Establish public trust. Take the Pledge. Carry the Seal
SJW-2012
A lesson plan for Wednesday of Scholastic Journalism Week. You can download the lesson here.
by Kathy Schrier
Scholastic Journalism Week is the perfect time for student media staffs to renew their commitment to practice ethical journalism that is Transparent, Accountable and Open (TAO.) One way to do that is to take the “TAO of Journalism Pledge” on Wednesday, Feb. 22. A year ago, more than 1,000 student journalists around the country took the TAO Pledge and those student media groups now carry the TAO of Journalism Seal in their mastheads or on their websites.
The TAO of Journalism, endorsed by JEA, is an idea launched by the Washington News Council as a way for professional and student journalists, who care about building public trust in their work, to make a promise to practice ethical journalism. Since its launch three years ago, journalists around the world have signed on and now carry the TAO of Journalism Seal. Go to www.taoofjournalism.org to learn more or to take The Pledge.
Student groups who take or renew the TAO of Journalism Pledge will receive a poster of the TAO of Journalism Pledge, temporary tattoos of the TAO Seal for all staff members.
Here are some ideas for a successful TAO of Journalism Pledge day in class:
First: Present the following questions for discussion:
1. Are we a trusted source of news and information for our school? If yes, what makes us trustworthy? If no, why not?
2. Are we trusted by our administrators? If we must submit material to administrators for prior review, what can we do to reestablish their trust?
3. If student journalists make all content decisions without prior review, how do we show our audience, including our administrators, that we are committed to being a trusted information source?
(Suggestion: Show short Powerpoint: “Transparent, Accountable, Open; Basic Media Ethics for Student Journalists.” Contact kathyschrier@mac.com for PPT copy.)
Visual: Project the TAO of Journalism Pledge from www.taoofjournalism.org
• Read through The Pledge as a group.
• Decide if taking the TAO Pledge would fit with the mission of your staff.
• If so, take the TAO Pledge.
• Have your staff photographer take a picture of your staff taking The Pledge.
• Have an editor fill out the Student TAO Pledge registration form on “The Pledge” page.
• Email your photo to pics@taoofjournalism.org along with a caption and photo credit to be posted on a Student TAO Pledge Pics page.
What will you get:
- Temporary tattoos of the TAO of Journalism Seal for all staff members.
- Poster of the TAO Pledge for your staff room.
- Listing on the TAO of Journalism site, with a link to your homepage.
- Photo of your staff taking The Pledge posted on the TAO Pledge Pics page.
- Bonus for advisers whose students take The Pledge before the end of February: a TAO of Journalism thermal travel cup.
Wrap-up:
Taking the TAO of Journalism reminds student journalists to be conscious of the role of ethics in the work they do; and to think about the importance of earning the trust of the public they serve. There is something powerful in making such a public promise, then posting the TAO Seal as a reminder to live up to that promise.
Next, look for five “bell ringers — short discussions or activities to use right when class starts.
#SJW11: Take the TAO pledge today
Today is the day to join other scholastic media across the nation as they take the TAO Pledge – a promise to your audience, your administrators and yourselves – that you will be transparent about who you are as student media, that you will be accountable for your mistakes and open to other points of view.
The Pledge, a service of the Washington News Council, aims to provide a symbol of media communities can trust. With the explosion of new media sources online, a TAO of Journalism FAQ explains, many citizens are even more confused about who they can trust in the mainstream media, independent media and the so-called blogosphere. Surveys also show that institutions and individuals that are transparent about who they are, accountable for their performance and open to citizen input are the most trusted.
Student media that take the Pledge register to have their school media included on the list of TAO Pledgers, receive downloadable art of the TAO of Journalism seal to use in their mastheads and temporary tattoos of the TAO Seal for each staff member.
The pledge takes three minutes, max, to fill out; student publications should use this form. And it takes just another two minutes to snap a picture of your staff signing it, then upload it to the SJW Flickr page, just like these California student journalists did.
When you sign the Pledge, you can also complete a Facebook comment form at the bottom of this page that will also appear on your Facebook page.
The Journalism Education Association has endorsed the TAO of Journalism Pledge as one way student media can instill trust in their programs.
Read MoreLessons from Northwestern U’s student edit open learning paths
by Candace Bowen, MJE
Student journalism – at least at the collegiate level – hit the news big time last week and received plenty of criticism — both for what was covered and for an apology for covering the story.
However, as the newspaper’s editor said in a tweet later, “Our statement addressed some legitimate areas of growth we noticed in our reporting, but also over-corrected in others.”
