editor's independnce

[wwdslovene]

I seem to recall that the Editor of a society's monthly publication acts independently. He/she should be free of interference from he President of the organization who make try  making "suggestions", corrections or approving what material may or may not be included. Does my memory serve me well?

[Chris Harrison]

RONR doesn't address your question.

[Hieu H. Huynh]

51 minutes ago, wwdslovene said:

I seem to recall that the Editor of a society's monthly publication acts independently. He/she should be free of interference from he President of the organization who make try  making "suggestions", corrections or approving what material may or may not be included. Does my memory serve me well?

Such a requirement would have to be found in your rules.

[Josh Martin]

4 hours ago, wwdslovene said:

I seem to recall that the Editor of a society's monthly publication acts independently.

I don't know what you recall this from, but it isn't from anything in RONR.

4 hours ago, wwdslovene said:

He/she should be free of interference from he President of the organization who make try  making "suggestions", corrections or approving what material may or may not be included. Does my memory serve me well?

It would seem to me that the general question of whether an editor should have "independence" or be "free of interference" is a journalistic question, not a parliamentary one. Nothing in RONR grants an Editor "independence."

With that said, it is also the case that nothing in RONR grants the President authority over the Editor (or anyone else). Nothing prevents the President from making suggestions, but he has no authority to make corrections or approve what material may or may not be included unless the organization's rules so provide. The society itself (and possibly also the board), however, would have such authority.

"All of the duties of the presiding officer described above relate to the function of presiding over the assembly at its meetings. In addition, in many organized societies, the president has duties as an administrative or executive officer; but these are outside the scope of parliamentary law, and the president has such authority only insofar as the bylaws provide it." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 456)

If this conflict between the President and the Editor is becoming a problem, it would seem prudent for the Editor to report this matter to the board and/or the society and ask them to adopt rules to clarify this issue.

Edited June 4, 2020 at 10:31 PM by Josh Martin