Most Recent Articles
Ethical photo editing, visuals QT31
Guideline: 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.
Social Media Post: Filters are fun on social media, but are they journalistic? How do you know when editing crosses the line to unethical manipulation?
Reasoning/suggestions:
Photojournalism is still journalism, which means visual images should reflect the truth as accurately as other forms of reporting. Just as journalists shouldn’t manipulate a quote because it will “make the story sound better,” they also shouldn’t manipulate a photograph beyond basic editing that maintains the journalistic truth of the ima
Here are some tips to ensure you are being truthful visually:
- Edit digital photographs minimally; limit changes to basic cropping (without removing important context), adjusting brightness or contrast, and minor color adjustments.
- Do not flip images or edit out elements of the photo.
- Avoid staging photographs and passing them off as candid shots; this is similar to asking someone to say something for a quote you need rather than gathering candid quotes.
- Clearly label manipulated images used as art (filters, colorized images, etc.) as photo illustrations and use these sparingly to maintain the journalistic credibility of your publication.
Resources:
Visual ethics guidelines, Principal’s Guide to Scholastic Journalism
Visual Journalism, NPR Code of Ethics
Posing Questions of Photographic Ethics, James Estrin, New York Times
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
Blog – by Kristin Taylor
A reporter working on a story pauses from her transcription. “Hm,” she thinks. “This is a good quote, but my source could have said it so much better. I’ll just change it around and add a bit …”
By this point, responsible student journalists and their advisers are horrified. Of course you can’t change a source’s quote! Our job is to seek truth and report it, not to create fiction.
Yet those same students may have a harder time understanding why photo manipulation is just as problematic. In a time where social media platforms include an array of pre-made filters and changing a picture is as easy as swiping left or right, student journalists may need a reminder about the difference between ethical photo editing and unethical manipulation.
Photojournalism is still journalism, which means visual images should reflect the truth as accurately as other forms of reporting. Just as journalists shouldn’t manipulate a quote because it will “make the story sound better,” they also shouldn’t manipulate a photograph beyond basic editing that maintains the journalistic truth of the image.
Students wondering about the consequences of faking photographs professionally might benefit from reading cautionary tales about people such as Brian Walski, Souvid Datta or Narciso Contreras — these once respected photojournalists lost jobs, reputation or even awards as a result of their photo manipulation.
Here are some tips to ensure student journalists are being truthful visually:
- Edit digital photographs minimally; limit changes to basic cropping (without removing important context), adjusting brightness or contrast, and minor color adjustments.
- Do not flip images or edit out elements of the photo.
- Avoid staging photographs and passing them off as candid shots; this is similar to asking someone to say something for a quote you need rather than gathering candid quotes.
- Clearly label manipulated images used as art (filters, colorized images, etc.) as photo illustrations and use these sparingly to maintain the journalistic credibility of your publication.
Journalism is about seeking truth, and visual truth is just as important as written.
Read MoreEquipment purchase does not mean content control QT30
It has long been understood that school purchase of equipment or provision of a room that is not the only factor in who controls the content.
There other factors, including a guiding court decision.
According to Antonelli v. Hammond, “We are well beyond the belief that any manner of state regulation is permissible simply because it involves an activity which is a part of the university structure and is financed with funds controlled by the administration. The state is not necessarily the unrestrained master of what it creates and fosters.”
Even though that was about a college situation, it is applicable to student media that receive state or federal funds for their student media.
Policy and Guidelines
Students in designated forums for student expression control content decisions for their student media regardless of who bought the equipment.
Question: When and why should student media take down content, in print or online?
Key points/action: Simply put, state/government involvement in providing funding and facilities for student media does not give content control.
Guidance comes from a college case, Antonelli v. Hammond, 308 F, Supp. 1329 (D. Mass, 1970).
Stance: Advisers and student staffs need to understand and make others aware of this point, even adding it to editorial policies if applicable.
Reasoning/suggestions: According to the decision, “We are well beyond the belief that any manner of state regulation is permissible simply because it involves an activity which is a part of the university structure and is financed with funds controlled by the administration. The state is not necessarily the unrestrained master of what it creates and fosters.”
Resources: Antonelli v. Hammond, 308 F, Supp. 1329 (D. Mass, 1970). Print reference is also available on page 40 of the red edition of Law of the Student Press.
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.
Read More
Revisit your mission to empower scholastic journalists
by Lindsay Coppens, adviser of The Harbinger, Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, MA
Hopefully your publication has a mission statement as a key part of the editorial policies in your staff handbook. Even better, this mission statement is revisited and, if needed, revised at the start of each year.
Who revisits and revises it? Not the adviser, but the publication’s student editors and staff. This initial activity of reflection on and brainstorming about why they do what they do as scholastic journalists is a key part of establishing their identity and purpose as a staff, setting goals for the year, and reinforcing their autonomy as decision makers and agenda setters.
Reading, reflecting on, debating, and revising the statement each year is a great way to bring staff together and can lead to impassioned conversations about not only their role in the community but also about what aspects of that role are most important (what should be listed first?) and even the statement’s phrasing (a natural exercise for budding editors).
This activity is an opportunity to look at the statements and goals of other publications, which reinforces the habit of studying other scholastic publications for inspiration. Finally, this group reflection and revision is an excellent jumping off point for brainstorming story ideas. A strong mission statement provides a framework for editors and staff to make informed and inspired content decisions.