Growth and learning here are vital. And the situation may have some good lessons for advisers working with high school media, too.
For those who haven’t read about the incident in reactions and links on the JEAHELP listserv or seen tweets or posts from various journalists and the Washington Post, New York Times and Chicago Tribune, here’s a brief explanation and then a look at the lessons those student journalists might learn – and our students as well.
Former attorney general Jeff Sessions spoke Nov. 5 at Northwestern University, hosted by the school’s College Republicans. Not everyone was pleased about this, particularly because of Sessions’ policies concerning minorities and marginalized communities. The independent student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern, set out to cover both the speech and the protests. This included quotes from protesters and photos of those who carried signs and eventually forced their way into the speech. This resulted in meeting police, who then were, as The Daily reported, “knocking some to the ground and pushing others out.”
The results of the student coverage the next day were complaints from protesters and demands that a protester’s name be removed from quotes and photos deleted from a staff photographer’s Twitter account. After The Daily did make these changes, editor-in-chief Troy Closson published an editorial, apologizing for the staff’s initial coverage.
He wrote that he did want their audience to “understand the gravity of the events that took place,” but also “decided to prioritize the trust and safety of students who were photographed.”
That’s when newsroom pros jumped in, some outraged and highly critical. Not surprisingly, those on Twitter tended to be a bit more caustic and less reasoned. Some were downright nasty. But this was the gist of those:
“If saying sorry for doing a journalist’s job…perhaps the real world will be a little too much for you. Perhaps you should just get out now….,” tweeted a Seattle TV news photographer.
A reporter from the NBC affiliate in Chicago was tough, but straightforward in his response to Crosson’s editorial: “As a working journalist of 44 years, I’m appalled at what I have read in this editorial. It was a public demonstration. Students chose to be there. A reporter asks questions, and publishes the answers. You ask someone’s name. If they don’t want to give it, so be it—they decline. If they give it, you can use it. Period. End of story. The larger question should always be about balance. But worrying about whether someone is going to get in trouble? That’s their choice for being there. (Some very courageous students in China, Egypt, numerous former Soviet bloc countries, and Hong Kong could fill you in on this).
“Your job is to report on the event.”
Others offered more specific advice: “As an attorney who has litigated First Amendment/Defamation issues and defended journalists, I wish you had used this editorial to explain to your fellow students how journalism and the First Amendment work. If students (or anyone else) protest in public, taking their photograph and reporting on the protest is fair game under the First Amendment. There was no intrusion on anyone’s privacy or ‘safety.’ I applaud the university allowing speakers like Sessions – I don’t agree with his politics, but making universities into ‘safe spaces’ that limit points of view in public discourse is incredibly dangerous.”
An education reporter in Salem, Oregon, also pointed out the need to learn: “Hey Troy, as one of the journos who shared thoughts on your statement earlier today, I really admire your willingness to work through some tough shit in public. (And deal with a pile-on which I’m sure hasn’t been easy.) I hope y’all can correct the overcorrection & keep learning.”
Entire columns offered even more advice. Eric Wemple, media critic at The Washington Post, wrote, “News outlets are prone to circling the wagons when they get pushback from the folks they cover. They don’t cough up apologies over nothing. It generally takes a whopping error of fact or a face-palming lapse in judgment.”
Then he added a one-word paragraph: “Generally.”
And he acknowledged pros use sources such as “a CNN spokesperson” and what he describes as “the protective veil hovering over most press-White House conversations.” He also described the “quote-approval” that even some well-respected media use.
Wemple sees the lesson for Crosson and student journalists is not to go too far. “It was a mistake to compromise The Daily Northwestern’s coverage of an event that took place right out in the open. In doing so, though, it accommodated a few powerless people, as opposed to accommodating many powerful people as so often happens in major media outlets. In a segment this afternoon, Fox News host Dana Perino asked, ‘Do we have a responsibility to teach college students what journalism is?’”
“Of course — preferably by example,” Wemple concluded.
Columnist Heidi Stevens of the Chicago Tribune, wrote Nov. 12, “I cringed a bit when I read the editorial. Then, again, I cringe when I think back to at least a third of the work I did at my college newspaper.”
She interviewed the senior and staff photographer of The Daily who agreed to take down photos from his Twitter account after protesters contacted him. Although he said he learned from covering protests in Argentina last winter, Stevens reported that he said he understood the protests were public, but he would have a conversation with anyone who objected to one of his photos.
