LAW, ETHICS & NEWS LITERACY
This high school newsroom provided me with more real-world experience than anything else I've been a part of. Whether it's writing an editorial policy or deciding how to handle a difficult source, I've developed an ethical thought process that will help me with future issues I run into.
EDITORIAL POLICY
In past years the only editorial policy we had was a small paragraph at the front of every issue. It didn't include how we deal with take-down requests, harsh online comments, controversial issues — the list went on and on.
After running into these problems several times, I took it upon myself to draft an editorial policy and work with our editorial board to make alterations. Since it's now posted to our website, it clearly establishes our policies and allows us to refer readers there if they have any questions or concerns.
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Here's an in-depth look at the old and new editorial policies:
OLD POLICY
This policy was very broad and hadn't been touched for years. We ran into issues this summer because it wasn't detailed enough, so it desperately needed a change.
The Harbinger is Shawnee Mission East High School’s student-run newspaper publication and includes both a print and online presence. With a goal to educate and entertain, The Harbinger staff produces content that includes pieces of writing, design, photography, videography, podcasts, broadcast, social media storytelling and multimedia.
The Harbinger staff is expected to follow the Student Press Code of Ethics and the core values will be discussed at the beginning of each school semester.
Published editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff. Signed columns published in the Harbinger express the writer’s personal opinion. The content and opinions of the Harbinger do not represent the student body, faculty, administration or Shawnee Mission School District. Content other than editorials, columns, review pieces or personal opinions are written to inform the general public and should remain unbiased.
NEW POLICY
The first paragraph establishes who we are as a publication and how our goal is "to educate and entertain." If we're questioning whether or not to cover something, we can now make the decision based on if it fits this goal of our publication.
We clearly established our staff follows the NSPA Code of Ethics because we strive for the journalistic integrity shown in their core values. We previously had no solid code, so going over this at the beginning of each school year will help staffers understand the importance of being responsible and fair journalists.
We've had issues in the past year regarding opinion pieces, so this section ensures our reader understands editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff, while columns are personal opinions. Especially in an election year, we also established that other content will remain unbiased to provide fair coverage.
The Harbinger will not share any unpublished content, but quoted material may be confirmed with the sources. Staff members are expected to ask the interviewee if they are comfortable being recorded. They will also keep recordings of interviews to ensure accuracy. If any piece of research is used within a story, staff members are expected to accurately cite and credit the source.
This interview section is repeated to our staffers consistently to ensure they all understand the importance of asking to record interviews and keeping the recordings so we don't run into any legal problems.
The Harbinger will not publish material that is unnecessarily unwarranted or an invasion of privacy, and this will be determined by the editors. The Harbinger will not print any derogatory terms or symbols.
Controversial issues will be determined as such and discussed by editors before publishing. Sensitivity training will occur yearly. Outside of opinion pieces, all sides of political issues will be covered thoroughly to ensure an unbiased presence.
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Any concerns or questions about the media may be submitted to The Harbinger’s email, smeharbinger@gmail.com. The editors reserve the right to determine whether a piece of content needs to be altered or taken down from the website. Published content will remain published unless the editors deem the reason for retraction impacts a person’s livelihood and they can provide proof of such.
The Harbinger encourages letters to the editors, but reserves the right to reject them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple letters of the same topic and personal attacks contained in the letter. The Harbinger will not edit content though letters may be edited for clarity, length or mechanics. Letters should be sent to room 413B or emailed to smeharbinger@gmail.com.
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This is the section we can refer staffers to when deciding whether to make a source anonymous. It only needs to be done if deemed an invasion of privacy by the editors.
2020 was filled with controversial issues, so this section reiterates that those topics will be heavily discussed by the editorial board before moving forward. We will also begin sensitivity training to ensure we aren't oblivious to issues we can't understand.
These two sections cover how to contact us. After receiving emails to take content down, we also established the editors have control over that decision.
LAW & ETHICS PRESENTATION
Our staff consists of a large group of student journalists who are eager to cover the news at our school, but the first step in doing that well is to establish a solid law and ethics understanding.
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Throughout my first year on staff, I was confused about what ethics means and how it applies to our staff because no one clearly explained it. So as an editor, I developed this presentation that goes over our editorial policy, the expectations from each staffer and snippets of the NSPA Code of Ethics that can help everyone be responsible:
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NEWS LITERACY
COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, the election — 2020 was a year chock full of heavy topics that I was responsible for covering as an editor. But at the same time, journalism received an incredibly negative reputation and fake news claims circled around the nation and our school.
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My legal and ethical knowledge comes into play with news literacy too. Our staff needs to have a firm grasp on those concepts so our community takes us seriously and our work is respected.
The biggest challenge of my journalism career was learning how to report those three main topics well while remaining unbiased and factually correct, so here are a few examples from this year of how I handled the ethics behind each topic.
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COVID-19
We have seemingly-never-ending coverage of COVID-19 on our website. But while covering a pandemic, it's crucial for us to carefully consider everything we say to ensure accuracy and minimize harm. Here's a look at my news-feature I wrote about the pandemic and how I used my legal and ethical knowledge to do it well.
ANONYMOUS SOURCES
FACT-CHECKING
This news-feature was about college students who partied through the pandemic while COVID-19 cases sky-rocketed in their towns.
My biggest challenge with this story was getting students to admit their behavior, and I had to be very conscious of the legal repercussions they may face if this story printed their name. After searching through police department websites, I found several cities where sources could potentially face legal fines or jail time because they gathered in large groups after ordinances were passed.
In the NSPA Code of Ethics, it states that we should "determine if full disclosure of information may jeopardize student welfare unnecessarily," so I decided to use fake names to protect their identity.
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We reminded our staffers continuously of the dangers that came with covering a pandemic and how much research needs to go into COVID-19-related stories before getting published.
In this specific news-feature, I had over 10 sources telling me what they believed had been done in their town to limit the spread of COVID-19, but I couldn't just take their word for it. The NSPA Code of Ethics says to "engage in fact-checking every story," so I heavily researched each college town's specific action to ensure their reports were accurate.
BLACK LIVES MATTER: KNOWING MY RIGHTS
When the Black Lives Matter protests spread through the country, it was crucial that my staff and I knew our rights as journalists. Before I attended the protest in my neighborhood to write the following story, I researched the First Amendment and what that truly meant for me in this context.
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According to a guide from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, "Journalists covering protests have the same rights as other members of the public to observe, photograph, and record in public places," so I knew I could legally attend protests and cover them for our publication.
THE ELECTION: REMAINING UNBIASED
The 2020 election was historic. The fake news claims being thrown around made it even more important for us as a newspaper publication to report on the election in the most ethical and accurate way.
While putting together our election package, we needed to remain unbiased. We set up a Webex call at the very beginning of the process to make sure everyone who would be working on it understood the importance of keeping their own personal opinions out of this reporting. And while putting it together we had equal representation from students who supported each candidate.