to an AI tool to generate a desired output.
• Hallucination: The phenomenon where AI generates information or responses that are fabricated, inaccurate, or not grounded in fact.
• Training data: The dataset, such as articles, research papers or social media posts, used to teach an AI model patterns, relationships and knowledge for making predictions or generating content.

Although generative AI has the potential to improve newsgathering, it also has the potential to harm journalists’ credibility and our unique relationship with our audience.

As we proceed, the following five core values will guide our work. These principles apply explicitly to the newsroom and throughout other non-news departments including advertising, events, marketing and development.

Transparency

When we use generative AI in a significant way in our journalism, we will document and describe the tools to our audience with specificity, disclosing and educating. This may be a short tagline, a caption or credit, or for something more substantial, like an editor’s note. When appropriate, we will include the prompts that are fed into the model to generate the material.

Accuracy and Human Oversight

All information generated by AI requires human verification. Everything we publish will meet our long-standing standards for verification. For example, an editor will review prompts, and any other inputs used to generate substantial content, including data analysis, in addition to the editing process in place for all of our content.

We will actively monitor and address biases in AI-generated content to ensure fairness and equity in our journalism.

Privacy and Security

Our relationship with our audience is rooted in trust and respect. To that end, we will protect our audience’s data in accordance with our newsroom’s privacy policies. We will never enter sensitive or identifying information about our audience members, sources or our own staff into any generative AI tools.

As technology advances and opportunities to customize content for our audience arise, we will be explicit about how your data is collected and how it was used to personalize your experience. We will disclose any editorial content that has been created and distributed based on that personalization.

Accountability

We take responsibility for all content generated or informed by AI tools. Any errors or inaccuracies resulting from the use of these tools will be transparently addressed and corrected. We will regularly audit feedback forms and incorporate audience feedback into policy updates. Violations of this policy will require retraining and possible disciplinary action.

Exploration

With the five previous principles as our foundation, we will embrace exploration and experimentation. We will strive to invest in newsroom training so every staff member is knowledgeable about the responsible and ethical use of generative AI tools.

Approved Generative AI Tools

Here is a list of tools that are currently approved for use at The Cuestonian. Please reach out to the faculty adviser with any new tools you’d like to start using, and we can update the list pending an audit.

• ChatGPT
• Claude
• NotebookLM
• Adobe Firefly
• Apple Intelligence
• Canva
• Midjourney

Research

We may use generative AI to research a topic. This includes using chatbots to summarize academic papers and suggest others, surface historical information or data about the topic and suggest story angles. Generative AI tools may be used by fact-checkers to find checkable claims to pursue, or by journalists to sift through social media posts for article topics. A reminder: These tools are prone to factual errors, so all outputs will be verified by researchers, reporters and editors.

Transcription

We may use generative AI to transcribe interviews and make our reporting more efficient. Our journalists will review transcriptions and cross-check them against recordings to ensure any material used in articles or other content is accurate.

Translation

We may use generative AI tools to translate material for research on articles. We may also use those tools to translate article content to reach new audiences, which will always be reviewed by an expert in the language and include the following disclosure: “This article/audio/video was translated using generative AI to be able to reach new audiences. It has been reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Read more about how and why we use AI in our reporting at https://cuestonian.com/about/. Send feedback to [email protected].”

Searching and Assembling Data

We may use AI to search for information, mine public databases or assemble and calculate statistics that would be useful to our reporting and in the service of our audience. Any data analysis and writing of code used on the website will be checked by an editor with relevant data skills.

Headlines or Search Engine Optimization

Our journalists and editors may use generative AI tools to generate headlines or copy to help our content appear more prominently in search engines. We will include enough facts in the prompt that the headline is based on our journalism, not other reporting.

Copyediting

Generative AI may be used as a tool to assist with copyediting tasks, such as identifying grammar issues, suggesting style improvements or rephrasing sentences for clarity. This includes the use of such tools as Grammarly.

Social Media Content

Generative AI tools can be used to summarize articles to create social media posts. For infographics, use the above disclosure. To avoid label fatigue, we will not require labels for social media posts that include AI-generated summaries, as long as a producer and editor review content, and link to this policy in Linktree or other resource list on social platforms. Audience teams should conduct regular content audits to ensure social copy and posts meet ethical guidelines, including those related to bias.

Visuals

The Cuestonian applies the same rigorous ethical standards to AI-generated visuals as to all forms of journalism. Because images shape perception instantly and powerfully, our use of generative AI in visual storytelling is governed by principles of truth, transparency and audience trust.

