Social media use
Ethical guidelines
Journalists should hold to the same ethical standards and guidelines for their use of social media as they do for print or broadcast. The goal is consistent, responsible creation and distribution of student-created journalism.
Staff manual process
Editors should devise a social media guide with clear expectations and make sure all staff members are trained in the procedures before providing username and password information for shared social media accounts.
Suggestions
• Image use: Students should understand posting images to social media is the same as putting in print publications, which includes avoiding copyright violations. Posts should use original photos, get permission to use anything that isn’t fair use, credit all images and clearly label photo illustrations as such.
• Verification for accuracy: Information spreads especially quickly through social media outlets, making it all the more important to fact-check and verify for accuracy before posting. Students should remember it’s more important to be right than to be first in breaking a story.
• Sources: Conducting interviews for information and reaction or perspective is the same here as in any other type of reporting. Students should seek credible sources with direct connections to the topics on which they are reporting and should attribute information accordingly. Students should work to utilize primary sources and should not rely on hearsay or speculation.
• AP or staff-specific style considerations: Students should adhere to the same copy editing guidelines for social media as print media and should proof and edit carefully for consistency and professionalism, especially as their posts can be shared more easily than those appearing in print media.
• Account access (password): Editors should consider who has access to the account information and for what purposes. Beginning staff members may not have enough practice and experience to post on social media without oversight from an editor. Just as most stories and other works go through a chain of editing and/or conferencing from student leaders, social media posts may need a similar chain to guide students in the process. Students outside the program should not have access to posting on staff social media. Similarly, administrators and school officials should not have account access. Seeing content before it appears on social media is prior review. Likewise, administrators and school officials should not have the ability to modify or delete posts. Only students should be able to determine content and take responsibility for all social media posts.
• Student media staffs should not use social media to manipulate or influence others, or as a means to gather information or quotes without identification.
• Personal accounts are not the same as student media accounts and should be kept separate. Staff members have every right to have social media accounts, but only official media profiles should be used for news purposes. Students should be sure to keep their own accounts clear of any content that might compromise the integrity of the student media program.
• Social media posts should indicate whether content is news or opinion.
• Students should verify information from another source before retweeting or sharing on social media.
Resources
Ethics Manual for Social Media, National Public Radio
Online Ethical Guidelines for Student Media, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee
Going Online: Consider These Points Before You Decide, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee
Social Media Guidelines for Student Journalists, Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University
Lesson: Social Media Ethics, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: Online Comments: Allow Anyone to Post or Monitor and Approve First, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee
The Social Media Toolbox, Marina Hendricks
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Use of profanity
Ethical guidelines
Profanity in student media should only be used after careful consideration. While profanity is not illegal, journalists should ask whether the use of profanity is absolutely essential to the content and context of the story. Will readers understand the story if the profanity is not used? Some people will not read or listen past any profanity. Students should consider other ways to indicate whether a profanity is intended without actually spelling it out (e.g. using asterisks or other symbols).
Staff manual process
• Student editors should develop a case-by-case process for deciding when to use profanity. Students should consider criteria including whether the language is in context and necessary for the story and whether the profanity will overshadow the overall content of the story.
• Student media should be ready to justify their decision with compelling reasoning before printing profanity. In most cases, this means the staff editorial board should carefully weigh the pros and cons and consider all potential fallout.
• The staff manual should outline whether students will provide an editor’s note alongside any content that contains a profanity.
• The staff manual should indicate whether students will use an “Explicit content warning” to alert readers/viewers to profanity (especially relevant in the case of multimedia).
Resources
Watch Your Language: Swearing in News Stories, American Journalism Review
Taste, Tone, Profanity, The Washington Post
Respect, National Public Radio
Is there Too Much Swearing in the Guardian? The Guardian
Audio: Using Expletives, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee, Press Rights Minute
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Read MoreSponsored content/native advertising
Ethical guidelines
In the last several years, commercial media have faced a new kind of paid content — “native advertising” or “sponsored content.” The goal with this content is to provide advertising in a way that mimics the look and style of news/editorial content instead of appearing as traditional advertising. This style of advertising has raised serious ethical issues and discussion.
Given the influx of this type of advertising and its spread into scholastic media, students should remember their obligation to keep their communities aware of what kind of content they are publishing. Communities need to know the type content they are exposed to so they can make informed and rational decisions.
Staff manual process
Student staffs should retain the right to publish or not publish “native advertising” or “sponsored content” just like they would for any other advertising so long as the decision is viewpoint neutral.
- If students decide to run such materials, they should develop a statement for that clearly explains what it is, why it is being presented and how audiences can expect it to appear. This should be included in each publishing.
- Appearance guidelines could include such statements as:
- Ads should run in a different font and point size from all other text.
