We expect partners to publish our students’ completed, edited work in full, except for grammatical or style changes or contextual additions. When republishing Institute for Local News (ILN) content, you must insert the line of code at the bottom of the text to the right.
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If the story clearly communicates the subject matter and its focus reflects the student’s reporting, large structural changes should be avoided;
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If a story has holes or other needs, the partner editor should communicate with the ILN editor and intern to add the information;
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Large-scale rewrites, or changes that render the copy unrecognizable as the student’s, should always be avoided;
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For intern work deemed unsatisfactory, the partner editor should communicate with the ILN editor and the intern;
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If the work of a ILN intern is to be wrapped into another article, the partner editor should communicate with the ILN editor and intern before doing so. We would expect either a double byline or a reporting credit;
General republishing
Work by Institute for Local News students is published on our website and available for republishing by anyone, regardless of partner status:
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Make sure the reporter has a byline and make clear the work is from Community News Service. Most news outlets use this format: John Smith | Institute for Local News;
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Please include this note at the top of the story: “[Student Name] reported this story on assignment from [Outlet Name]. The Institute for Local News is a project of the State University of New York, a 64-campus comprehensive education system committed to high impact learning experiences and addressing present day challenges, including the crisis in local news.” If a story has only the latter sentence in the note, that’s the only note needed;
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If an outlet republishes an article from the ILN site but was not involved in producing the story, the note should include: “[OUTLET] was not involved in the reporting or editing of this story”;
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If an outlet plans to incorporate work from ILN into its own story, it should credit the ILN reporter, either with a double byline or a contributor line, whichever is most appropriate.
PSTV’s Cody Walke hosts sheriff’s candidate
by todd franko, Institute for Local News
October 26, 2026
