Publication date: 24 June 2025.
Disclaimer: The translation below is provided solely as a service to international readers. This translation has not been officially approved by the Executive Board and therefore does not have the same legal status as the Dutch original.
Delta Editorial Statutes
The Executive Board of the Technical University of Delft has established the Editorial Statutes for Delta, the independent journalistic platform of the Technical University of Delft.
Article 1 – General
1.1
Delta is the digital journalistic platform of the Technical University of Delft (TU Delft). Delta operates independently which means that the platform has no commercial interests and operates without any influence of other parties in line with the work processes and role divisions as described in these Editorial Statutes.
1.2
The objectives and the independent position of Delta are regulated in these Statutes, as are the responsibilities, authorities and rights of Delta and other involved parties.
1.3
Delta’s Editorial Office is also responsible for producing Delft Matters, TU Delft’s alumni magazine. These Editorial Statutes are not applicable to Delft Matters. Delft Matters is subject to the Delft Matters Household Regulations.
Article 2 – Goal setting
2.1
The objective of the Editorial Office is to provide its readers news and background information about events and developments that are relevant for employees, students at TU Delft and other interested individuals in a journalistic and independent fashion.
2.2
The Editorial Office ensures that Delta also acts as a platform for different opinions and debates for the university community at TU Delft. The opinions of third parties that are expressed in Delta are not necessarily those of the Editorial Office.
Article 3 – Organisation
3.1
TU Delft is the publisher of Delta. In this role, TU Delft may choose to be represented by the Director of Marketing and Communications. The publisher facilitates the Editorial Office in carrying out its tasks and in disseminating the publication publicly.
3.2
The daily management and direction of the Editorial Office rests with the Editor in Chief of Delta. The publisher does not exert any influence on the editorial activities and the content of Delta.
3.3
On behalf of TU Delft, the Editorial Board ensures and evaluates the journalistic actions of the Editorial Office. The Editorial Board also acts as a sounding board for the Editor in Chief regarding the execution of the journalistic tasks.
3.4
The Editor in Chief discusses the editorial process with the publisher as often as both parties deem necessary, and at least once a year. The Editor in Chief submits an operations budget to the publisher every year before summer. This budget is earmarked as part of the budget of the Communications Department at TU Delft. The Editorial Board assesses whether the amount in the budget safeguards the independence of the Editorial Office.
3.5
Delta’s website is public, so is not only available to the TU Delft community, but is also available for any interested persons outside TU Delft. This includes alumni, companies, other knowledge institutions, and those interested in higher education.
3.6
Use of articles by anyone outside the Editorial Office is only permitted if unchanged, the source is stated, and permission is obtained from the Editor in Chief.
Article 4 – Editorial and journalistic starting points
4.1
The Delta Editorial Office works according to journalism standards. This means applying the principles of journalistic responsibility, verifying sources and facts, and applying the adversarial principle. It sees it as its duty to ensure accurately represented and balanced news on everything that concerns TU Delft. In doing so the Editorial Office bases its work on the highest quality standards. These are the Leidraad van de Raad voor de Journalistiek (Council for Journalism guidelines) and the Global Charter of Ethics for Journalists of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
4.2
TU Delft protects the independent position of Delta and the members of the Editorial Office. TU Delft encourages, where possible and within the boundaries of the law (Open Government Act), open cooperation and information provision by the Board and management, faculties, representation bodies, and TU Delft services, in the belief that this enhances the quality of the journalistic activities and is thus in the interest of the university community at TU Delft. Apart from this, the Editorial Office is free to find its own sources of information.
4.3
The Editorial Office regularly asks readers to share their experiences with and perceptions of Delta. The information thus obtained is, where relevant, used to inform its policy and is shared with the Editorial Board and the Executive Board. To that end the Editorial Office meets with the Editorial Board.
Article 5 – Opinions
5.1
Delta is tasked with encouraging debate at TU Delft. To do this, Delta publishes columns, opinion pieces and editorials.
