The Latest – Page 49

Academic dishonesty

Ethical guidelines 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. Staff manual process Student editors should develop a clear process…

Public records and public meetings

Ethical guidelines Journalists have a right and responsibility to access public records and attending public meetings as part of the information-gathering process. Open records laws typically presume that records created or maintained or meetings held by a government agency are open to the public unless they fall within a few specific exemptions written into the…

Treatment of minors

Ethical guidelines 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. This poses some special concerns because often a student who is a senior may no longer be…

Covering controversy

Ethical guidelines Controversy is often in the eye of the beholder. The best way to prevent a subject from becoming controversial is to use verifiable information, in context, from reliable sources – truthful, accurate, thorough and complete reporting. Students should be able to show why they used some information and not other. They should be…

News judgment and news values

Ethical guidelines 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. Student media should also recognize while audiences are…

Diversity of sources

Ethics guidelines Coverage and sources should reflect the school population and its various communities, including a wide range of sources who represent students and staff. Staff manual process Students should take care not only to represent diversity through their sources but also in the content they pursue. Additionally, students should avoid interviewing or photographing friends…

Treatment of sources

Ethical guidelines Reporters should treat all sources as they would like to be treated: with respect and professionalism. Sources do not have to respond to questions or agree to be interviewed. Helping them to understand their information is essential to the story and will show others the importance and truth of the topic is the…

Recording sources during interviews

Ethical guidelines It may be legal in some states to record sources during an interview without their permission, but ethically, journalists always should ask permission to record an interview. Staff manual process Members of the editorial board should develop a procedure for recording sources. Suggestions Statements may include the following guidelines: • Always ask a…

Allowing sources to preview content before publication

Ethical guidelines 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. Staff manual process Student editors should develop a position on prior review requests and ensure all staff understand the process for addressing such a…

Email and texting: digital information-gathering

Ethical guidelines Journalists should conduct interviews and gather information in person as often as possible. Because it is sometimes necessary to use electronic methods such as email and text messaging, students should make clear their identity and intentions openly and professionally before using these methods. Staff manual process Students should understand that face-to-face interviews offer the…

Verification

Ethical guidelines Journalists should approach their reporting and interviewing with a healthy dose of skepticism. This doesn’t mean they should trust no one, but it means they should be aware of potential conflicts of interest or barriers to receiving accurate information. Reporters should always verify, even if the information seems incredibly obvious and simplistic. Verifying…

Unnamed sources

Ethical guidelines 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 students evaluate how the need for the information balances with the problems such sources create. Occasionally,…