For example, the publication I advise has a statement that was informed by JEA models, other publications’ statements, and their own reflection and discussion:
The overall purpose, role and goal of The Harbinger is to —
- Report the news through accurate and factual reports, where information has been thoroughly gathered and verified
- Interpret events and provide perspective and leadership on issues and the impacts they have on readers’ lives
- Be accurate, fair and impartial in its coverage of issues that affect the school community
- Cover the school population and school events as effectively and accurately as possible and reflect the culture of our readers
- Be an outlet for staff members’ and readers’ views through columns, letters to the editor and online comments
- Entertain and show readers the lighter, humorous side of life
- Maintain professional standards and strive to report in a legal, objective, accurate and ethical manner.
So if establishing a mission statement is an important activity at the beginning of the school year, why blog about it in November? Because it’s essential to not pack it up, close the book, and consider it “done” once editors and staff agree on their goals. That statement of purpose and identity should be a touchstone, in fact something of a litmus test, throughout the year. Don’t bury it in a handbook or doc, but print it large and post it on the newsroom wall.
Whenever the staff brainstorms content and decides what to pursue and how, look to the mission and see how well those ideas align with goals. Use the mission statement as a checklist: make sure each aspect is covered and each goal realized in every publication cycle. Use the mission to guide editor feedback: If a submitted draft doesn’t quite fit with the mission, revisiting the core goals can help editors coach writers toward better angle or more thorough coverage.
If a piece is challenged by an administrator, being able to point back to the mission statement to show how that reporting or editorial supports the staff’s mission and does so in a responsible fashion can go a long way in defending against criticism or prior review. In fact, a student-driven mission and student-led decisions to support that mission are an excellent way of ensuring student journalists’ autonomy.
Read More
Ethical guidelines for monitoring yearbook coverage QT29
Arguably, the two biggest complaints most yearbook staffs hear are that a wide cross section of the school is not covered adequately, and quotes are not represented accurately. These are tough criticisms to hear, but staffs must consider the potential criticism while they create the book.
Putting the yearbook together is hard work, but the yearbook staff must avoid every temptation to cut corners and only take pictures of their friends, the first person they see in the hallway or the most high profile athlete, musician or student. Develop a system with a live index so you can track in real time how many times each individual has been in the yearbook and seek out underrepresented students and avoid over represented students.
Create an ethical guideline for how many times is too many times to be in the yearbook and find ways to target students who are underrepresented for your topical ro feature coverage. For example, when you ask a question for a sidebar in your sophomore section portraits, use that as an opportunity to find an underrepresented student. When you are covering the science experiment, take pictures of the student who is not the student government president.
When you gather quotes for these elements of the book, have students write them down and hand them to you on a piece of paper so that you can ensure accuracy. These quotes could then be archived with the other quotes for the page. This way you can ensure that the answer they give you is the answer that shows up in the yearbook.
Guideline:
The yearbook will ensure that each student can see himself or herself represented in the publication in a fair, equitable and accurate manner.
Social media post/question:
What are your ethical guidelines for choosing subjects for the yearbook?
Stance:
Work with your staff early to develop goals and guidelines for the year to help you ensure accurate and equitable coverage.
Reasoning/suggestions:
Putting the yearbook together is hard work, but the yearbook staff must avoid every temptation to cut corners and only take pictures of their friends, the first person they see in the hallway or the most high profile athlete, musician or student.
Students are the consumers of the book, and yearbook staffs are producing an historical document, which must include an accurate and complete picture of the student body for that year, regardless of who buys the book. Staffs must work early to establish their ethical guidelines for how they choose coverage, how they monitor who has been included and how they decide which students get selected for coverage.
Resources: Yearbook ethics guidelines, SPRC
Read More
Journalistic integrity guides student media QT28
As scholastic media advisers and students develop policies and guidelines to guide them with journalism standards, they should note these words: The only thing students have to lose as journalists is their credibility.
HL Hall, former JEA president, would tell ASNE High School Institute advisers this over a 14-year span. He would pair it with ethics, thorough reporting and leadership guidelines.
Credibility, ethics and practices boil down to one word, integrity.
Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility, The Radio Television Digital News Association states. Other media groups agree.
Students and advisers should anchor their mission statements, editorial policy, ethical guidelines and staff manual procedures within a framework that starts with integrity.
Quick Tips: Journalistic integrity guides journalism students and their media
Question: Why should scholastic media should frame their brands and practices with journalistic integrity?
Key points/action Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility states the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). The Society of Professional Journalists says it a little differently, “An ethical journalist acts with integrity.”
Both organizations would say in having integrity is basic to good journalism no matter how it is delivered.
Stance: The RTDNA and the SPJ both include the concept of media and individual integrity in their ethics guidelines and media practices.
So should scholastic news media.
Reasoning/suggestions:
Some traits and practices essential to developing integrity are the following:
- Create ethical guidelines and their practices to establish standards
- Operate to maintain the public trust
- Commit to accuracy in pursuit of journalistic activities
- Verify before publishing information
- Check source and information credibility
- Seek the truth
- Develop and practice superior methods of investigation, transparent to all involved
- Maintain independent and respectful relationships with sources, businesses and citizens
Ensure mission statement, editorial policy, ethical guidelines and staff manual practices include integrity built upon these concepts. Being transparent when integrity is compromised is also important as it shows how well students apply its principles.
Resources:
Public Media Code of Integrity
Why be transparent has replaced act independently as a guiding journalism principle
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.
Read More