These guidelines apply to all AI-generated or AI-assisted visual materials, including illustrations, composites, animations and enhanced photographs. Every visual must serve a clear editorial purpose and uphold our responsibility to inform, not mislead.

AI-generated visuals may only be used when:

• They are essential to the audience’s understanding.
• The image is impossible or inappropriate to obtain through traditional means.
• Example: A story about Cuesta College’s prison program featured an AI image because images from within the prison are not allowed.

Humanity first: When a scene can be documented ethically and accurately by our journalists, human coverage is the preferred option.

Accuracy over aesthetics: AI photo enhancement tools (e.g., sharpening, lighting correction, denoising) must reflect reality, not dramatize or distort it. Edits that exaggerate emotion, alter mood or misrepresent the scene violate visual ethics. All enhancements must be disclosed internally and reviewed against the original.

Review and verification: Given the rise of AI generation tools for the public, editors and journalists must be vigilant about analyzing reader-submitted content. Media verification must rely on multiple methods, including metadata checks, source verification and AI-assisted forensics, and never on one tool alone. Verification decisions must be documented internally for future review and accountability.

No manipulation of real people or events: We do not use AI to create or alter depictions of real people or places unless clearly disclosed and editorially justified. This includes recreating faces, changing expressions, or adding or removing individuals from scenes. We will not use AI to simulate likenesses of staff or sources in news reporting.

Disclosure: AI-generated illustrations or composites must be clearly labeled. Captions should disclose the method and source of generation.

Product Development

The Cuestonian recognizes that AI-driven personalization and product tools shape how audiences discover, understand and engage with journalism. We treat these systems with the same ethical rigor we apply to our reporting: prioritizing transparency, fairness, human oversight and audience trust.

This section applies to all AI used in product design, including chatbots, recommendation engines, search assistants and personalization algorithms. All tools must serve the public interest, not just engagement metrics.

Human-in-the-loop: AI tools will be reviewed by staff and the faculty adviser during the development process.

Ongoing training: Regular training on AI tools and experiments will be available and, at times, even mandatory. This training will be delivered by the faculty adviser, staff and/or outside resources.

Environmental Impact

The Cuestonian acknowledges the energy demands associated with training and deploying large-scale AI systems. As part of our commitment to sustainable journalism, we recognize that responsible AI use includes minimizing our environmental footprint. We commit to prioritizing efficient tools, advocating transparency from vendors and AI companies and offsetting responsibly.

By adhering to these policies, The Cuestonian reaffirms its dedication to serving the Cuesta College community with responsible and high-quality journalism.

1. Mission and Editorial Independence

The Cuestonian is a student-run publication serving Cuesta College and the surrounding community. Advertising supports the publication financially but does not influence editorial content, news coverage or editorial decisions.

The Cuestonian reserves the right to refuse any advertisement at its sole discretion.

2. Verification Requirements

To ensure transparency and protect our student audience, all advertisers must provide:

• Full legal name of the individual or organization purchasing the ad
• Verifiable contact information, including phone number and email
• Physical business address or verifiable event location
• Website or publicly accessible social media presence, when applicable
• Proof of event legitimacy for event-based advertising (such as an official venue listing, ticketing page or public announcement)

The Cuestonian may request additional documentation if necessary. Advertisements lacking verifiable information will not be accepted.

3. Prohibited Advertising Categories

The Cuestonian does not accept advertisements that include:

• Political candidates, political parties, or ballot measures
• Political action committees or issue advocacy organizations
• Anonymous or unverifiable events
• Adult entertainment or sexually explicit content
• Illegal products or services
• Fraudulent, misleading, or deceptive claims
• Hate speech or discriminatory content
• Events or businesses that cannot provide a verifiable physical location

4. Event Advertising Standards

Event advertisements must include:

• Clear event title
• Date and time
• Physical location with address
• Sponsoring organization
• Publicly verifiable listing or ticketing information

The Cuestonian will not run advertisements for events that cannot be independently verified.

5. Right of Refusal

The Cuestonian reserves the right to reject any advertisement that conflicts with the college’s mission, raises safety concerns, lacks transparency, appears misleading or cannot be independently verified. Ad decisions are final.

6. Payment Policy

Payment must be received in full before publication unless otherwise agreed in writing.

7. Disclaimer

Acceptance of advertising does not imply endorsement by The Cuestonian or Cuesta College.