About

Cannon Falls is a community of 4,000 located in rural southeast Minnesota. Cannon Falls High School consists of grades 9-12, and the Middle School is composed of grades 6-8, with both schools residing in a shared building.

Our goal at The Lantern is to provide a source of information to the Cannon Falls Schools Community: students, parents, and teachers alike. We seek to provide a forum for student expression whilst simultaneously reporting on important events in and around CFHS. The content in this paper is intended to represent all areas of student interest and will be continuously published despite school shutdowns and other circumstances.

The Lantern in the 2023-2024 school year has a 15-member editorial staff and 26 other staff members. Both editors and staff members produce content for The Lantern.

Lantern content reflects the views of students and not the officials of Cannon Falls Schools. Because there is no prior review at CFHS, the Lantern staff and editors assume complete legal and financial liability for its content.

Our board of editors is entirely composed of student Lantern members who have proven themselves to be strong writers, effective communicators, and dedicated journalists.

Student editors make all decisions pertaining to coverage of local events.
Decisions are made only after receiving equal input from everyone on the editorial board.
For student editors who are dismissed from the board, the advisor and serving board members will collectively elect a replacement.
Editorial board members are all aware of the duties and jobs associated with being a staff editor and are also privy to the consequences of not fulfilling their role.
In situations requiring legal advice from an outside source in relation to site content, the editor and staff seeking help will address attorneys specializing in media law. Regardless of the outcome, final decisions about content remain in the hands of student editors.
Two co-EICs (Editors-in-chief) will be elected each year to oversee written content and one EIC will be chosen to coordinate graphic content. The two will work together to both interpret and enforce the aforementioned editorial policies.

Editorials and other opinion pieces will be written and published with the following considerations in mind.

Publishing opinionated content will occur under the dictation of the editorial board.
The content of all editorials will be both reviewed and revised by the editorial board as needed.
Editorials containing material entirely lacking in evidence or designed for inappropriate use, such as personal gain, will not be published.
The opportunity for comments on multiple perspectives of the same issue will be provided.
Creating and publishing unsigned editorials will be a process reviewed and mediated by the editorial board.

The Lantern’s advisor will follow a distinct set of regulations.

They will provide a learning atmosphere for staff members that is both professional and journalistic.
Students will have the final say in the publishing of all written and visual content
Although having no power regarding censorship, the advisor may serve as a consultant for legal matters.
In situations involving media rating services and contests, the advisor will be the one to both submit and receive feedback on student content.
Working with administration and faculty to make sure that all those involved remain fully informed will be the role of the advisor.
The advisor will adhere to the Code of Ethics for Advisers established by the Journalism Education Association.
Any discipline stemming from content published by student staff can not be directed at the advisor.

CFHS administration is not required to view and approve publication content before publishing.