#SJW11: Take the TAO pledge today
Today is the day to join other scholastic media across the nation as they take the TAO Pledge – a promise to your audience, your administrators and yourselves – that you will be transparent about who you are as student media, that you will be accountable for your mistakes and open to other points of view.
The Pledge, a service of the Washington News Council, aims to provide a symbol of media communities can trust. With the explosion of new media sources online, a TAO of Journalism FAQ explains, many citizens are even more confused about who they can trust in the mainstream media, independent media and the so-called blogosphere. Surveys also show that institutions and individuals that are transparent about who they are, accountable for their performance and open to citizen input are the most trusted.
Student media that take the Pledge register to have their school media included on the list of TAO Pledgers, receive downloadable art of the TAO of Journalism seal to use in their mastheads and temporary tattoos of the TAO Seal for each staff member.
The pledge takes three minutes, max, to fill out; student publications should use this form. And it takes just another two minutes to snap a picture of your staff signing it, then upload it to the SJW Flickr page, just like these California student journalists did.
When you sign the Pledge, you can also complete a Facebook comment form at the bottom of this page that will also appear on your Facebook page.
The Journalism Education Association has endorsed the TAO of Journalism Pledge as one way student media can instill trust in their programs.
Read More#SJW11: A conversation about prior review
by Marina Hendricks and Lori King
Students in “Social Role of the Mass Media,” a Kent State University online graduate course this semester, recently considered arguments for and against prior review. We decided to approach the assignment as an imaginary conversation between a student editor and a principal. The result is a template that journalism students and advisers can use as a starting point to craft their own statements in support of an open forum, tailoring the points to fit the individual situation. The “conversation” also can be used in role-playing exercises to help students prepare for real-life discussions with administrators.
Editor: I made this appointment because we, as a newspaper staff, have a great idea to expand our readership. We already have a good newspaper. As you know, we’ve won quite a few Journalism Education Association awards, but we want to take our coverage to the next level – you know, into the 21st century. We want to put our newspaper online.
Principal: I know how hard the journalism students have worked, and I appreciate how well the newspaper has represented the school. I am concerned about the instantaneous nature of the Internet. There recently have been some complaints from faculty members and parents about stories in the print newspaper. For example, I received a lot of calls about Jane Doe’s story on cheating. Some parents felt their children had been misquoted and portrayed as cheaters. Several teachers were upset because they thought their classrooms were singled out as easy places to cheat.
Editor: First of all, that cheating story was accurate. We double-checked our notes and verified the facts. We also made sure those who were interviewed knew they would be quoted in the paper and that there could be consequences. Cheating is a problem at every school, not just ours, so that story should not be ignored. I think the story portrayed a good balance on why people cheat, how they cheat, and the consequences of cheating.
As far as the Internet goes, we agree on its instant nature. You have to remember that we are student journalists and will make mistakes as part of our learning process. But our newspaper policy is to correct mistakes in the next issue, which we do. The powerful thing about our newspaper being on the Internet is we can correct our mistakes immediately, rather than waiting two weeks, and whatever mistakes we make will not be printed in stone forever. So, I can’t guarantee we won’t make future mistakes, but I can assure you we will be quick to respond to them, as a professional newspaper would.
Principal: Why shouldn’t student-produced content be reviewed to ensure that it contains no factual or grammatical errors? And what about journalistic issues? I have concerns about content that is libelous, obscene and invades someone’s privacy. What about socially inappropriate content? Remember, we have students here as young as 14 years old. The rules and ethics of journalism also must be taken into consideration. Finally, if content disrupts the educational process, then I’m going to have another situation on my hands.
Editor: Our newspaper is reviewed for accuracy and legal issues before it’s printed – by me, the editor, as well as by the other section editors. We have a great adviser and journalism teacher who teaches us what we need to know, but empowers us to make the content decisions. Our adviser participates in journalism workshops every summer and also has worked for a daily newspaper. Her professional journalism experience helps inform what we do. We are quite aware of the importance of factual and grammatical errors. We have weekly training sessions on everything from learning how to write, interview subjects and design pages to what we need to know about libel, obscenity and other legal issues. We discuss ethical issues on a regular basis as part of the production process.
We also have a newspaper staff manual that outlines our common style rules, our students’ rights and our legal and ethics policies. This helps us with our quality control, checks and balances, transparency, stuff like that. I can make sure you have a copy of it.
Principal: Journalism is a class and therefore part of the curriculum. Your adviser’s lesson plans are subject to approval and oversight. Why shouldn’t all content produced in conjunction with the class follow suit? After all, I am responsible for seeing that journalism students have met the assessments/outcomes set forth in your adviser’s lessons.
Editor: Our newspaper tells you how we are meeting the assessments and outcomes. It is living proof that we are learning what she teaches us, and learning it well. Our newspaper class is actually one of the most valuable learning tools in this school.
