A (written) step toward more faculty support
by Lindsay Coppens
In good times and bad times, having faculty support can go a long way in ensuring student press rights.
Towards the beginning of each year, but sometimes when we’re nearing the end of semester one, I send an email to the faculty and staff to thank them for their support, to reinforce that the publication is, in fact, student-run (despite being a student newspaper, many community members assume that I make editorial decisions) and to guide their concerns and communication directly toward student editors.
Read MoreStop being afraid
by Cyndi Hyatt
The media is under attack. Although friction between the press and the President is nothing new (John Adams, Teddy Roosevelt and Richard Nixon all had a cantankerous relationship with the press) this current labeling journalists as the “Enemy of the People” has far reaching effects that may even trickle down to student journalism.
In an era of fear and uncertainty, high school and college students are afraid to express themselves openly because of the possibility of making someone else feel offended or uncomfortable or of fueling heated debate or of being accused of faking the news.
Read MoreSolutions Journalism
Solutions Journalism doesn’t offer its solution to issues. It does report on what others haveworked and what has not
by Kristin Taylor
David Bornstein co-authors the “Fixes” column in the New York Times, a column focused on solutions journalism. In his 2012 TED talk, Bornstein explains why he has pursued solutions in his investigative journalism rather than simply focusing on the problem.
Seeking journalistic truth
Helping student journalists to seek the truth
by Kristin Taylor
What does it mean to be truthful? Is truthfulness accurate numbers and statistics? Multiple points of view? Context to help the reader understand the time and place and other circumstances? All of the above?
Journalistic truth “means much more than mere accuracy,” according the seminal text “The Elements of Journalism” by Kovach and Rosenstiel. “It is a sorting-out process that takes place between the initial story and the interaction among the public, newsmakers and journalists.”
Read MoreHandling sponsored content
Student media, when faced with publishing sponsored content, should act carefully and with the best interests of the audience/consumer first.
Although it is quite possible scholastic media will never face making a decision to run content known as sponsored or native ads, students and advisers should prepare guidelines just in case.
Sponsored content and native advertising, two media terms for paid materials, are becoming a fact of life for media and consumers. That said, student media, when faced with publishing them, should act carefully and with the best interests of the audience/consumer first.
Scholastic media owe it to their audiences to expect clearly sourced and non-slanted information, particularly with so much concern with fake news.
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