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Proudly serving the Kern River Valley in California
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The Kern Valley Sun is committed to serving the Kern River Valley with accurate, fair and equitable local journalism. The Kern Valley Sun staff and ownership share the responsibility for maintaining the newspaper’s credibility and the trust of the readers. Our ethos is to deliver accurate news to the Kern River Valley and provide our readership with information they can trust while treating the people and organizations we cover with fairness and respect.
The Kern Valley Sun strives to confirm names, dates, titles, quotes, statistics and other facts before publication. We understand and strive to make a difference between verified facts, allegations, estimations, and opinions.
People and/or organizations criticized in a story will be given a reasonable chance to respond. Headlines, captions, photographs, and social media posts must reflect the facts of the story, without exaggerating or misleading the readership.
Breaking news can change quickly. Stories may be updated as new information becomes available, and important changes will be clearly noted.
News reporting decisions are made independently from advertisers, political groups, government agencies, businesses, and other outside entities and interests.
Buying advertising does not guarantee coverage, and choosing not to advertise will not result in unfavorable or negative coverage.
Staff members must operate within the moral guidelines of equitable journalism and must be impartial to personal or financial gain and adhere to an acumen that is ethically sound. Gifts, kickbacks, and special treatment used to influence coverage must not be accepted.
Sources must be identified when possible and treated with respect. Anonymous sources may be used only when the information is important, the source has firsthand knowledge, and there is a legitimate reason that the source cannot be mentioned by name.
Sources are the backbone of journalism, and the Kern Valley Sun adheres to an empathetic and respectful approach to our dealings with sources, while striving to minimize harm.
Quotes must accurately reflect what a person said. Minor edits may be made to remove redundant wording or improve clarity, while never altering the speaker’s meaning.
The Kern Valley Sun balances the public’s right to know with the discretion and respect of the individuals involved, especially children, grieving families, crime victims, and those involved in medical emergencies and/or traumatic events. We strive to have integrity in our reporting.
Anyone arrested or charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Stories must clearly separate allegations, arrests, charges, convictions, and sentences.
Scanner traffic, eyewitness accounts, and social media posts may guide reporters to identify a developing story; but they should not be treated as confirmed until proper verification has been completed.
Photographs and Artificial Intelligence
Photos may be cropped, adjusted for aesthetics, and clarity. They should never be altered in a way that changes what happened or misleads readers.
Photo illustrations, composites, and artificial intelligence (AI) generated images must be clearly labeled.
AI tools may be used to assist with transcription, organization, grammar, formatting, research, or visual work. However, every item published by the Kern Valley Sun must be proofed by a person for accuracy. AI-produced information must be checked and verified as accurate, and AI should never be treated as a source. AI is a tool, not a solution.
News stories must be authentic and should remain separate from editorial, columns, letters to the editor, guest commentaries, and sponsored content. Opinion and paid content will be clearly labeled.
The Kern Valley Sun does not tolerate plagiarism, fabricated facts, invented quotes, altered records, or the deliberate misrepresentation of information. Serious violations may lead to correction, retraction, or disciplinary action.
The Kern Valley Sun is a news reporting agency that is focused on truthful information, not conjecture or false narratives. We will strive to be accurate in our reporting.
Readers, organizations, and members of the public are encouraged to contact the Kern Valley Sun when they believe something is wrong or incorrect. Correction requests should identify the article, explain the disputed information, and include supporting documents when available.
Small spelling, punctuation, and/or formatting errors may be fixed without a formal notice when they do not change the meaning of the story.
Factual errors must be corrected as quickly as possible. Online stories will include a note explaining what was incorrect and what was corrected and/or changed.
A clarification may be added when information is officially correct but is incomplete or confusing. An editor’s note could be used when a larger explanation is needed.
Retractions are reserved for rare cases in which the point of a story is found to be false or unsupported.
Major issues in the print edition will be corrected in the future as soon as practical.
Precise accuracy is our goal. And accurate stories will not be removed from the newspaper’s archives. When suitable, stories may be updated to reflect new developments, the outcome of a court case or investigation.