Mission Statement for the Magic Word Newspaper As a student publication of West Warwick High School, the Magic Word's mission is to be a fair, balanced, objective newspaper with high ethical standards. According to the West Warwick School Department policy handbook V.B.6, "the school committee recognizes the students' constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression." By accepting the inherent responsibilities afforded to The Magic Word, its student editors will adhere to the following guidelines: •The newspaper will respect the West Warwick Public Schools community by following professional journalistic guidelines. •The Magic Word staff will strive not to publish the following examples of unprotected material: libel, obscenity, disruptions of the school process, invasions of privacy, and infringements of copyright and electronically manipulated photographs which alter the truth of the image. •After publishing an issue, the editors will correct or retract any errors in the next issue of the Magic Word. •The Magic Word accepts letters to the editor and guest columns. Letters can be e-mailed to wwmagicword@gmail.com, left in the orange Magic Word box in the WWHS cafeteria, or handed to one of the staff members. Letters must be no more than 300 words, clearly signed by the writer, and must not contain profane, libelous, or sexually suggestive material. Letters will be edited for grammatical correctness. Letters that do not follow the guidelines will be sent back to the writer for resubmission. The deadline for letters to the editor will be two weeks before the next publication date. Any letters submitted after the deadline will be considered for the next issue, if they are still relevant. •The Magic Word editorial staff reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising. •The Magic Word may cover student, faculty, or alumnus deaths. It is our policy to respect the family of the deceased when deciding whether or not to cover a death. When appropriate, the staff will create a single page special issue of the Magic Word as a memorial to the person.