Stevens’ conclusion: Both journalists and protesters need to realize their actions will be under a microscope. “If these students want to practice professional journalism, the backlash to Sunday’s editorial offers a lesson that’s just as important as anything the students will learn in the classroom, any communication case law or copyediting rules or multimedia skills. The public is rarely kind. Your critics are legion.”
The dean of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern Charles Whitaker wrote his own response Nov. 12 and supported the independent journalists while also chiding them.
“Journalism—when executed fairly, accurately and independently —allows a society to see itself in all its splendor and strife,” he wrote, but also, “…when done poorly or unfairly, journalism can most certainly scar individuals and communities. Indeed, there is no shortage of instances in which journalists have parachuted into settings, particularly those occupied by vulnerable or marginalized people, and provided accounts that were devoid of any sense of cultural competency.”
He applauded their coverage, saying it was “in no way beyond the bounds of fair, responsible journalism.” And he said he was “deeply troubled by the vicious bullying and badgering” they had to endure for it. He said he understood why they felt the need to apologize, but their “well-intentioned gesture sends a chilling message” that they must listen to the loudest voices and now serve as independent producers of the truth.
He ended with his version of the lesson to learn from this: “My hope is that we at Northwestern can model ways in which a community can promote freedom of the press while also demonstrating how we conduct healthy and respectful debate. I would be happy to do my part to facilitate that dialogue.”
Obviously increasing diversity in the newsroom, standing firm with stories that need telling, being the voice of all your audience and encouraging a dialogue about problems are all lessons that can come from this incident. Deciding when or if something should be taken down from a website is a tough call, one that required some staff conversation before an incident occurs. (See what JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Committee has to say about this.)
Perhaps there’s one more bit of advice that came from freelance journalist and editor Glenn Fleishman, who tweeted the buried lesson: “The editorial was so vague that I don’t even know what you think you did and what you were apologizing for, nor what you’re promising to stop doing. It seems like the university excessively punishes students for protesting? Isn’t that the story?”
I agree. That may be the best advice of all.
Crosson wrote in his editorial, “As a campus newspaper covering a student body that can be very easily and directly hurt by the University, we must operate differently than a professional publication in these circumstances.”
Later, he added, “While some universities grant amnesty to student protesters, Northwestern does not.” That seems to have led The Daily Northwestern staff members to feel they needed to show more empathy. But it also should have led them to question why their university doesn’t grant amnesty to protesters.
At any level, student journalists need to recognize and explore the problems their audiences face. It may not be exactly what crowds are protesting – but it may be even deeper and more important than that.
Read MoreSuggestions for student media mission, legal, ethical and procedural language
Model Staff Manual: Use Constitution Day as a way to compare your staff policies and guidelines — or use it for students to craft their own — to our sample staff manual.
Originally presented to the 2019 Adviser Institute in New Orleans, this material provides important models that can be adapted of essential mission, legal, ethical and procedural language for student media.
Remember, adapt these guidelines and samples to fit your locality and needs, and:
- Give credit for ideas you adapt
- Don’t just copy someone else’s policy, ethical guidelines or statements. Think about what the models say, what they mean to you and your communities. Clearly separate policy from ethical guidelines and procedures that carry out this process of building a foundation
- Words can mean different ideas to different people. To King George III of England the colonials were terrorists; to Americans, the British army were oppressors and Washington was a hero. Clarify your mission, policy, ethical guidelines and procedures so they have common and precise meanings
- Ask us questions about using the manual concept for all your media. Integrated, the mission, policy, ethical guidelines and procedures form the foundation of responsible journalism.
Clearly separate policy from ethical guidelines and procedures that carry out this process of building a foundation.
JEA-SPPRC
Sample mission statement:
_____________ (school name) student media provide complete and accurate coverage, journalistically responsible, ethically gathered, edited and reported. Student-determined expression promotes democratic citizenship through public engagement diverse in both ideas and representation.
Sample board policy statement (others are at link as well):
[NAME OF SCHOOL] student media are designated public forums in which students make all decisions of content without prior review by school officials.
Sample editorial policy:
“[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.”
Role of student media:
The NAME OF PUBLICATION/PRODUCTION has been established as a designated public forum for student editors to empower, educate and advocate for their readers as well as for the discussion of issues of concern to their audience. It will not be reviewed or restrained by school officials prior to publication or distribution. Advisers may – and should – coach and discuss content during the writing process.
Because school officials do not engage in prior review, and the content of the NAME OF PUBLICATION/PRODUCTION is determined by and reflects only the views of the student staff and not school officials or the school itself, its student editorial board and responsible student staff members assume complete legal and financial liability for the content of the publication.