5.2
Delta is open to well written and argued submitted letters. In principle Delta does not publish anonymous letters unless there are strong reasons to do so. The Editorial Office retains the right to not publish submitted letters.
5.3
Writers of opinion pieces are required to adhere to the basic principles of factual accuracy and verifiability. The Editorial Office has the authority to not publish opinion pieces or columns if it deems the tone or language use as offensive. The Editorial Office can draw on TU Delft’s Code of Conduct as one of the assessment tools.
Article 6 – Editorial Board
6.1
The Editorial Board is accountable to TU Delft and makes its minutes available to the Director of Communications.
6.2
The Editorial Board consists of nine members. This could comprise members of staff, both support staff as well as academic staff, students and experienced journalists from outside TU Delft. The Chair is an experienced journalist from outside TU Delft. At least 51% of the Editorial Board consists of diverse staff members and students at TU Delft.
6.3
The Executive Board appoints the Chair of the Editorial Board on the recommendation of the Editor in Chief and other members of the Editorial Board. The Chair appoints the new members of the Editorial Board upon consultation with the other members of the Editorial Board and the Editor in Chief.
6.4
The term of service for members is four years. The members may be reelected once.
6.5
The Editorial Board meets at least three times a year. Given their task and responsibility, and depending on the subject to be discussed, the Director of Marketing and Communications may be invited to a meeting.
The Editor in Chief provides official support to the Board.
Article 7 – The Editorial Office
7.1
The members of the Editorial Office are employees of TU Delft. The Editorial Office consists of at least an Editor in Chief, Managing Editors, academic journalists and general journalists. Apart from this, staff members and student assistants may serve on a freelance basis. The Marketing and Communications Department provides secretarial support to the Editorial Office.
7.2
The everyday responsibility for the content and management of the journalistic platform rests with the Editor in Chief. The Editor in Chief manages the Editorial Office and is responsible for the content of the published information.
The Editor in Chief is accountable to the Editorial Board in complying with these Editorial Statutes.
7.3
To strengthen bonds with TU Delft, the Editorial Office strives to work with freelance staff from the TU Delft community, particularly students.
7.4
The Editor in Chief is appointed or dismissed by the Director of Marketing and Communications after approval from the Editorial Board. The Editor in Chief’s performance evaluation is done by the Director of Marketing and Communications (for management matters) and the Chair of the Editorial Board (for content). To this end, the three parties meet for a performance evaluation every year.
7.5
Should the Editor in Chief be absent, if necessary a replacement is covered or found by the Editorial Board in consultation with the Director of Marketing and Communications.
7.6
In the case of the appointment, performance evaluation or dismissal of Editorial Office members, the Editor in Chief acts as the official supervisor. Any decisions regarding this are taken by the Director of Marketing and Communications on the recommendation of the Editor in Chief.
7.7
In cases of conflict between members of the Editorial Office and the Editor in Chief, Editorial Office members can approach the Editorial Board. They are of course also free to involve an Ombudsperson and/or Confidential Advisor, or use the regular support system and the help desk at TU Delft.
Article 8 – Complaints and appeals
8.1
Complaints about the content of publications are seriously reviewed by the Editorial Office. Readers should first discuss their complaints with the responsible editor. Should this not lead to the desired outcome, readers can contact the Editor in Chief. Should readers be of the opinion that the Editor in Chief has not addressed their objections satisfactorily, they can approach the Editorial Board. The Board checks any well-founded complaints against the Editorial Statutes. Should they not believe that the Editorial Board has dealt with their complaint adequately, the complainant may approach the Council for Journalism or the civil court.
8.2
The Editorial Board is required to rectify any factual inaccuracies. In the case of major substantive corrections, the Editorial Office ensures that a brief note of the changes made are included below the edited article.
Article 9 – Final provisions
9.1
These Editorial Statutes replace any previous Editorial Statutes. They take effect on the day of publication, as established by the Executive Board.
9.2
Any changes made to these Statues are suggested by the Editor in Chief, in consultation with the Editorial Board. The changes are then established by the Executive Board.
