The Latest – Page 50

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…

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…

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,…

Policy sets standards and staff manuals
ethically carry them out

by John Bowen It’s 3 p.m. Friday, and the final deadline is in four hours. At issue is a package covering a controversial subject of growing importance in the community. The staff is divided. Some want to publish the story because it is controversial, important and will create needed community discussion. Others say there has…

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…

Building student media foundations
with policy and ethics

Help with crafting policies and ethical guidelines for student media This project is a two-fold effort to combine policy, ethics and staff manual procedure into an integrated process where policy sets the stage for ethical guidelines and ethical guidelines shape staff manual procedure. Our interest in developing the project began when we found several instances when…

Sitemap for developing
Policy and Ethics in Student Media

Policy and Ethics Sitemap Links from the boldfaced main sections below are intended to be sequential in nature but can also be used menu style. Pick one model from policies and as many as you need from the ethics/staff manual sections and you are on your way to building your own Foundations package. We think…

How to use this guide for
ethical use of staff manuals

A strong and effective staff manual describes the procedures of the staff in accordance with best policies and specific ethical guidelines. Because a staff manual should be a collaborative creation between students and advisers, it also becomes a living document, changing as necessary to reflect the culture and practices of the staff. Each year…

General resources for Policy and Ethics
in Student Media

Resources listed here can provide additional information for ethics and staff manual development, as well as assistance for your journalism students and program. Organizations American Society of News Editors Columbia Scholastic Press Association First Amendment Coalition Journalism Education Association —Digital Media Committee —Scholastic Press Rights Committee National Association of Broadcasters National Press Photographer’s Association National…