Electronic media (including online, broadcast and podcast media) produced by NAME OF PUBLICATION/PRODUCTION students are entitled to the same protections – and subjected to the same freedoms and responsibilities – as media produced for print publication. As such they will not be subject to prior review or restraint. Student journalists use print and electronic media to report news and information, to communicate with other students and individuals, to ask questions of and consult with experts and to gather material to meet their newsgathering and research needs.
NAME OF PUBLICATION/PRODUCTION and its staff are protected by and bound to the principles of the First Amendment and other protections and limitations afforded by the Constitution and the various laws and court decisions implementing those principles.
NAME OF PUBLICATIONPRODUCTION will not publish any material determined by student editors or the student editorial board to be unprotected, that is, material that is libelous, obscene, materially disruptive of the school process, an unwarranted invasion of privacy, a violation of copyright or a promotion of products or services unlawful (illegal) as to minors as defined by state or federal law. Definitions and examples for the above instances of unprotected speech can be found in Law of the Student Press published by the Student Press Law Center.
The staff of the NAME OF PUBLICATION/PRODUCTION will strive to report all content in a legal, objective, accurate and ethical manner, according to the Canons of Professional Journalism developed by the Society for Professional Journalists. The Canons of Professional Journalism include a code of ethics concerning accuracy, responsibility, integrity, conflict of interest, impartiality, fair play, freedom of the press, independence, sensationalism, personal privacy, obstruction of justice, credibility and advertising.
The editorial board, which consists of the staff’s student editors, OR HOWEVER THE DECISION IS MADE will determine the content, including all unsigned editorials. The views stated in editorials represent that of a majority of the editorial board. Signed columns or reviews represent only the opinion of the author. NAME OF PUBLICATIONPRODUCTION may accept letters to the editor, guest columns and news releases from students, faculty, administrators, community residents and the general public.
Content decisions:
Final content decisions and journalistic responsibility shall remain with the student editorial board. NAME OF PUBLICATION/PRODUCTION will not avoid publishing a story solely on the basis of possible dissent or controversy.
The adviser will not act as a censor or determine the content of the paper. The adviser will offer advice and instruction, following the Code of Ethics for Advisers established by the Journalism Education Association as well as the Canons of Professional Journalism.
JEA Adviser Code of Ethics, Role of the adviser
Role of the adviser
The adviser will not act as a censor or determine the content of the paper. The adviser will offer advice and instruction, following the Code of Ethics for Advisers established by the Journalism Education Association as well as the Canons of Professional Journalism. School officials shall not fire or otherwise discipline advisers for content in student media that is determined and published by the student staff. The student editor and staff who want appropriate outside legal advice regarding proposed content – should seek attorneys knowledgeable in media law such as those of the Student Press Law Center.
Ethical guidelines
Letters to the editor (if accepted by staff):
We ask that letters to the editor, guest columns or other submissions be 300 words or less and contain the author’s name, address and signature. All submissions will be verified.
The NAME OF PUBLICATION/PRODUCTION editorial board reserves the right to withhold a letter or column or other submission and return it for revision if it contains unprotected speech or grammatical errors that could hamper its meaning. Deadlines for letters and columns will be determined by each year’s student staff, allowing sufficient time for verification of authorship prior to publication.
Corrections:
Staff members will strive to correct errors prior to publication; however, if the editorial board determines a significant error is printed, the editorial board will determine the manner and timeliness of a correction.
Advertising:
The NAME OF PUBLICATION/PRODUCTION editorial board reserves the right to accept or reject any ad in accordance with its advertising policy. Electronic manipulations changing the essential truth of the photo or illustration will be clearly labeled if used. The duly appointed editor or co-editors shall interpret and enforce this editorial policy.
Ownership of student work:
Absent a written agreement indicating otherwise, student journalists own the copyright to the works they create. Each media outlet should ensure it has clear policies in place for staff members and the publication that spell out ownership and the right of the publication to use student work.
Controversial coverage:
Final content decisions and responsibility shall remain with the student editorial board. NAME OF PUBLICATION/PRODUCTION will not avoid publishing a story solely on the basis of possible dissent or controversy.
Prior Review:
Sources do not have the right to review materials prior to publication. Allowing sources to preview content at any stage of production raises serious ethical and journalistic practice questions. Reporters, following media guidelines or editor directions, may read back quotes that are either difficult to understand, unclear or may need further explanation.
