The Latest
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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…
Ownership of student content
Ethical guidelines Absent a written agreement indicating otherwise, student journalists own the copyright to the works they create. Each media outlet should ensure it has clear policies in place for staff members and the publication that spell out ownership and the right of the publication to use student work. Staff manual process Several options exist…
Working with a board-approved policy
Policy Staffs should include the district policy in their staff manuals if available. If not, they should work towards reaching agreement with the administration and school board for a policy all can agree makes the most educational sense. Three examples of these board policies are available, each with that same basic premise but…
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…
Correcting errors
Ethical guidelines Mistakes happen. What matters is how student journalists handle such situations. Student editors should correct errors as quickly and visibly as possible. Sometimes this means correcting a print error on a website and then following up in the next issue. Staff manual process When a reader or viewer has identified an error,…
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…
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.
Policy model 3
Policy 3: Freedom of expression and press freedom are fundamental values in a democratic society. The mission of any institution committed to preparing productive citizens must include teaching students these values, both by lesson and by example. For these purposes, as well as to teach students responsibility by empowering them to make and defend their…
Policy model 2
Policy 2: [NAME OF SCHOOL] student media are designated public forums in which students make all decisions of content without prior review from school officials. Freedom of expression and press freedom are fundamental values in a democratic society. The mission of any institution committed to preparing productive citizens must include teaching these values and providing…
Policy model 1
Policy 1: [NAME OF SCHOOL] student media are designated public forums in which students make all decisions of content without prior review by school officials. Comment: This contains only the basic statement of journalistic responsibility. It is usable at the board level to outline the basic principles of external oversight, leaving the process to other…
Questions about public forum status
When your publication is a public forum and when it is not by Mark Goodman, Professor and Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism, Kent State University School officials’ ability to legally censor school-sponsored student expression at public junior high and high schools is determined by whether they can meet the burden the First Amendment places on…
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…