The Latest Archives

Submissions for Making a Difference, 2015

by Jane Blystone Advisers, as you prepare for the end of year contest submissions, consider entering student work in the JEA Scholastic Press Rights Commission Making a Difference project. You can fill out this online form and upload documents for consideration for publication. Making a Difference Submissions We published our first copy of Making a Difference in hard…

Helping the John Wall New Voices Act
be a springboard for change, more legislation

North Dakota’s passage of the John Wall New Voices Act sets a good model for those of us in other states who want to protect free expression for students as they learn how that expression is the cornerstone of democracy. We should realize the importance of this passage, the first in eight years since Oregon’s passed….

New policy, ethics and staff manual elements posted

Just to give everyone a heads-up, the SPRC just published its Foundations of Journalism package to offer a new look at how editorial policies interact with ethical guidelines and staff manual procedures. The package is available at http://jeasprc.org/buildingfoundations/ and includes separate models for possible board- and media-level policies, including rationale for each. The ethics and staff manual examples…

Letters to the editor and online comments

Ethical guidelines 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. Staff manual process Print/online • A student editor must know…

Writing process

Ethical guidelines Journalists should not be so rushed in their writing, even during a 24-hour news cycle, they fail to engage fully in the writing process of drafting, editing and revising. Journalists should approach their writing from the position of “sense-maker.” That is, they are trying to help readers make sense of an issue for…

Providing context

Ethical guidelines Journalists should present relevant information in context so the audience has adequate information on which to base decisions. Context is just as important as factual accuracy and can help readers fully understand an issue and its relevance to their daily lives. Staff manual process Staff members should not only fact-check their information but…

Evaluating and critiquing content

Ethical guidelines Students should engage in a consistent and ongoing process to evaluate content of their student media. Open, constructive, robust and healthy newsroom dialogue plays a vital role in a publication’s ongoing development. Evaluating and critiquing content helps students to reflect on the process and outcome and allows them to identify areas for…

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…

Advertising

Ethical 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. Staff…

Linking to sources

Ethical guidelines To increase a publications’ transparency, students should clearly show links to sources u sed in reporting in a consistent process. Providing links to sources creates a sense of credibility and thoroughness in the reporting process. Links do not signify endorsement but an attempt to cite as accurately as possible and in context. Staff…

SPLC model guidelines for board policy
and JEA model for media-level policy

Easy access to policy models Board-level policy models: To examine the Student Press Law Center’s model policy, go here. Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Media Level policy models: To examine the Journalism Association’s model policy, go here.

Takedown requests

Ethical guidelines Journalists may be asked to remove online content for any number of reasons. Just because content is unpopular or controversial does not mean a media staff should comply with such requests. When journalists meet their goal of producing consistent, responsible journalism, they likely will choose to leave the content in question online…