Take down demands:
SCHOOL NAME student media is a digital news source, but it is still part of the historical record. STUDENT NEWS MEDIA NAME’S primary purpose is to publish the truth, as best we can determine it, and be an accurate record of events and issues from students’ perspectives. Writers and editors use the 11 “Put Up” steps before publication to ensure the validity, newsworthiness and ethics of each article. For these reasons, the editorial board will not take down or edit past articles except in extraordinary circumstances.
If someone requests a takedown, the board may consider the following resourcefor questions and actions.
Regardless of the outcome, the Editor-in-Chief will respond in writing to the request explaining the board’s action(s) and rationale for the final decision.
Unnamed sources:
Journalism is based on truth and accuracy. Using unnamed sources risks both of those standards. For that reason, students should seek sources willing to speak on the record. Unnamed sources should be used sparingly and only after studentsevaluate how the need for the information balances with the problems such sources create.
Occasionally, a source’s physical or mental health may be jeopardized by information on the record. In this instance, journalists should take every precaution to minimize harm to the source.
Obituary:
In the event of the death of a student or staff member, a standard, obituary-type recognition will commemorate the deceased in the newspaper and online news site. A maximum one-fourth page feature, or similar length for each obituary, should be written by a student media staff member and placed on the website within 24 hours and in the newspaper at the bottom of page one.
For the yearbook, if the fatality happens prior to final deadline, the staff might include feature content as the editors deem appropriate. For those unofficially affiliated with the district, the editor(s)-in-chief should determine appropriate coverage, but should not include an official obituary.
For more information
- Foundationspackage.
- Priorreview-restraint.
- QuickTips.
- JEA AdviserCode of Ethics.
- Choosingthe right forum
For past Constitution Day materials, go here.
Ethical guidelines suggest
best practices for your student media
Ethical guidelines
What is it/definition: Ethical guidelines in journalism help guide students to make good decisions and the think critically. Because there is no right or wrong, students become ethically fit by making decisions without review, by examining possible decisions and projecting effects of their decisions. Being ethically fit also means preparing ethical decision making that relies more on “green light” rather than ”red light” process and guidelines.
Important items of note
The “green light” principles encourages students to go after their story with approaches thought out and dangers identified. A “red light” approach would argue the risk outweighs the value and possible avoidance of the story. Products of this decision making are codes of ethics and long-term ethical guidelines and staff manual procedures presented in this section.
Guideline: Develop ethical guidelines and staff procedures rooted in ethical thinking and acting that carry out student media’s journalistic mission, policy and the journalistic, social and civic responsibilities they create.
Procedure: Develop a working code of ethics to help student staffers and media audiences better understand and practice ethical decision-making that contribute to the highest standards of journalism.
Quick Tip:
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.
Quick Tips index A list of nearly 70 journalism processes showing the interaction between every day journalistic processes and actions and ethical principles.
JEA Curriculum
Introducing Students to Takedown Requests
When the requests come – and they will come – for your student staff to take down materials already published either in print or online, what criteria will they use to make the decision – and why? Students will learn what takedown demands are, examine criteria needed to craft responses and develop guidelines for when a request occurs.
Making Informed Takedown Decisions
This is the second of three lessons related to takedown requests, and students will practice making informed decisions regarding takedown requests using case studies. This lesson should be used only after the lesson “Introducing Students to Takedown Requests.”
Crafting the Argument Against Prior Review and Censorship
Building the case against prior review and restraint: talking points to help start a discussion between advisers and administrators
Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Always Mean You Should
Another Way to Examine Ethics: Red Light, Green Light
When Journalists Must Navigate Ethical Situations
Exploring the Issues with Anonymous Sources
With Freedom of the Press Comes Great Responsibility
The Importance of Dissenting Voices
When Journalists Err Ethically
Podcast/RPM:
Press Rights Minute: A series of 60 second audio clips that introduce journalistic topics of importance, many of which deal with ethics.
SPRC blogs
Responsibility in scholastic media starts with accuracy, complete storyAdministrators may want student media that depicts the school in a positive light, that promotes good news and overlooks the negative.
Is this responsible journalism?
Advisers may want student media that reflects students’ technical proficiency such as mechanics, grammar and style. Little else matters.
Is this responsible journalism?
JEA Adviser Code of Ethics Like students, advisers and teachers can have a journalism Code of Ethics.
The foundations of journalism: policies, ethics and staff manuals This is the core, 4-part set of principles, legal statements, guidelines and procedures used to set the tone, the standards and path to success of your student media, Mouse across the black area below “spectrum expression.” Double click on the numbers for information, rationale and models. You will link to the sitemapof numerous files.
