Letters and commentary can enhance pubic forum role QT40
Publishing letters to the editor is another way of fulfilling student media’s forum obligations to engage audiences through journalistic responsibility.
That said, students should establish clear criteria for identifying the authors, receiving and verifying the information. Such viewpoint neutral guidelines do not violate the author’s free expression rights.
Letters to the Editor are opportunities for your community to have a voice on the pages students host. They allow community members to interact with your staff and your readers by responding to stories students have written, topics covered, or issues in the school or their world concerning them.
Guideline:
Student media should accept letters to the editor or online comments from outside the staff to solidify their status as a designated public forum where students make all final decisions of content. This allows their audience to use their voices as well. Staff should reserve the right to ask the writer to edit for grammar, length and clarity instead of editing letters for them.
Stance:
Student media should welcome letters to the editor or commentaries as ways to engage your readers and diversify the published content.
Reasoning/suggestions:
Letters to the Editor are opportunities for your community to have a voice on the pages you host. They are usually 250 words or fewer and allow community members to interact with your staff and your readers by responding to stories you’ve written, topics you have covered, or issues in the school or their world that concern them.
Your guidelines should clearly spell out your process for accepting letters to the editor, and the editors still must maintain editorial control. Editorial control does not mean student editors do not publish something with which you disagree. In fact, students should use this opportunity to welcome differing viewpoints and voices. Making sure you have viewpoint-agnostic guidelines will help to ensure your staff makes well-informed ethical decisions regarding content.
Staff should reserve the right to ask the writer to edit for grammar, length and clarity instead of editing letters for them. Letting the authors make changes keeps the public forum status intact.
Other considerations:
- A student editor must know the name of the author, and verify the response, even if the letter is published “name withheld by request.” False names or nicknames should not be published.
- Each letter should be no longer than 250 words.
- The source of emailed letters should be verified prior to publication.
- Student staffs should strive to publish all letters received as part of the forum process.
- Student staffs should develop a policy concerning staff member comments or letters to the editor. Such staffers have other avenues to express their opinions in their media, and this is not a common practice for commercial media.
Resources:
Star Tribune’s editorial pages
Letters to the Editor Policies
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Accepting guest commentaries
enhances forum role QT 39
Accepting guest commentaries, offered randomly, reinforces student media’s role as a public forum for student expression.
This would not include the creation of stranding guest columns for administrations, faculty or other school or city officials.
Students should develop guidelines for accepting guest commentaries following the same legal and ethical guides they follow.
Guideline:
Guest commentaries are accepted at the discretion of the editors provided the writer abides by the same legal and ethical guidelines as the staff, does not overuse the privilege and does not exceed 500 words. Guest commentaries should not be from publications staff. Students have the final say on which commentary they will accept.
Social media post/question: What do we say when someone wants to submit a guest commentary?
Stance: Guest commentaries show up in professional newspapers all the time, and they are a fantastic way to engage the community. You should welcome hosting guest commentaries on your pages with the caveat that the editors still get to maintain editorial control.
Reasoning/suggestions:
Guest commentaries are opportunities for your community to have a voice on the pages you host. They are usually done in an extended opinion form of between 250-500 words.
Your guidelines must clearly spell out your procedures for accepting guest commentaries, and the editors still must maintain editorial control. Editorial control does not mean only including opinions with which you agree. In fact, you should use this opportunity to welcome differing viewpoints and voices. Making sure you have viewpoint agnostic guidelines will help to ensure you maintain some control of your content.
Resources:
Star Tribune Commentary Guidelines
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When sources don’t respond QT35
Guideline:
The publication staff will provide every reasonable opportunity for sources to respond to a request for an interview. Students must first attempt to contact the source in person or through an administrative assistant. If the person is not available, they should attempt calling and leaving a message with a request for an in-person interview. If, after 24 hours, the source does not respond to the telephone call, staffers should send an email requesting an in-person interview with a clear deadline by which the staffer will include the line “the source did not respond to an interview request.”
Social media post/question:
What to do when a source does not respond?
