Tweet3: Strong editorial polices
speed you to the Hazelwood cure
Develop strong editorial policies that protect students, administrators and community. #25HZLWD http://jeasprc.org/tweet-3-strong-polices-speed-to-hazelwood-cure/
Once you have established yourselves as forums, the next step is to design clear and concise policies that protect student final decision-making for your media, and that help protect the school system and community from harm. The best policy can protect you from many illnesses, including Hazelwood, and will go a long way to speed you to the Hazelwood Cure. A bad policy can be worse than the plague..
Many models of policies exist. It is important for you to have a consistent policy across all your student media.
In addition to information below, a myriad of other support on policies exists on the SPLC website and on JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission site.
Resources for developing sound policies
• JEA statement on prior review
• Steps for developing edit policies
• Double-edged sword of policies
• SPLC model editorial policy
• Press Rights Commission PowerPoint on edit policies
• JEA model edit policy
• First Amendment Schools sample policies and information
• Good policies establish credibility
Developing media editorial policies makes for good start to the year
As scholastic media staffs begin their year, there really is no more important strategy than developing a strong editorial policy, for print and digital media.
For a good model print policy, see JEA’s model editorial policy.
For an excellent policy model that combines print and digital media, see JEA Digital Media’s article on collapsing multiple editorial policies (and not just newspaper) into one.
As Aaron Manful says in his article, “school programs should not be seen as individual mediums, but as a media program.”
Whatever the future brings for scholastic journalism, a good way to anticipate it is with a strong, unified policy that empowers all student media staffs with final content decisions.
Read MoreA process for developing editorial policies that mean something
Editorial policies are among the most important documents advisers and their students will create. Done correctly, they will protect you and your students, your administrators and your school system against unwanted legal issues.
The first educational mission for all schools: To develop responsible citizens through enabling critical thinking and empowering student decision making.
Done incorrectly, policies will lead to such unwanted legal issues. Past experiences show sound policies are well worth the time and energy it takes to develop then.
Steps to develop policies include:
• Research
• Study
• Practice
Research
Search:
- The SPLC for policy models and articles about them
- The Internet for sample school policies
- The Internet for articles of the value of publications or editorial policies
- Provided links and articles from JEA’s Press Rights Commission, including JEA Model Policy and others
- Research data and academic studies for research into editorial policies
- Specific administration organization Web sites
- Search terms can include:
• Editorial policies
• Publications policies
• Staff policies
- Conduct interviews with those have are familiar with sound policies and those who have had issues with weaker ones. Some of the stronger policies can be found here .
Study
- Examine gathered material. What makes policies acceptable? Unacceptable?
- Based on readings or examination of a PowerPoint included on editorial policies, what topics or concepts need to be included in acceptable policies? Which ones should be avoided?
- Compile arguments for and against concepts and specific wording
- Evaluate selected points for strengths and weaknesses
- Outline acceptable policy sections and points. Reference models your work should be based on
- Evaluate your outline in separate groups and set up a process to complete the next steps
Practice
- Evaluate a draft policy for effectiveness and completeness
- Compare your draft policy with other student media policies
- Identify and communicate with scholastic media experts and legal experts about the effectiveness of the draft.
This process is a good start in the creation of or adaption of effective policies.
Journalism provides us with something unique to a culture – independent, reliable, accurate and comprehensive information that citizens require to be free. Anything else – from review to censorship – subverts democratic culture.
The Elements of Journalism
Kovach and Rosenstiel
Building journalistic foundations:
Adviser’s Institute session materials
Members of the Scholastic Press Rights Commission presented this material July 13 at the JEA Advisers Institute In Las Vegas.
No matter what platform you use, the choice of an editorial policy, ethical guidelines and staff manual can make or break your student media – and consistency is very important.
What you select, and why, does make a difference.
Along with the newest in digital tools and storyforms, training for a new year and new staff should include basics in law and ethics, especially development of editorial policies and staff manuals.
To ensure students understand these legal and ethical foundations before publication, especially with the new roles, we recommend advisers and student staffs do the following:
• Outline goals and mission for your student media
• Train your editors and staff in legal principles across platforms
• Ensure board- and/or publication-level policies are in place
• Train editors and staff in ethical principles across platforms
• Establish, for online or print, a content verification process
• Clarify who owns the content
• Develop guidelines for handling takedown demands.
Weaving editorial policy, ethical guidelines and staff manual into a complementary package develops a foundation of good journalistic practices, beginning with editorial policies.
As our journalistic process changes to include new roles as outlined by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel in Blur, we need a strong foundation that binds them together.
New roles include: Authenticator, Sense Maker, Investigator, Witness bearer, Empowerer, Smart Aggregator, Forum Organizer, Role Model and increase the importance of having a strong legal and ethical foundation.
We think our policy-ethics-staff manual Foundation will help meet this change.
Resources for you
1. Explanation of the policy-ethics-staff manual idea
2. What’s at stake in policy development
3. Policy talking points
4. When your student media are public forums and when they are not
5. Building your policies
6. Definition of policy terms
7. Questions about forums
8. More questions about forums
9. Foundations-policy package
10. Possible alternative workding samples
11. SPRC model policies
12. JEA board-approved model editorial policy
13. Questions about prior review
Our PowerPoint from the Advisers Institute presentation is below
Link to lesson plan based on the presentation.
Link to model policies
Link to the complete Foundations package
Welcome back – here’s a look
at what to expect in the coming weeks
As we all head back to school, look for some new content in the next week:
• An article focusing who who owns scholastic media content and choices to establish best approach for students
• An article discussing points of questions involving yearbook ethics
• A first look at a Policy Package to will help staffs decide what they want as the best editorial policy, ethical guidelines and staff manual
• Continued access to our ongoing columns on journalism pedagogy, FOIA, broadcast legal and ethical issues, news literacy and more Making a Difference reporting
• Our annual Constitution Day lessons and activities
• In the meantime, check out these major points from the press rights commission:
• Takedown demands guidelines
• The Panic Button means of reporting censorship
• Our Press Rights Minute
• JEA’s position prior review
• JEA’s existing model editorial policy and support
• Online, photo and yearbook ethical statements
• First Amendment Press Freedom Award application
• A teacher’s kit for curing Hazelwood
• Our Foundations series for scholastic journalism
Something you would like us to report? Let us know.
Read More