Principal: True. But stories on cheating and other such topics don’t reflect well on our school. It is my responsibility to ensure that school print and digital publications reflect and represent the school community in a positive light.
Editor: But we have always operated as a public forum, which means students make the content decisions, whether it’s in a print newspaper or online. Our newspaper is not a public relations tool. It’s a forum where we, as journalists, report honestly and openly about what happens in the school community. The stories may not always be positive, but that reflects the reality of the world you are preparing us to enter.
We appreciate and value our First Amendment rights. We also really appreciate the support that you and the administration have given us over the years to practice our First Amendment rights of free speech and a free press. I assure you, we don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.
Oh, and one more thing. Did you realize that when students make the content decisions, it takes the liability away from the school? That’s a benefit of our newspaper being a public forum. I’ll be happy to supply more information for you on the matter.
Do have any other concerns or questions?
Principal: Thank you for coming in to talk with me today. You have given me a lot to consider, and I think we can come up with a plan that addresses and respects our mutual concerns. Please keep me informed on the plans for your online publication.
Editor: We will. Thanks for listening.
Marina Hendricks, a member of JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission, is manager of the Newspaper Association of America Foundation and a former editor of a daily newspaper’s program for teen journalists. Lori King is a photographer for The Toledo Blade and an adjunct professor of photojournalism at Owens Community College in Toledo.
Read More#SJW11: Blog posts from advisers, pros on important topics
I teach an master’s level online course called Social Role of the Media which examines social responsibility of scholastic media. The course is based around the book Elements of Journalism and the 1947 Hutchins Commission’s call for media to maintain a “social role” as one of its main goals.
I require each of the students, who are scholastic media teachers, commercial journalists and those seeking teaching positions at the scholastic and collegiate levels, to post a blog each week related to course discussions.
Since their work reflects current issues and discussions, especially those important to Scholastic Journalism Week, I asked if I could post a link to their blogs, especially their latest discussion.
Here are links; check them out. Give them comments. I think you will find what they say enlightening:
Lori King http://lking17.blogspot.com
Kate Klonowski http://rollingsocial.blogspot.com/
Andrew Christopulos http://apcmedia-andrew.blogspot.com/
Judy Stringer http://judystringer.wordpress.com/
Trevor Ivan http://trevorivan.wordpress.com/
Chris Waugaman http://waug.tumblr.com
Marina Hendricks http://marinahendricks.blogspot.com/
Jeff Kocur http://whyweneedjournalists.blogspot.com/
Traci Hale Brown http://tracihalebrown.tumblr.com/
Dino Orsatti http://dino1105.wordpress.com/
Read More#sjw11: Tear down this wall…
Looming large in the news this past week has been the role the Internet played in Egyptian protests.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lauded the Internet’s role in the spread of democracy.
“For the United States, the choice is clear,” Clinton said. “On the spectrum of Internet freedom, we place ourselves on the side of openness. Now, we recognize that an open Internet comes with challenges. It calls for ground rules to protect against wrongdoing and harm. And Internet freedom raises tensions, like all freedoms do. But we believe the benefits far exceed the costs.”
Despite her comments Feb. 15 at George Washington University, perhaps the secretary does not examine the costs a group of U.S. citizens pay because many cannot exercise Internet use for educational revolution and growth, too.
Our high school students.
“Together, the freedoms of expression, assembly and association online comprise what I’ve called the freedom to connect,” Clinton said. “The United States supports this freedom for people everywhere, and we have called on other nations to do the same. Because we want people to have the chance to exercise this freedom. We also support expanding the number of people who have access to the internet.”
As we support protesters around the world as they fight for freedom, we should also help our students protest against overly restrictive Internet filters that arbitrarily wall out information that should be open to all.
Perhaps Ronald Reagan said it best when he said, “Tear down this wall” so others could experience the promise of democratic freedom.
It’s time to tear down another wall.
The Internet firewall.
Read More#SJW11 and beyond: Legal and ethical foundations for tomorrow’s citizens
The Common Core State Standards were developed by the National Governors Association Center of Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers to “provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn” and were “designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers.”
When released in June 2010, the NGA Center and CCSSO indicated these standards are “aligned with college and work expectations, so that all students are prepared for success upon graduating from high school.” The writers concluded, “With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.” As of mid-February 2011, all but nine states have adopted some form of these.
The standards only address English-language arts and math, according to the Common Core State Standards website, “because these two subjects are skills, upon which students build skill sets in other subject areas. They are also the subjects most frequently assessed for accountability purposes.” The group “may develop common core in additional subject areas.”
Yet, without the legal and ethical foundations on which the United States is based and the free expression these support, no amount of focus on rigor or international benchmarking will be enough to save our democracy. Standards that offer expectations for tomorrow’s citizens, whether headed to college or career, are vital. Being able to read is not enough without the ability to assess accuracy, completeness and bias of content. Being able to write or speak without knowing legal constraints and ethical guidelines is equally worthless.
