Search results for "ethics"

Students think of themselves as smart and funny, but does that mean they can handle satire? Satire opens students up to many legal risks including libel and invasion of privacy. Use this activity to explore some of the pitfalls of using satire in your publications.

Objectives

Students will explore the legal and ethical risks of using satire.
Students will identify potential ethical issues in using satire.
Students will become familiar with mistakes other school publications have made in publishing satire.

Common Core State Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2	Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1	Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.B	Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.4	Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.

Length

50 minutes

Materials / resources

Case Studies Worksheet

From the Experts Worksheet

SPLC Article on UW-superior

Texas 1984

Louisiana

UVA

‘Advisory board’ formed after Ga. student paper runs ‘Modest Proposal’-style satire

Student satire publication lost funding, put on probation after article on sexual harassment

SPLC search results for “high school satire”

From experts:

Digiday highlights why many newspapers don’t do it.

NSPA and Hiestand explanation

Lesson step-by-step

Step 1 — Introduction (5 minutes)

Share a hypothetical satirical headline on your most high profile sport’s losing record.

Ask the students to identify the potential problems that might come with publishing a story like this.

Step 2 — Group assignment and work (40 minutes)

Separate the students into six groups and assign each of them a reading from the list above.

Students will read and complete the attached worksheet for the appropriate reading and report out to the class.

You could also turn this into a slideshow shared on Google docs with your students to fill out and present.

Step 3 — Exit ticket (5 minutes)

Students should answer the following:

What are the legal risks of running a satirical piece in student media?

Extension

Students could take this lesson a step further and develop a position of the use of satire. If they decided to use satire, they could also create an ethical statement outlining the ethical position of the students plus how they could handle satire ethical. See model for ethical guidelines, process.

What are native ads and sponsored content
and what issues do they raise?

Posted by John Bowen on Aug 29, 2017 in Blog, Lessons, Scholastic Journalism, Teaching | 0 comments

by John Bowen

Title

What are native advertising and sponsored content and what issues do they raise?

Description — first in a sequence
Questions of fake news and disinformation arise almost daily. Citizens also face information spread by sponsored content, an approach to storytelling designed to bring needed revenue to news media. The trouble is most readers and viewers cannot tell sponsored news from reported news. This lesson can help students understand how sponsored news developed, how to recognize it and ways to assist non-journalism communities in dealing with it.

Objectives

Students will explore sponsored news and be able to identify it.
Students will be able to compare and contrast sponsored news with native advertising.
Students will evaluate and analyze sponsored news content.

Common Core State Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1	Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.1	Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.A	Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.C	Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.

Length

50 minutes

Materials / resources

Blackboard or whiteboard

Teacher laptop and digital projector

Internet access

Rubric for student article summary and statement

Student computers if available

Links used for this lesson:

Lesson step-by-step

Step 1 — Warm-up (5 minutes)

The teacher will ask students if they have ever heard of native advertising or sponsored content, if they could recognize it if they saw it and where might they see it.

Depending on student responses, the teacher will raise other questions and ask for more explanation.

Step 2 — Large group work (45 minutes)

The warm-up should lead to the teacher sharing definitions:

Native advertising is a form of paid media where the ad experience follows the natural form and function of the user platform in which it is placed.
Sponsored content is material which resembles the publication’s editorial content but is paid for by an advertiser or other information provider and intended to promote the advertiser’s product or services.

The teacher would also discuss the differences and similarities between the two. These sites can provide background information:

From there, the discussion could delve into why news media might favor or oppose their use, with the instructor providing background, historical and current.

Links for this question:

Once students understand the rationale for use of native advertising and sponsored content, the teacher could focus the discussion on the plusses and minuses. The teacher should ask a student to note potential plusses and minuses on the board for further discussion. Students could also use the sponsored news and native ads notes form.

With the points on the board, the teacher will ask students to choose one of the following articles on native advertising or sponsored content from the list below. Students will read the article and summarize its content in a 250-300 word statement emphasizing the pros and cons of the article’s focus. The student article should also contain the student’s views of the value of native ads or sponsored content.

List of choices for the writing assignment (and students could also use links referred to earlier):

Students will turn in their statements at the beginning of the next class or share digitally with the teacher.

Assessment

The teacher will evaluate the students’ summaries and value statements using the accompanying rubric. Students should keep the assignment for future reference.

Note:

Students could be given a list of links to read and take notes on as homework instead of reading or referring to them in class discussion.

News v. public relations

Posted by John Bowen on Aug 29, 2017 in Blog, News, Scholastic Journalism, Teaching | 0 comments

by Kristin Taylor

Title

News vs. Public Relations

Description

The community gets information about what is happening at school through different publications, but not all of these publications are journalistic. In this lesson, students will differentiate between student reporting and school public relations by comparing and contrasting student publications with school public relations content such as newsletters, school-created magazines or school websites created and maintained by adults in the community.

Objectives

Students will be able to explain the difference between public relations and student reporting.
Students will reflect on the purpose and importance of both types of content.
Students will analyze how they can maintain a relationship while remaining independent from school public relations content-creators.

Common Core State Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.C	Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.D	Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.8	Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.2	Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.

