Policy model 1
Policy 1: [NAME OF SCHOOL] student media are designated public forums in which students make all decisions of content without prior review by school officials.
Comment: This contains only the basic statement of journalistic responsibility. It is usable at the board level to outline the basic principles of external oversight, leaving the process to other internal packages, like ethics guidelines and staff manuals. This removes from consideration the possibility of board attempts to change process-oriented direction.
A short statement like this clearly establishes the principles and responsibilities that guide all other statements. With no prior review added to it, it has the three crucial points in a policy: (1) designated public forum status in which (2) students make all final decisions regarding content and (3) do so without prior review. Decisions on matters such as letters, bylines, staff disciplinary actions, coverage of death and more are best detailed in ethical guidelines and staff manuals.
Designated forum: This language (designated forum in policy or practice) should be included in policies at board or publication level because all public forums are designated either by action or inaction (unless the board clearly says otherwise). Being silent as students operate as a forum is really permitting a designated forum.
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Read MoreHow to use this guide for
ethical use of staff manuals
A strong and effective staff manual describes the procedures of the staff in accordance with best policies and specific ethical guidelines. Because a staff manual should be a collaborative creation between students and advisers, it also becomes a living document, changing as necessary to reflect the culture and practices of the staff.
Each year staff members should have the opportunity – and obligation – to update items to ensure the product serves their needs and those of their audiences.
A good staff manual creates an atmosphere consistent with board- and media-level policies’ sound legal principles and uses ethical guidelines to shape procedure. Such a roadmap can help students justify content to administrators or introduce new staffers to common newsroom policies.
[pullquote]A good staff manual creates an atmosphere consistent with board- and media-level policies’ sound legal principles and uses ethical guidelines to shape procedure. Such a roadmap can help students justify content to administrators or introduce new staffers to common newsroom policies.[/pullquote]
While a staff manual is primarily an internal document and not used as a guide to punishment, student media should adhere to staff manual procedures to show professionalism and consistency in approach. This, in turn, can improve the credibility of student media.
For this reason, student media should avoid mixing ethics guidelines with staff manual processes. While processes or procedures can include the verbs “will” and “must,” guidelines should be framed with “should” and “could.”
The elements of this staff manual guide present a buffet of choices for advisers and students looking to build a cohesive, personalized manual. Some may not apply to every school. Other entries will need to be personalized to fit specific student media missions or situations.
So, this guide provides not only the ethical tenets that should shape processes but also suggestions for students and advisers to consider when writing their own staff manual entries.
[pullquote]The elements of this staff manual guide present a buffet of choices for advisers and students looking to build a cohesive, personalized manual. Some may not apply to every school. Other entries will need to be personalized to fit specific student media missions or situations.[/pullquote]
On a final note, students and advisers should know that this guide is not all-inclusive. Instead, we have focused on those entries in a staff manual that are specifically tied to ethical considerations.
A comprehensive staff manual will also include entries that explain important processes that have no significant ethical issues.
To help in your creation of ethical guidelines for staff manuals, we created this model.
Those additional entries might include:
• Advertising rates for that year
• Ad size specifications
• Ad size specifications
• Ad contracts
• Staff roster and contact information
• Grade-level rosters to check names/grades
• Club lists and rosters
• Sports rosters, including coach contact information
• Campus map
• Class room directory
• AP style checklist
• Publication style checklist
• Photo shoot checklist
• Photo editing checklist
• Design/design consistency checklist
• Story/content sequence (how a story moves through the publication system)
• Sports and club schedules
• Bell schedule
• School calendar
• How-to sheets for common design/software procedures
• Faculty roster
• Job descriptions for each staff and adviser position
• Editorial board makeup and duties
• Worknight or workday dates and times
• Sample staff contract
• Equipment checkout procedures
• Parent booster group information
• Sample advertising rate sheet
• Sample advertising ad contract
• Board of education, schools officials names and contact information
• City public officials contact information
• City offices and contact information
• Civic leader names and contact information
• Schedule of board of education meetings and activities
What would you add to the list above? Leave a comment here.
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Takedown requests
Ethical guidelines
Journalists may be asked to remove online content for any number of reasons. Just because content is unpopular or controversial does not mean a media staff should comply with such requests. When journalists meet their goal of producing consistent, responsible journalism, they likely will choose to leave the content in question online even in the face of criticism.
All media – including student media – provide a historical record of issues, events and comments. As such, content should not be changed unless there are unusual circumstances.
Another alternative to takedown demands would be to create publishing standards we would call Put Up criteria. Train student editors and staffers in why and how something should be published so takedown requests are avoided.
Staff manual process
Content should not be removed unless the student editorial board determines it is factually inaccurate or was otherwise factually, legally deficient at the time of publication. The staff manual should provide a checklist or guide students can use to determine whether a takedown request has merit.
Suggestions
• In some cases, student editors may take down a story because they determine the content warrants a one-time exception (such as fabrication or to protect a source).
• Reporters may elect to do a follow-up story.
• If student editors choose to remove content, they should publish a note on the site explaining when and why the content was removed.
• Takedown criteria should be outlined and explained in the staff manual.
• Create guidelines and procedures to ensure students only post information and images they feel meet standards of responsible journalism: Put Up guidelines.
Resources
Takedown Demands: Here is a Roadmap of Choices, Rationale, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee
Respond to Takedown Demands, Student Press Law Center
Setting Criteria Before the Requests Come, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee
10 Steps to a Put-Up Policy, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee
Audio: Takedown Requests, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee, Press Rights Minute
5 Ways News Organizations Respond to ‘Unpublishing’ Requests, The Pointer Institute
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Read MoreLetters to the editor and online comments
Ethical guidelines
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 manual process
Print/online
• 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.
• Staff staffs should reserve the right to ask the writer to edit for grammar, length and clarity instead of editing letters for them.
Online only
• Online comments require a name and email address for verification prior to publication.
• Online comments will be moderated by student editors prior to publication.
Resources
Online Comments: Allow Anyone to Post or Monitor and Approve First. An Ethics Lesson, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee
Online Ethics Guidelines for Student Media, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee
A Newsroom Guide for Handling Online Comments, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee
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Read MoreLinking to sources
Ethical guidelines
To increase a publications’ transparency, students should clearly show links to sources u
sed in reporting in a consistent process.
Providing links to sources creates a sense of credibility and thoroughness in the reporting process.
Links do not signify endorsement but an attempt to cite as accurately as possible and in context.
Staff manual process
Staffs can use several approaches to show attribution to links
• Hot links from a key word within the story’s text
• URLs embedded in the story
• Source citations for additional information in a sidebar list of links
The key is consistency and providing accurate sourcing for information.
Resources
You Can Quote Me on That: Advice on Attribution for Journalists, Steve Buttry
Why We Link, Scott Karp, editor
The Ethic of the Link Layer on News, Jeff Jarvis
The Ethics of Linking: Jay Rosen , Jay Rosen, YouTube
Reinventing Journalism on the Web: Links as News, Links as Reporting, Scott Karp
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