Model for ethical guidelines, process This model shows how to outline the process and procedures implementing the action. It would then become an essential part of student media’s staff manual. An example would be Adviser responsibilities.
A class activity to learn both law and ethicsAsk some teachers already in the classroom, ask their principals, and, while they would know it’s not all one word, they might be hard pressed to explain the difference between law and ethics.
Fake news is like a social disease; we need to treat more than its wounds The spread of fake news is like a socially transmitted disease for which we now only treat the wounds, Kelly McBride, Vice President, The Poynter Institute, told those attending the Fake or Fact? at Kent State University. Simply defining fake news, McBride said, will not help the problem. Reaching students and young people through awareness and education will do more.
Fake News: Tools of Truth landing page Given the importance of knowing how to deal with fake, deceptive and misleading information, we developed this set of lessons.
CJE test-takers need not fear law and ethics questions Both the Certification and Scholastic Press Rights Committees agree — without a solid foundation in law and ethics, advisers can have the most well-written stories, appealing designs, innovation multimedia, but if a reporter plagiarizes or a photographer just downloads and publishes someone else’s copyrighted image, you’re going to have problems.
Crossing the line: student challenges public media ethicsWhen a television reporter crossed the line to get a story about a local high school’s security system that led to a school lockdown, a student journalist challenged the media’s ethics.
The rules of the journalistic road start with law and ethics While students are infatuated and seemingly obsessed with online and social media, the essential fundamentals of journalism — including laws and ethics — need to, as “boring” as they may be, need to a dominant part of any education curriculum.
Help with crafting policies and ethical guidelines for student mediaOur interest in developing the project began when we found several instances when a school administrator in a potential censorship situation wanted to enforce — even punish — students for not following ethics statements because policy, ethics and staff manual points were all intermixed in a common document that the school administrator presumed he had the authority to enforce based on his interpretation.
Evaluating journalistic content: an ethics lesson Using Vox-style coverage, students will compare and evaluate their content approaches with others and frame ways to improve their coverage approaches.
Online comments: Allow anyone to post, or monitor and approve first. An ethics lessonYour students are online and just published their first real controversial reporting. Comments, positive and negative, begin to pile up. How do students handle them?
How much information is enough for a story? An ethics lesson What makes for good reporting? In print? Online? Is the practice of “All you need to know about X” bad for journalism? In working on those questions, students will also work on formulating corrections for weak practices. They will also work toward forming defenses of stronger processes and policies. One way or another, students will decide the kind of policy they would develop to create an effective and credible news practice. This could involve guidelines or policy for the staff manual.
Taking your student media online: Will students follow online news media?
An ethics lesson What should you consider before taking your student media online? This lesson will examine areas students should explore prior to transitioning to online.
Is print dead? An ethics lesson Can students read the Constitution in its original form (cursive)? What could this mean for paper consumption?
When law and ethics and good journalism combine Editors of the Shakerite have class at 8 a.m., and they had a lot to discuss Sept. 11. Editor Shane McKeon and campus and city editor John Vodrey had the police report showing that what the principal, in his letter to parents, said was an assault had really been classified by the police as a rape.
Part 3 of a three part series. Part 2 Part 1
Ethics codes are invaluable in student journalism, but not as a guide for punishment Members of the student media and their advisers study and often adopt Codes of Ethics developed by professional media societies. But a distressing trend is emerging in our schools: Administrators who demand that student journalists or media advisers be punished for perceived breaches of these codes.
My question is this: How can an ethics code logically be used as a tool for punishment when it is not possible to enforce such a code?
Ethics by any other name: Why process is more important than verbiage
Ethics is not as much a moving target as today’s media pundits might have us believe. Quite simply, ethics is a conscious effort, above all other motives, to do the right thing for our readers, subjects and the public’s right to know.
Ethics workshops offers videos, lesson plans When Kent State University and The Poynter Institute team up for their annual ethics workshop, they don’t forget high school journalism teachers and students. Keynoter — and the subject of one set of plans — was Jose Antonio Vargas, the opening speaker at the National High School Journalism convention in Los Angeles in the spring. Archived videos of his very personal and passionate talk about being an undocumented immigrant plus videos of all the other panels of the day are now available online.
Develop, follow code of ethics No matter which media platform you use, ethics will play a daily role in your decision making. Rushworth Kidder in “How Good People Make Tough Choices” says ethics is a “right versus right” process.
