Collegian take-down policy

The staff at The Rocky Mountain Collegian works hard to report and tell stories in an ethical, timely and truthful manner. Sometimes we make mistakes, and those mistakes can have a negative impact on the lives of people we have reported on. This policy seeks to provide clear guidance for readers on how to seek the removal of coverage from Collegian.com. 

Our intent

We recognize the power that our journalism has to influence the lives and reputations of the sources we cover. We know that errors of fact, incomplete reporting, one-sided sourcing, vague descriptions and questionable framing can all lead to harm. We acknowledge that, while The Collegian has a long history of award-winning and important journalism, we’ve also published harmful content in the past, and that content is now more accessible than ever in the digital age. We also admit that we don’t always know why a story was pursued by previous staffs – as a student media organization, we experience a lot of turnover, and that means our collective institutional memory is short. Therefore, we ask that our audience be patient and understanding when reporting problems to us. In return, we promise to give your report a thorough review and an explanation as to why we are taking the actions we are taking.

Our process

Please fill out the form below. We’ll ask you to provide as many details as possible so that we may conduct a formal review. Unless the request is for a recent article, please assume we have no prior knowledge of the reporting behind the story and the decision to publish it. All content provided on this form is considered confidential and will not be used in future reporting projects without the written consent of the person who provided the material. 

Once we receive your report, the editor-in-chief, the student media adviser, the CEO and members of the Collegian management team will review your report and potentially reach out with followup questions or to request a meeting to better understand the details behind the initial story. Staff may also reach out to previous Collegian staff members, past sources, legal experts or others in order to corroborate claims and facts. 

The student media adviser and members of the Collegian management team will advise the editor in chief on how to handle the request, but per RMSMC bylaws, the decision on whether to change or take down a story lies with the editor-in-chief. If the editor-in-chief determines that a story should be taken down or changed, the editor-in-chief reserves the right to provide transparency in their decision through an editor’s note or a separate editorial explaining the decision. In some cases, the editor-in-chief may determine that the best course of action to prevent re-harming individuals is to remove stories quietly. Our intent with this clause is to protect sources from being re-traumatized and not to be used as cover for hiding embarrassing mistakes. Part of maintaining public trust is being able to admit when we’re wrong, and The Collegian will practice transparency except in circumstances where further harm could occur.