Censorship.

It's a hot word to throw around, whether you're being accused of it or the person doing the accusing.

The Tribune has long been a subject of those accusations because we solicit contributions from the community on our Viewpoints pages. If we don't publish a submission, or edit the ones we do, the accusations fly in.

But this is not censorship, according to Mike Hiestand, attorney and legal consultant to the Student Press Law Center.

It is only censorship when the decision to omit something from publication is made by someone outside the newsroom, Hiestand said. And intent is key.

"When the only intent is to prevent others from seeing something or reading a particular point of view, that's censorship," Hiestand said.

When people inside the newsroom make decisions regarding a piece's length, grammar, spelling, style, timeliness and relevance, it is called editing, Hiestand said.

Since taking the role of editorial page editor in mid-September, John Heiderscheidt, a College of Communication junior, said he has heard several complaints from students regarding the Tribune's Viewpoint policy. Some have confused his editing role with that of a censoring role.

The policy runs at the bottom of the Viewpoints page and states what students may expect upon submitting a Viewpoint.

The policy's opening sentence states: "The Marquette Tribune prints guest submissions at its discretion." Where does this right come from?

"Something that a lot of readers don't understand is that legally, a publication is responsible for everything they put inside their print newspaper," Hiestand said.

Part of an editor's job is to ensure content not include anything unlawful or blatantly false, Hiestand said. This is just as true for Viewpoints as it is for news articles.

The policy requires that Viewpoints be 550 words or less so that we may publish as many submissions as possible.

For word count, the Tribune may eliminate information that is not relevant to the main point of a Viewpoint, Heiderscheidt said.

"I would never alter the theme of a Viewpoint," Heiderscheidt said.

If there is not enough space in a particular issue of the Tribune, Heiderscheidt said he will publish the Viewpoints that are most timely and relevant to the Marquette community. The remaining Viewpoints may run at a later date.

In keeping with the rest of the paper's content, we edit for spelling and grammar.

Hiestand said most editors feel an obligation to make sure varied points of view are heard. This is why the Tribune requires four weeks to pass before a Viewpoints author may make another submission — to ensure that each and every voice can be heard.

Heiderscheidt said he aims to fulfill this obligation.

"It's really an issue of fairness to the rest of the community," Heiderscheidt said.

Jackie Palank is the managing editor of The Marquette Tribune. She can be reached at (414) 288-5160. The Newsroom Insider runs every other Tuesday.