‘Whad’ya know?’ New teachers should answer, ‘Law and ethics’ As Wisconsin Public Radio’s Michael Feldman asks each week, “Whad’ya know?” Sadly, even some secondary school journalism teachers with proper credentials can answer, like Feldman’s audience, “Not much!”
At least that appears to be true when it comes to law and ethics.
And some teachers don’t know much because no one required them to learn much to get their jobs
Ethics in the eye of the storm When Hurricane Sandy hit the United States early last week, citizens turned to Twitter for a constant stream of information. The hashtag #Sandy provided hundreds of live perspectives each minute, including photos of the impending storm and subsequent devastation.
For those covering the story live, the storm spawned an entirely new lexicon of descriptors (“Frankenstorm” among the most widely-used) and created an ethical dilemma all-too-common in today’s instant media environment: How to sort the fact from the fiction?
Common Core has room for law and ethics Like so many things, it’s good news and bad news. The Common Core State Standardsactually may help us show how journalism has skillseveryone should know, but in the process could we be losing support to teach the very framework necessary to use our voices in democracy?
In other words, where does teaching law and ethics fit with the new standards?
Nowhere that’s obvious, that’s for sure, but maybe we can find niches that aren’t so apparent.
Visual guidelines join online, yearbook ethics Because student media designers, photographers and illustrators also face ongoing ethical decisions, we are releasing a third set of ethical guidelines to aid your students as they play critical roles in the decision making process for your media.
Teaching ethics: Making it personal I remember vividly the day my high school newspaper adviser called an emergency editor meeting. Editors filed into the office, lunch bags in hand, and waited not-so patiently to hear what the fuss was all about.
The importance of context: A lesson on ethics and editing In 2012, NBC officials bore the brunt of an outraged public when the Today Show played a poorly edited 9-1-1 tape from the Trayvon Martin shooting investigation. The tape, some argued, unfairly portrayed Zimmerman as racist. This lesson explores the ethics of proper editing as well as the journalistic mandate that context never be sacrificed for brevity.
OP/Ed writing with an ethics twist: An in-class lesson This lesson was inspired by the recent Twitterfest regarding Kansas high school student Emma Sullivan’s tweet about the governor during a trip to the capital. The lesson will take 30+ minutes, and students will need their own paper and pencil. Here are some links for background information on the incident, which will come in handy toward the end of the lesson.
Yearbook ethics guidelines The publication yearbooks create will serve as a record/history book, memory book, business venture, classroom laboratory and public relations tool for the district. Because the functions of the publication are so far reaching, and the publication itself is an historical document, the ethical questions facing the yearbook staff are challenging and unique.
Online ethics guidelines for student media As student media staffs explore digital media to gather information, tell stories, promote their work and handle comments, they will encounter ethical questions both familiar and unique.
5 activities to consider before next fall Looking for end-of-year activities to rebuild or revisit how your student media operate, the range and effectiveness of content, no matter the platform?
Consider the following, either now at the end of the year or during summer staff retreats, to help students strengthen your program’s foundation.
Pursuit of accurate information clearly part of scholastic journalism’smission When a student journalist pursues a story and, as H.L. Hall would say, “digs” for information, most journalism educators would be pleased.
And so too, you think, would administrators.
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. In fact, it’s becoming more common for school czars to be rankled by a student’s dogged pursuit of information.
Celebration and grief: Parkland students embody importance of student voices du ring Scholastic Journalism Week Normally, Scholastic Journalism Week is about celebrating the hard work of student journalists around the country. JEA spotlights great student coverage, publications staffs wear journalism t-shirts and sweatshirts and show off their mastery of the First Amendment. We make videos to share the inner workings of student newsrooms and get our communities engaged and excited about that work.
But this Scholastic Journalism Week, as our nation reeled from yet another horrific school shooting, the last thing on the minds of student journalists at Stoneman Douglas High School was celebration.
Second day concerns It’s not the first day of school that has me worried. It’s the second.
St. Louis Park’s first day involves some get-to-know-you activity, but we start content on the second. And this is why I’m worried.With the summer of fake news and recent news of the events of Charlottesville, Virginia, I want my students to understand why what they do is so important.
So, on the second day, we will revisit our mission statement.
No license, no car Why is it important to start with the fundamental press law and ethics? Equate it to driver’s education – you don’t get the keys to the car and go on the road until you know the rules of the road. While Tinker and Hazelwood are not the foundation of press law, when it comes to scholastic journalism, they are an essential part of the foundation. All journalists should know the basics of media ethics and law before they go on an interview, take a picture or start recording video.