Thus, members of the Journalism Education Association’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission offer these additional standards as a way to address what we believe is missing from those currently available. We offer the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Citizenship and the Media. These mirror the format of the Common Core Standards in all but two ways: (1) They are readily applicable to journalism and/or media classes, though they could apply to social studies and English courses as well, and (2) they do not offer grade-specific standards because many such courses have a range of student grade levels included. With no national group currently proposing such a set of standards, we suggest each state adopt its own.
Key Ideas and Details
1. Demonstrate the core values and principles of U.S. democracy as set forth in documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and court decisions.
• Understand First Amendment rights and responsibilities when choosing media content.
• Analyze relevant court decisions as precedents.
• Practice these key ideas by collaborating on decisions through a student-led democratic process.
2. Demonstrate understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the principles of civic involvement, including individual rights and their accompanying responsibilities.
• Produce opinion or editorial pieces that spark conversation and question authorities regarding current issues.
• Report accurately and objectively on the news and issues of the day.
• Search for solutions to problems.
• Provide alternative voices through credible reporting and constructive criticism.
3. Understand the importance and function of the marketplace of ideas in a democracy, including the necessity for diverse views.
• Create an open forum for student expression, including opportunities for outside voices to be heard.
• Strive to ensure all social, economic, ethnic, academic and grade-level groups are represented.
• Use a balance of sources and coverage in presentation of topics.
• Resist prior review and restraint by authorities and present sound reasons why that practice should not be instituted or continued.
• Exercise critical thinking and exchange ideas when making final content decisions.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
4. Demonstrate knowledge of the function, effect and parameters of law as they apply to the specific content areas.
• Exercise rights as afforded by the First Amendment and court cases.
• Recognize the difference between protected and unprotected speech and apply it to media choices.
• Recognize and abide by accurate interpretations of FERPA, FOIA, HIPPA and other relevant legislation.
5. Assess ethical issues and how society might be impacted by choices affecting students and community members.
• Explore, analyze and debate the impact of ethical choices by government officials, including public school administrators, school board members and other figures of authority.
• Provide leadership through sustained coverage of topics related to such ethical choices.
• Localize off-campus issues to show how they impact readers.
• Engage communities through accurate and thorough reporting of such issues.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
6. Apply ethical principles in decision-making, including responsibility, thoroughness, honesty, accuracy, independence, accountability and credibility.
• Recognize the importance of independent thought in reporting.
• Utilize constructive criticism in editorial commentary.
• Access multiple resources to ensure accurate, thorough and balanced reporting.
• Accept accountability for all content.
• Correct and retract misleading or incorrect information.
7. Develop and refine ethical skills for choosing, gathering and organizing information.
• Investigate credibility of sources and confirm questionable assertions.
• Use anonymous sources only when it is essential to the content of the story, and honors confidentiality promised.
• Verify and synthesize when gathering and disseminating information.
Application of Knowledge and Ideas to Future Concepts
8. Prepare for the legal and ethical implications of technological changes in communication.
• Apply copyright laws to digital media.
• Properly attribute sources when using the work of others.
• Practice transparency in information-gathering by identifying methods of acquisition.
• Refrain from creating a false impression of reality through digital manipulation of photo, video or audio files.
• Avoid conflict of interest in information presented.
• Work to assure accuracy and thoroughness of information.
• Recognize privacy implications when gathering and publishing information.
Are we missing anything? We’d love to hear your suggestions – and comments.
Read MoreFollowing the TAO: Take the pledge as commitment to transparency, sound reporting
Whitney High journalists (Calif.) take the Tao of Journalism pledge Feb. 9, 2011.
Student journalists who practice ethical journalism and want assure readers, viewers and school administrators of their commitment to excellence, can now go public by taking the “TAO of Journalism” pledge .
The TAO Pledge asks journalists to promise that they will be “Transparent” about who they are and how the story was developed; “Accountable” for, and willing to correct any errors; and “Open” to other points of view. This idea, introduced by the Washington News Council, is gaining traction with media organizations around the world.
The Journalism Education Association has endorsed the TAO of Journalism Pledge as one way student media can instill trust in their programs.
JEA encourages schools and student media to sign the Pledge during Scholastic Journalism Week on Wednesday, Feb. 23 and to invite their school administrators to sign on, as well. Any student media group who “takes the TAO Pledge” will be listed on the TAO of Journalism website with a link to their website.
Students can then post the TAO Seal in their masthead and they will receive a poster of the TAO Pledge that can be displayed as a public reminder of their commitment.
Once students take the pledge, they need to be sure to follow the pledge to show their schools and their communities the importance of professional standards.
• BONUS for student media groups who take the TAO Pledge during Scholastic Journalism Week: Temporary tattoos of the TAO seal for all members of the staff.
Click on “Pledge” at the top of the home page.
Read More