Length

60 minutes

Materials / Resources

Whiteboard and markers

Teacher laptop and digital projector

Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics

School generated website, publication or other content

Lesson step-by-step

Warm Up (5 minutes)

Written on the board: “What is the difference between public relations and journalism?” After taking some initial responses to the prompt, teacher asks, “If our school newspaper and yearbook are student-run journalism, who runs its public relations, and what forms does this PR take?” (The school may have formal or informal public relations publications content, such as newsletters, a school website, etc.)

Teacher-led discussion (5 minutes)

Teacher reads a definition of public relations: “the professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company or other organization or a famous person.”

Have students look at the “Be independent” section of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics (or their own, if they own it) and read through it. Ask, “How does this conflict with what you might do if you were a public relations professional?”

Small group activity (15 minutes)

Teacher hands out a recent adult-created school publication or piece of content or has students access the school website’s news section. Students look through the content and consider what it has in common with their own student news publication (focus on the school, writing may be journalistic [depends on publication], may use infographics and strong images, shouldn’t include false information) and what might be different (no differentiation between news and opinion, no articles or photos that cast the school in a negative light, use of adjectives/adverbs or exclamation marks).

Class Discussion (20 minutes)

Teacher draws a Venn diagram on the board with “School Public Relations” on one side and “Student Publication” on the other. The class fills in the circles to synthesize their conclusions about similarities and differences in small groups.

Discussion questions:

What is the audience and purpose for public relations? Why is it important for a school to have a public relations team?
What is the audience and purpose for scholastic journalism? Why is it important for a school to have a journalism program?
Is journalism better than public relations? Worse? Just different?
What should the student publication staff’s relationship be with the school’s publication relations staff? How can you remain independent? Should you ever collaborate with them?
How does this give you insight into your own student publication policies to not use school staff’s photographs — even with permission — unless there is no other option?
What would your response be if the school requests the use of student work created for your school publication? Do you have a policy in the staff manual for this situation?Assessment (15 minutes)

Students will go through a recent editing of a student publication and find two stories that probably wouldn’t be featured in school public relations publications and discuss why they are good journalism stories, but not good public relations stories. They can share these stories verbally or write about them.

Extension

Discuss how these same principles apply to professional media outlets as well. Can students identify when what they read takes a PR slant? What are the dangers of media outlets running a press release word for word

What should go into an editorial policy?
What should not? QT3

Posted by John Bowen on Aug 28, 2017 in Blog, Legal issues, Quick Tips, Scholastic Journalism, Teaching | 0 comments

Editorial policies are the foundations for your journalism program. Often short, these statements address forum status, who makes final decisions of content and prior review.

Think of it this way: a strong policy is prescriptive. It says what students will do. A policy is like a constitution and sets the legal framework for student media.

We strongly discourage the inclusion of ethical guidelines or procedures and process in policy documents because ethics and staff manual procedures are suggestive. That means topics like byline suggestions, font choices and how to handle unnamed sources should not be same document as policy. Topics, procedures and details do not have the same purpose as policy.

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 and anchors staff manuals.

Question: What should go into an editorial policy? What should not?

Editorial policies are the foundations for your journalism program. Often short, these statements address forum status, who makes final decisions of content and prior review.

We recommend this wording as a basic policy statement: “[NAME OF STUDENT MEDIA] are designated public forums for student expression in which students make all final content decisions without prior review from school officials.”

Other models could include more material and wording to explain the value of student decision-making, historical or educational reasoning.

[pullquote]Quick Tips are small tidbits of information designed to address specific legal or ethical concerns advisers and media staffs may have or have raised. These include a possible guideline, stance, rationale and resources for more information. This is the third in the series[/pullquote]

A guideline is a stance on an ethical topic. A guideline is more open to change by student staff to staff.

Beyond that, SPRC suggested models could include editorial guidelines (although we recommend several as ethical process and procedures) like:

Role of student media
Ownership of student content
Handling death
Advertising decisions
Handling letters/comments
Policy consistently applied across all platforms

A procedure is a way to do something. These might include how students answer the phone in the room or how they check out a camera. Procedures are how students carry out the policy and implement ethical guidelines. All are part of the staff manual but are clearly separated from policy so their roles are clearly distinct.

Stance:

Think of it this way: a strong policy is prescriptive. It says what students will do. A policy is like a constitution and sets the legal framework for student media.

We strongly discourage the inclusion of ethical guidelines or procedures and process from policy documents because ethics and staff manual procedures are suggestive. That means topics like byline suggestions, font choices and how to handle unnamed sources should not be same document as policy. Topics, procedures and details do not have the same purpose as policy.

Resources: The foundations of journalism: policies, ethics and staff manuals
JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee

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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Resources

Satire in your publications:
Who is the joke really on?

What are native ads and sponsored content
and what issues do they raise?

News v. public relations

What should go into an editorial policy?
What should not? QT3

Our position

Press Rights Minute

Archives

JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee

Resources

Satire in your publications: Who is the joke really on?

What are native ads and sponsored content and what issues do they raise?

News v. public relations

What should go into an editorial policy? What should not? QT3

Our position

Press Rights Minute

Archives

JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee

Satire in your publications:
Who is the joke really on?

What are native ads and sponsored content
and what issues do they raise?

What should go into an editorial policy?
What should not? QT3