- Ads should be clearly labeled at the top of each article and/or the top of the page, indicating who paid for the ad.
- Ads should include identification at the bottom of the piece explaining what paid content is and why it is being used.
- If the material comes camera- or website-ready, then clear separation from other content is essential.
Resources:
Making Memories, One Lie at a Time (example of native ad), Slate Web magazine
New York Times Tones Down Labeling on Its Sponsored Posts, Advertising Age
Native Advertising Examples: 5 or the Best (and Worst), WordStream Online Advertising
The Native Advertising Playbook, Interactive Advertising Bureau
Audio: Sponsored Content, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee, Press Rights Minute
PR Giant Edelman Calls for Ethics in Sponsored Content, Forbes
FTC: Publishers Will Be Held Responsible for Misleading native Ads, Adexchanger.com
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Read MoreVisual reporting
Ethical guidelines
Journalists are charged with documenting what’s happening in the world around them by capturing and presenting images. The way journalists obtain access to capturing these photos and video footage is just as important as the images themselves. Deciding which visual elements to use in telling a story — as well as which to exclude — plays a role in the story’s meaning.
Photojournalism and multimedia often cross the boundary between neutral and subjective for exactly this reason — the audience expects images to convey emotion or perspective in ways that news stories, or words themselves, do not. While these images are no less “true” than a story explained in words, it is possible to construct a reality out of images that might be slanted, even unintentionally.
Students should consider not only the news value of an image but also the emotional effect of the image on the audience.
Student media should avoid electronic manipulation that alters the truth of a photograph unless it is used as art. In that case it should be clearly labeled as a photo illustration.
Staff manual process
Students should develop a set of news values to use for evaluating an image prior to publication. These news values can help students determine when an image is relevant and necessary. Similarly, students should consider the same ethical principles applied to stories. Students should carefully consider any content that could be harmful, emotionally traumatizing or unnecessarily graphic.
Suggestions
When constructing a process for determining whether to publish an image, students should consider many questions, including:
• is this image important and relevant to the story?
• What makes it meaningful?
• Will the audience understand the information conveyed without reading any accompanying text?
• What story does it tell?
• What story would others be able to get from that photo?
• What, if any, warnings should accompany online content?
• Is there an alternative, better, way to show the story?
Resources
Lesson: To Print or Not to Print, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: A Picture Never Lies, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: When Journalists Err Ethically, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: Pushing Photo Editing Boundaries, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: With Freedom of the Press Comes Great Responsibility, Journalism Education Association
SPJ Code of Ethics, Society of Professional Journalists
NPPA Code of Ethics, National Press Photographers Association
Photojournalism ethics needs a reexamination, The Poynter Institute
Visual ethical guidelines join online, yearbook ethics, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee
Audio: Using Images from Social Media, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee Press Rights Minute
Audio: Ethics in Editing News Photos, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee. Press Rights Minute
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Read MoreNews judgment and news values
Ethical guidelines
Student media should consistently and purposefully brainstorm what story ideas might be relevant and valuable to their audience. Students should not ignore those story ideas that might be sensitive or cause offense but instead should consider how to cover these issues in meaningful, sensitive ways. Student media should also recognize while audiences are likely to seek out news that’s personally interesting to them, news media have an obligation to also provide those stories that meet a standard for public service. Often, these stories will fall in the “watchdog” category and include political and institutional coverage. While the audience may not be intrinsically interested in these stories, journalists must use their best news judgment to provide a mix of what consumers want to know and need to know.
Staff manual process
Students should consider many types of news values when deciding on what to report. These news values can include timeliness, proximity, prominence, conflict, impact and human interest. Values are likely to change slightly depending on the nature of the media and the intended audience. However, a reporter who can find no distinct news value in a story he or she wishes to report should consider whether a personal agenda overrides his or her news judgment.
Suggestions
• Conduct staff brainstorming sessions to gather a wide variety of story ideas
• Use beats to help reporters develop keen news sense.
• Solicit regular reader feedback on stories that would be interesting or helpful. Bi-annual student body surveys or focus groups are a great way to improve readers in the process.
• Be aware and self-reflective of any personal biases that might impact news judgment.
• Establish a set of news values for student media, and when budgeting content, be sure to identify which news values are present in the stories budgeted.
Resources
News Values & Principles – (including on- and off-the-record, anonymous sources, etc.), Associated Press
Description of the traditional news values, Media College
User generated news value, Citizen J
Lesson: Infotainment: When News is Only About Entertainment, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: With Freedom of the Press Comes Great Responsibility, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: Just Because You Can Doesn’t Always Mean You Should, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: Making TUFF Decisions, Journalism Education Association
Lesson: Another Way to Examine Ethics: Red Light, Green Light, Journalism Education Association
News Values, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee, Press Rights Minute
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