Stance:
Publication staffs must make all reasonable attempts to secure an interview, and if they cannot get a response from a source, they must develop their credibility and show the reader they made an attempt to interview a source, but the source did not respond.
Key Points:
An easy way to stop or stall a story is to make sure the students never get an interview with the people who have the information. It’s easy for a source to ignore a request for an interview. What is your responsibility as a publication when reasonable attempts are made to secure an interview, but the source does not respond?
Reasoning/suggestions:
To maintain credibility with their readers and/or to show balance, publication staffers must show they followed proper procedures to offer right of response or to obtain pertinent information for a story. When a story goes out with important sources who have been omitted, readers have a right to question the veracity or intent of the story. Always let your readers know who you contacted for the story even if they ignored or rejected your request for an interview.
Read MoreEthical photo editing, visuals QT31
Guideline: Student media should avoid electronic manipulation that alters the truth of a photograph unless it is used as art. In that case it should be clearly labeled as a photo illustration.
Social Media Post: Filters are fun on social media, but are they journalistic? How do you know when editing crosses the line to unethical manipulation?
Reasoning/suggestions:
Photojournalism is still journalism, which means visual images should reflect the truth as accurately as other forms of reporting. Just as journalists shouldn’t manipulate a quote because it will “make the story sound better,” they also shouldn’t manipulate a photograph beyond basic editing that maintains the journalistic truth of the ima
Here are some tips to ensure you are being truthful visually:
- Edit digital photographs minimally; limit changes to basic cropping (without removing important context), adjusting brightness or contrast, and minor color adjustments.
- Do not flip images or edit out elements of the photo.
- Avoid staging photographs and passing them off as candid shots; this is similar to asking someone to say something for a quote you need rather than gathering candid quotes.
- Clearly label manipulated images used as art (filters, colorized images, etc.) as photo illustrations and use these sparingly to maintain the journalistic credibility of your publication.
Resources:
Visual ethics guidelines, Principal’s Guide to Scholastic Journalism
Visual Journalism, NPR Code of Ethics
Posing Questions of Photographic Ethics, James Estrin, New York Times
Lesson: A Picture Never Lies, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: When Journalists Err Ethically, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: Pushing Photo Editing Boundaries, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: With Freedom of the Press Comes Great Responsibility, Journalism Education Association
SPJ Code of Ethics, Society of Professional Journalists
NPPA Code of Ethics, National Press Photographers Association
Photojournalism ethics needs a reexamination, The Poynter Institute
Visual ethical guidelines join online, yearbook ethics, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee
Audio: Using Images from Social Media, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee Press Rights Minute
Audio: Ethics in Editing News Photos, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee. Press Rights Minute
Blog – by Kristin Taylor
A reporter working on a story pauses from her transcription. “Hm,” she thinks. “This is a good quote, but my source could have said it so much better. I’ll just change it around and add a bit …”
By this point, responsible student journalists and their advisers are horrified. Of course you can’t change a source’s quote! Our job is to seek truth and report it, not to create fiction.
Yet those same students may have a harder time understanding why photo manipulation is just as problematic. In a time where social media platforms include an array of pre-made filters and changing a picture is as easy as swiping left or right, student journalists may need a reminder about the difference between ethical photo editing and unethical manipulation.
Photojournalism is still journalism, which means visual images should reflect the truth as accurately as other forms of reporting. Just as journalists shouldn’t manipulate a quote because it will “make the story sound better,” they also shouldn’t manipulate a photograph beyond basic editing that maintains the journalistic truth of the image.
Students wondering about the consequences of faking photographs professionally might benefit from reading cautionary tales about people such as Brian Walski, Souvid Datta or Narciso Contreras — these once respected photojournalists lost jobs, reputation or even awards as a result of their photo manipulation.
Here are some tips to ensure student journalists are being truthful visually:
- Edit digital photographs minimally; limit changes to basic cropping (without removing important context), adjusting brightness or contrast, and minor color adjustments.
- Do not flip images or edit out elements of the photo.
- Avoid staging photographs and passing them off as candid shots; this is similar to asking someone to say something for a quote you need rather than gathering candid quotes.
