Use of VR by scholastic media QT 60
Key points/action:
According to its proponents, Virtual Reality offers virtual and immersive storytelling that puts audiences into the scene and enables them to feel such emotions as fear. VR, proponents say, gives people authentic reactions of those in the real situation.
Commercial news media, and others,k are trying VR out across the country. Columbia Journalism Review calls VR “ascendant,” and cites ongoing projects like Harvest of Change and Project Syria. CJR also cites growing consumer interest in VR.
Despite commercial use and excitement about VR’s use, questions still remain for its use in scholastic media. The best thing for staffs to consider is whether using VR as telling stories or presenting news is the best platform or approach.
Some questions:
• Accuracy of context?
• Does its use reflect the preciousness of the real event?
• Is the information expressed in context?
• Are the images accurate and in context?
• Has nothing been added not in the “live” event itself?
What guidelines should student media adapt or create for VR that maintain the best of journalism’s ethical standards?
Stance:
We feel there are no quick and easy answers, but plenty of ethical room for discussion and implementation of workable guidelines.
Reasoning/suggestions:
Before spending funds of the tools needed to make VR become a local and effective tool, student study how journalism organizations use it or plan to use it and how they handle ethical concerns.
Resources: The Future of News: Virtual Reality- TED Talks
Virtual reality is journalism’s next frontier – Columbia Journalism Review
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Ad Placement QT53
Newspapers used to keep in-depth, front page and opinion pages completely separated from advertising.
The thinking was the advertising and promotion of products should not appear to influence a newspaper’s editorial choices. They wanted to keep their most important pages dedicated to the content they deemed most important.
These self-imposed guidelines have relaxed significantly in recent years. Newspapers include ads on front pages and on in-depth pages, often in prominent places on the outside edges.
Most newspapers do still keep the editorial pages free of advertising in order to keep their editorial content free from explicit or inferred influence.
When students secure advertising for the newspaper, editors must decide where that content will go. In order to maintain the integrity of the most important aspects of your newspaper.
They need to make sure their advertising is placed away from editorial pages and in-depth content, but consider carefully what compromises they might make on the front page.
If there is page page advertising, what premium price should get from advertiser(s).
Guideline:
Ads will touch student produced content on the inside pages of the publication with no ads on the editorial or in-depth pages.
Organizations directly competing with each other will be placed on different pages, when possible. Special pricing will be available for ads that run in color on the back page.
Question: Where do we put all of these ads we’re getting?
Stance: Advertising must not show up on editorial pages, in-depth pages or the front page.
Reasoning/suggestions: When students secure advertising for the newspaper, editors must decide where that content will go. In order to maintain the integrity of the most important aspects of the news medium. Ensure advertising is placed away from editorial pages, in-depth content and your front page.
If students opt to run ads on the front page, the ad shouldn’t overwhelm the content or appear to be actual news content. This is a longstanding principle with most publications and is meant to avoid the potential for conflicts of interest.
Advertising must be clearly recognizable and differentiated from the most import and highest profile content.
Resources:
Student media guide to advertising law, SPLC
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Handling sponsored content, native ads QT52
Although it is quite possible scholastic media will never face making a decision to run material known as sponsored content or native ads, students and advisers should prepare guidelines just in case.
Sponsored content and native advertising, two media terms for paid materials, are becoming a fact of life for media and consumers. That said, student media, when faced with publishing them, should act carefully and with the best interests of the audience/consumer first.
Scholastic media owe it to their audiences to expect clearly sourced and non-slanted information, particularly with so much concern with fake news.
Guideline
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.
Question: Should your student media accept sponsored content?
Key points/action: Sponsored content and native advertising, two media terms for paid materials, are becoming a fact of life for media and consumers. That said, student media, when faced with publishing them, should act carefully and with the best interests of the audience/consumer first.
Since it is financed ads or reporting, it can be fake news or at least deceptive information, and approached carefully.
