The Latest – Page 17

Student journalists are the real deal

by Cyndi Hyatt A few weeks back a student reporter asked a school administrator if she could cover a school-related banquet at a local country club, an event much touted and advertised. Sure was the response, but she would have to buy a ticket. She was not expecting that response, nor was I. After…

Seeking journalistic truth

Helping student journalists to seek the truth by Kristin Taylor What does it mean to be truthful? Is truthfulness accurate numbers and statistics? Multiple points of view? Context to help the reader understand the time and place and other circumstances? All of the above? Journalistic truth “means much more than mere accuracy,” according the seminal…

New Quick Tips listing can help provide
solutions, guides to media issues

Working on a sensitive story? Looking to add new ethical guidelines to help students deal with new technology? Want to finalize the process to use if students wish to run political ads or endorsements? Quick Tips can help with ethical guidelines supported by reasoning and staff manual procedures to reach outcomes you desire. If you…

Standards for accepting non-staff content

Standards for non-staff generated content (including student media ads) Guideline: Our publication will not accept advertising content that includes profanity, obscenity or nudity (with the exception of baby pictures for the personal ads). The editors reserve the right to edit all copy for style or to refuse an ad on the basis of its content….

Transparency

Transparency maintains credibility, strengthens reporting Guideline In order to maintain credibility, student reporters and editors should strive to be transparent in all aspects of their reporting. This includes revealing within the text of a story how interviews were obtained (if anything other than an in-person interview is used), giving proper attribution to direct quotes, as…

Unnamed sources should be used sparingly …

… and only after students evaluate how the value of the information balances with the problems such sources create 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…

Fighting self-censorship

Advisers should oppose student self-censorship, empower decision-making Advisers and students should oppose attempts at both internal and external censorship. However, that does not equate with student media covering topics that lack journalistic merit or don’t satisfy a journalistic function. Students should journalistically examine and evaluate media content. Social media post/question: Why should advisers actively oppose censorship?…

Public or independent schools:
Whose expression is protected is complex

School type, court decisions state laws and how student media are established can all have a role by Kristin Taylor If public school student journalists face censorship, they can turn to the First Amendment. Because public schools are funded by the government, school officials are government agents. Private (also known as “independent”) schools are not…

Promote online coverage with facts, without hype

When promoting, leave the rah-rah to the cheerleaderd. Supply the facts. Guideline: Staffs should have clear guidelines for the tone of information published in social media. Although tweets are often used to promote people or events, that’s not the job of news media — student-run or otherwise. Remember to be a journalist all the time and…

Handling sponsored content

Student media, when faced with publishing sponsored content, should act carefully and with the best interests of the audience/consumer first. Although it is quite possible scholastic media will never face making a decision to run content known as sponsored or native ads, students and advisers should prepare guidelines just in case. Sponsored content and native…

The importance of linking to reporting

Links in online reporting provides context, credibility and transparency for coverage by Kristin Taylor You can’t click on a print newspaper, so why should we include links in digital stories? The Nieman Foundation provides four main purposes for adding links: Links are good for storytelling. Links keep the audience informed. Links are a currency of collaboration….

Solutions Journalism

Solutions Journalism doesn’t offer its solution to issues. It does report on what others haveworked and what has not by Kristin Taylor David Bornstein co-authors the “Fixes” column in the New York Times, a column focused on solutions journalism. In his 2012 TED talk, Bornstein explains why he has pursued solutions in his investigative journalism…