- Clearly label manipulated images used as art (filters, colorized images, etc.) as photo illustrations and use these sparingly to maintain the journalistic credibility of your publication.
Journalism is about seeking truth, and visual truth is just as important as written.
Read MoreEthical guidelines for monitoring yearbook coverage QT29
Arguably, the two biggest complaints most yearbook staffs hear are that a wide cross section of the school is not covered adequately, and quotes are not represented accurately. These are tough criticisms to hear, but staffs must consider the potential criticism while they create the book.
Putting the yearbook together is hard work, but the yearbook staff must avoid every temptation to cut corners and only take pictures of their friends, the first person they see in the hallway or the most high profile athlete, musician or student. Develop a system with a live index so you can track in real time how many times each individual has been in the yearbook and seek out underrepresented students and avoid over represented students.
Create an ethical guideline for how many times is too many times to be in the yearbook and find ways to target students who are underrepresented for your topical ro feature coverage. For example, when you ask a question for a sidebar in your sophomore section portraits, use that as an opportunity to find an underrepresented student. When you are covering the science experiment, take pictures of the student who is not the student government president.
When you gather quotes for these elements of the book, have students write them down and hand them to you on a piece of paper so that you can ensure accuracy. These quotes could then be archived with the other quotes for the page. This way you can ensure that the answer they give you is the answer that shows up in the yearbook.
Guideline:
The yearbook will ensure that each student can see himself or herself represented in the publication in a fair, equitable and accurate manner.
Social media post/question:
What are your ethical guidelines for choosing subjects for the yearbook?
Stance:
Work with your staff early to develop goals and guidelines for the year to help you ensure accurate and equitable coverage.
Reasoning/suggestions:
Putting the yearbook together is hard work, but the yearbook staff must avoid every temptation to cut corners and only take pictures of their friends, the first person they see in the hallway or the most high profile athlete, musician or student.
Students are the consumers of the book, and yearbook staffs are producing an historical document, which must include an accurate and complete picture of the student body for that year, regardless of who buys the book. Staffs must work early to establish their ethical guidelines for how they choose coverage, how they monitor who has been included and how they decide which students get selected for coverage.
Resources: Yearbook ethics guidelines, SPRC
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Journalistic integrity guides student media QT28
As scholastic media advisers and students develop policies and guidelines to guide them with journalism standards, they should note these words: The only thing students have to lose as journalists is their credibility.
HL Hall, former JEA president, would tell ASNE High School Institute advisers this over a 14-year span. He would pair it with ethics, thorough reporting and leadership guidelines.
Credibility, ethics and practices boil down to one word, integrity.
Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility, The Radio Television Digital News Association states. Other media groups agree.
Students and advisers should anchor their mission statements, editorial policy, ethical guidelines and staff manual procedures within a framework that starts with integrity.
Quick Tips: Journalistic integrity guides journalism students and their media
Question: Why should scholastic media should frame their brands and practices with journalistic integrity?
Key points/action Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility states the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). The Society of Professional Journalists says it a little differently, “An ethical journalist acts with integrity.”
Both organizations would say in having integrity is basic to good journalism no matter how it is delivered.
Stance: The RTDNA and the SPJ both include the concept of media and individual integrity in their ethics guidelines and media practices.
So should scholastic news media.
Reasoning/suggestions:
Some traits and practices essential to developing integrity are the following:
- Create ethical guidelines and their practices to establish standards
- Operate to maintain the public trust
- Commit to accuracy in pursuit of journalistic activities
- Verify before publishing information
- Check source and information credibility
- Seek the truth
- Develop and practice superior methods of investigation, transparent to all involved
- Maintain independent and respectful relationships with sources, businesses and citizens
Ensure mission statement, editorial policy, ethical guidelines and staff manual practices include integrity built upon these concepts. Being transparent when integrity is compromised is also important as it shows how well students apply its principles.
Resources:
Public Media Code of Integrity
Why be transparent has replaced act independently as a guiding journalism principle
Related: These points and other decisions about mission statement, forum status and editorial policy should be part of a Foundations Package that protects journalistically responsible student expression.
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