They need the freedom to make mistakes, too Scholastic press freedom is a big responsibility, and true freedom comes when young journalists aren’t just free to do great journalism but also are free to make journalistic mistakes and learn from them. As teachers and advisers, we work hard to teach our student journalists the principles, skills and ethics they need while fostering their abilities to problem solve and communicate.
JEA is proud to sign statement in support of freedom of the press As organizations committed to the First Amendment right of freedom of speech and the press, we are alarmed by the efforts of the President and his administration to demonize and marginalize the media and to undermine their ability to inform the public about official actions and policies.
Enemy of the American people Never before in American history, or the history of American journalism, has the media and the First Amendment come under such ridicule and hatred by a sitting president. Instead of being dubbed “watchdogs” who protect the public’s right to know, mainstream journalists have been labeled “the enemy of the American People.”
Our tasks for the future: Building a Tool Kit of trust, integrity Trust. Trust in sources, information, journalists. Trust in audiences. Trust in education. Ways to help student journalistsand their audience fight fake news and bad journalism begin in middle and high school, and especially in journalism programs.
Just this once: FSW 2 The American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee released “The Speaker … A Film About Freedom” in 1977. The film, in its original form, comes with a discussion guide. Today, the websitefor it has the discussion guide and links to coverage about the film and other pertinent articles. Controversial in 1977, the film today hits at many current issues surrounding free speech. Note the date, 1977. Clothing and style reflect that timeframe. It might take students a while to get beyond that and into the First Amendment issues.
Publishing satire Satire can make for entertaining writing, however two major points should be considered when discussing the inclusion of satire: 1: Will readers get “it?” and 2: Even if readers do get “it,” are you walking a fine line with the type of content expected of your publication and that which isn’t necessarily journalistic?
Satire: Easy to confuse when used without context Listening with a skeptical ear: A lesson on how to check out source accuracy and credibility. Aw, satire. So fun and entertaining when done well. How many times have I been taken aback for a second by an Onion headline? More than I care to share! Satire can be very powerful when done with purpose, but satire for the sake of satire often falls flat
Listening with a skeptical ear: A lesson on how to check out source accuracy and credibility Student journalists must able to separate valid from questionable information and know how to determine if sources and their messages are credible.
Limits to taking a stance in front page design? Was it OK for student newspaper to Rainbow Filter its Twitter profile pic? Student journalists have always been taught standards of objectivity. The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on same sex marriage led at least one publication, The Daily Evergreen of University of Washington, to make a statement in its nameplate.
Should news media neglect events or people? During the last presidential election, the Huffington Post announced it would only report Donald Trump’s bid for the Republican nomination for president on the entertainment pages.Historically, many would argue this decision runs counter to the journalistic concept of objectivity. Others argue journalism’s changing roles and thinking of what is news preclude “events” simply designed for attention, without substance. Although it later changed its mind, the paper brought up a new issue: the right to be unknown and media’s right to ignore.
User-generated content Journalists should treat user-generated content the same as any content they create in terms of accuracy, verification, credibility, reliability and usability.
Letters to the editor and online comments 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.
Linking to sources To increase a publications’ transparency, students should clearly show links to sources used in reporting in a consistent process. Providing links to sources creates a sense of credibility and thoroughness in the reporting process.
Social media use 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.
Use of profanity 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).
The role of student media Journalists often are considered mirrors on society. As such, journalism should reflect the community in which it is produced. In order to also maintain their watchdog function, journalists must also be able to act as candles that illuminate and challenge a community’s values and preconceptions.
Balance and objectivity Journalists should prioritize balance and objectivity as a staff philosophy and content standard. Staff members can help achieve this by increasing staff diversity and seeking multiple perspectives.
Staff conduct Students participating in scholastic media should hold themselves to high standards to earn and preserve trust and respect from the audiences they serve. Lapses in judgment affect the staff as well as the credibility of the media they produce. Students should realize that discipline problems or poor choices extend beyond individual consequences.
Academic dishonesty Students should be honest in all stages of their work. Dishonesty is a serious offense and should not be tolerated. Dishonesty compromises the integrity and credibility of the student publication. The editorial board and/or adviser should address any instance of academic misconduct immediately.
News judgment and news values 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.
Treatment of minors All sources deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, but there are special legal and ethical situations that apply to minors. In general, minors are anyone under the state’s legal age of adulthood, usually 18.
SPLC resources:
Other resources:
Related Content: Foundation/ Staff Guidelines | Mission| Policy | Staff Manual | Prior Review | Restraint | Censorship
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