In order to establish a framework to encourage the creation of regional newspapers, I propose the Media Establishment Bill, to be known as the Media Establishment Act upon passage.
Media Establishment Bill
[1] Title
(a) This document will be officially titled the “Media Establishment Act”
[2] Establishing the Media
(a) A section of the forums named “The Media Quarter” shall be created for the specific purpose of housing media.
(b) “The Media Quarter” shall be contained within a category named “The Square” positioned below “Government Hill”
(c) A topic shall be created within “The Media Quarter” titled “Newspaper Establishment Applications”
(d) Upon acceptance of a Newspaper Establishment Application, the Valus shall create the necessary subforums within “The Media Quarter”
[3] Newspaper Applications
(a) Successful applications to establish a newspaper must include:
i. Full name of the newspaper
ii. All involved individuals at that time
iii. Desired subforum layout
iv. Desired subforum description text
v. An express agreement to abide by press regulations
(b) Applications are to be reviewed by the Archon, and if successful, referred to the Valus for creation.
i. The Archon may delegate this task to the Legatus.
ii. All pending applications should be reviewed within three (3) days as a target.
(c) Unsuccessful applications must be given:
i. The reason for rejection
ii. A right to appeal within three (3) days of notice being given.
(d) Appeals of unsuccessful applications are to be overseen by the Valus.
i. If the Valus finds themselves facing a conflict of interest, they must give way to the Optus.
ii. Should the Optus find themselves facing a conflict of interest, they must give way to a joint oversight by a Val, and a Legatus, or a Bracus, in the event that either party faces a conflict of interest.
iii. As a final resort, any Praetor may oversee the appeal.
iv. In the event that all parties named above find themselves incapable of carrying out the appeals process, the appeal shall be considered failed and the application closed in its entirety.
v. A conflict of interest is to be defined as a direct interest in the establishment of the newspaper, exhibited as:
i. Being listed as an active part of the appealed application,
ii. Having previously voiced support or an objection for the application in question,
iii. Being in any other way seen as favouring or viewing the application negatively prior to taking over the appeals process.
[4] Press Regulation
(a)All newspapers shall be required to abide by a series of regulations to ensure high standards and the avoidance of gross offence.
(b) The standards that all newspapers shall be held to are as follows:
i. Fair Coverage – Newspapers shall give fair coverage on all matters, while bias is unavoidable, newspapers should avoid reporting just one side of any story or attempting to manipulate stories for an agenda.
ii. Freedom from Misinformation – Newspapers shall strive to ensure that all information published is correct and presented in a way so as to not mislead the reader.
iii. Source Protection – Newspapers shall be forbidden from outing their sources without permission, with exceptions for matters of regional security upon request of either the Triumvirs, or all three Praetors.
(c) Violation of any of the Press Regulations is grounds for the offending newspaper to be shut down.
i. A violation must first be reported to the Archon, who will review the evidence provided and decide whether the regulations have been breached.
ii. Should the Archon find wrongdoing, they must make a submission to the Court of Elysiana to have the offending newspaper struck off.
iii. Should the Court of Elysiana concur with the Archon that a breach has occurred, the case shall be referred to the Valus, and the newspaper dissolved with immediate effect.
iv. The Valus should strive to archive all published media and provide copies to any involved party in the offending newspaper before dissolving the subforum.
(d) Newspapers facing closure may appeal directly to the Court of Elysiana at any point in the process, and up to seven (7) days after closure.
i. A failed appeal before the Archon sends their findings to the Court shall render the rest of the process moot and lead to the immediate suspension of the newspaper as per (c) iii.
[5] Media across Regional Platforms
(a) A new channel shall be created in the regional Discord under the “Region Channels” category named “Media Updates”
i. All newspapers shall be granted the right to publish papers within the channel,
ii. The right shall be conferred upon a publisher designated by the newspaper, who shall then be given the role “Publisher” allowing them to send messages within the channel,
iii. The “Media Updates” channel shall be subjected to slow mode, limiting messages to every one (1) hour,
iv. “Media Updates” is to be used purely for the sharing of newspapers, any discussions are to take place in other channels,
v. The Valus shall be empowered to remove any messages not specifically sharing a newspaper in “Media Updates”
(b) The sharing of newspapers on the Regional Message Board is permitted.
i. Newspapers must ensure they do not overwhelm the RMB with posts,
ii. Newspapers should refrain from publishing multiple articles in rapid succession in separate posts.
(c) The sharing of newspapers on the forums is to take place within that newspapers subforum.
i. Newspapers may petition the Valus to change their subforum layout at any time.