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Law, Ethics, & News Literacy
LAW & ETHICS
Scot Scoop Handbook
Thanks to our journalism program's ethics team, I am well versed on the laws journalists should be aware of as well as ethical considerations. The Scot Scoop staff and editors follow the same "Scot Scoop handbook" in our approaches towards the ethics regarding journalism. To ensure we are all well versed on the handbook and fully aware of the content, we have Kahoot quizzes during the year! This content ranges from takedown requests to publication during a death.
In addition, we have presentations in class regarding the different laws journalists should be aware about in case they are to be sued for their articles, and how to avoid legal issues. We cover topics such as libel and defamation, first amendment rights, and privacy.
Anonymous Sourcing
I have edited many articles throughout the years where it involved an anonymous source-- a source in which they did not want their name to be published because it can bring harm to them. When approaching publication of an anonymous source, I follow the Scot Scoop anonymous sourcing policy. Only the editor and the editor in chief will be aware of the identity, and we will change the name in the article.
Breaking News
As a Scot Scoop editor, I have had multiple writers covering breaking news within our community. These pieces have included victims from within our community and local crime. With sensitive issues, it's crucial to pay respect to the victims of the incident and oversaw the process to ensure it was covered with respect. In addition, I helped fact check all articles as since it was published within hours or so of an incident, it was crucial the information in the article was only accurate as that can be tricky when gathering information within a short amount of time.
Covering a tragedy
The Seoul Crowd Crush on Oct. 29, 2022 was truly an unimaginable tragedy. As I spoke to sources who knew people who were missing from the incident or who were in close proximity to the event, I learned about how to apply sensitivity to delicate subjects.
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I didn't want to sensationalize the story. Rather, I made sure to have a conversation with my sources about how they were doing and what they personal experience was. This allowed me to handle the interview with a sensitive hand and I was able to cover the story with respect.
NEWS LITERACY
I always make sure the follow the six principles of News literacy that all journalists and any consumers of the media must keep in mind, as stated on School Journalism.
1. Freedom of press
Our media program at school is fully self funded and thus, the school's administration has no say in what we publish. All of our writing, editing, publishing, and decisions is made by students and we are free to publish pieces despite administration warnings. I firmly believe if we want to enact change, we need to use our voices and amplify other voices through the freedom of press which is established in the first amendment. Any opposition that comes when using our voices means that this action to enact change is working.
2. Discerning fact from opinon
All of the staff on Scot Scoop makes sure our reporting is fully free of opinion. As an editor, I double check to make sure the writers opinions are not laced through any news articles. We have a separate section on Scot Scoop for any opinion articles and the headlines will always begin with Opinion:______ to ensure news and opinion are easily differentiated on the site.
3. Transparent and unbiased news
When reporting on a topics in which there could be opposing views towards a subject, I will always incorporate sources from multiple perspectives of the argument. I make sure my sources are balanced out so I'm not reporting from a biased perspective. As an editor, I will also check for this potential bias and always ask writers to have sources from multiple viewpoints to ensure the writers cover all sides of the story fairly.
4. Comprehensive articles for effective communication
Our first lessons in our journalism class is when writing news articles, include the important information in the lede and get straight to the point in the nut graf. I always follow this format when reporting to ensure my pieces effectively communicate the information the most important to the audience. When editing, I take the same approach, cutting out any unnecessary information which dulls the actual content of the article. This approach is especially important when I edit features that are usually well over 1,000 words, because conciseness is key to effective communication. Although there's more room for storytelling language in a feature, I still make sure to only keep what is relevant, which is why multimedia infographics are useful in features to convey information more efficiently.
5. Verified, substantiated information
"If your mother says she loves you, get a second source" seems to be my teacher's motto. As silly as it may have sounded when I first stepped into the journalism classroom three years ago, I now always abide by this, making sure all my information included in articles can be backed by multiple sources. If I am including data, I always make sure this is credibly researched information. When creating data journalism multimedia, I will only source my data from trusted resources.
6. Amplify the voices of citizens
I firmly believe my purpose in journalism is to amplify for the unheard voices, uplifting the voices of those who cannot speak up for themselves. I often choose topics in which I can talk to people of multiple perspectives, and through the reporting process, I can learn from their world views. From my first article ever which uplifted the voices of a struggling business post-pandemic, to my feature article which uplifted the voices of homeless youth who were stuck in the situations because of systemic issues, I always aim to abide by this idea. This principle was the core of my podcast which reported on unheard voices through a big city, and it was the reason why I started a podcast on that topic in the first place.
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