Stance: We believe sponsored content can be accepted and published while still protecting the integrity and credibility of student media.
Reasoning/suggestions: Students must create clear guidelines for publishing sponsored content. Recommendation for inclusion in those guidelines should include:
- Prominent and clear identification of the piece as sponsored content.
- A clear statement, at least on the op-ed pages or their equivalent, of why your student media publish sponsored content and who paid for the piece or benefits from its publication.
- Verification, as much as is possible, of the credibility and factualness of information and sources in the piece.
- A concise statement, at least on the op-ed pages or their equivalent, that what your editorial board’s support of included material is Ex: this content does not necessarily represent the view of your media or school system).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
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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Handling controversial ads/content QT51
Student media should not discriminate against advertising based on students’ personal beliefs.
For example, students should attempt to include advertisers from multiple perspectives. According to the federal court decision in Yeo v. Lexington, student editors have the right to reject advertisements and school administrators are not legally responsible for advertising decisions students make.
A potential advertiser proposes an ad for your student media concerning a controversial product or service — tanning salons, for example. It’s money, but you also know recent studies show the possible harmful effects of such tanning.
How do you handle the request? What obligations do you have in terms of social responsibility, ethics and health-related issues. Likewise, you may be presented with an ad for an organization many in your staff or student body do not support.
The best path to resolve those questions and face the issues is to prepare for them ahead of time.
Guidelines: Students should not discriminate against advertising based on their personal beliefs. For example, students should attempt to include advertisers from multiple perspectives. According to the federal court decision in Yeo v. Lexington, student editors have the right to reject advertisements and school administrators are not legally responsible for advertising decisions students make.
Question: Should there be a point when media don’t accept ads?
Key points/action: A potential advertiser proposes an ad for your student media concerning a controversial product or service — tanning salons, for example. It’s money, but you also know recent studies show the possible harmful effects of such tanning.
How do you handle the request? What obligations do you have in terms of social responsibility, ethics and health-related issues. Likewise, you may be presented with an ad for an organization many in your staff or student body do not support.
The best path to resolve those questions and face the issues is to prepare for them ahead of time.
Stance: While there are no quick and easy answers, you can build ethical room for discussion by anticipating the issues.
Reasoning/suggestions: First, is it a right v wrong situation? That’s easy. If a right v right ethical situation, then you should have a process of weighing issues.
Develop a set of criteria best suited to your school and its communities. Whose values are the most crucial to the communities? Harm no one? Free expression? Credible information and from which point of view?
Our recommendation is to develop an ethical guideline outlining your key values and then develop a checklist to help students through the decision-making process.
Resources: SPLC Advertising FAQs
SPRC: Advertising
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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Keeping ads and content separate QT50
Student journalists should maintain a wall between promotional/paid content and journalistic content.
That historical wall should remain intact to help reassure audiences the content they receive is as thorough and complete as possible.
As Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel say in The Elements of Journalism, journalists’ first loyalty is to the truth while maintaining an independence from those they report.
Student journalists should develop their policies and guidelines maintaining this separation. A broad ethical guideline should explain this reasoning, and staff manual procedures should outline procedures for maintaining it.
Details could include statements on pairing ads, paid content and acceptance of gifts, as examples.
Guideline: Student journalists should maintain a wall between promotional/paid content and journalistic content.
Key points/action: Journalists have historically kept the financial aspects separate from reporting and editorial functions to avoid charges of bias. Some evidence of blurring this line occurs in today’s media.
Stance: That historical wall should remain intact to help reassure audiences the content they receive is as thorough and complete as possible.
As Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel say in The Elements of Journalism, journalists’ first loyalty is to the truth while maintaining an independence from those they report.
Reasoning/suggestions: Student journalists should develop their policies and guidelines maintaining this separation. A broad ethical guideline should explain this reasoning, and staff manual procedures should outline procedures for maintaining it.
Details could include statements on pairing ads, paid content and acceptance of gifts, as examples.
Resources:
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.