Laws, Ethics,
& News Literacy
"The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them"
Ida B. Wells
Understanding how to navigate controversial subjects, discuss opposing viewpoints with sources, and report polarizing events in a nonpartisan manner is a key goal of everything I produce as a journalist.
I have reported on a number of topics that are considered politically controversial, and I have handled each one with as much attention to detail as possible, taking time to carefully examine each point of view on a subject. I've conducted interviews with members of opposite viewpoints for the same article and reported the story in a nonpartisan way. I actively work to assure that myself and other reporters are held to a high standard of journalistic integrity.
I've helped in leading multiple workshops to guide my peers through the journalistic process and teach them about literacy in news. My hope for my school and community is that everyone is curious and inquisitive about the news they consume, where it came from, and how it was produced.
Ultimately, a journalist's core purpose is to document others in the most accurate way attainable, which means being well-versed in the laws, ethics, and process of news production.
SPJ Code of Ethics
The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics in The School Board series
The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics has a useful list of values for reporters to follow and reference as they create content. Below are some of the ideals that I have used while writing and creating specific pieces of journalism and how I navigated situations in which they are relevant.
“Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing.”
I sat in the West Albany High School lobby, my laptop in front of me, reporter Tyler Stacy beside me, listening intently as our source spoke with harsh conviction about his coworkers. He was a member of the Greater Albany Public Schools (GAPS) School Board. He didn’t like the actions of other members, and he certainly wasn’t afraid to accuse them of misogyny. As he went on, it became increasingly clear to me that we would have to directly speak to the members of the school board that he was pointing fingers at so that they could respond directly to these criticisms. I frantically began to write down the time stamps on my recording that he discussed the other members in the margins of my notes, and finished conducting the interview before reaching out to every person mentioned by the source to schedule an interview with them.
Stacy and I reached out to all members of the school board, explaining the article we were writing and the types of controversies we were addressing. Some told us no, even after we described the allegations we needed response to. Some told us “good luck on your school assignment,” dismissing us as journalists and moving on. Those that did respond, however, we did everything in our power to schedule an interview, even though that meant staying in town long after school, traveling from office to office. We were determined to get all sides of the situation and allow every source to fully respond to the others.
“Boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience. Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear”
“Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable. Give voice to the voiceless.”
In the period of time during which students were taking measures to prevent the proposed schedule change for the 2021-22 school year from happening, there was a lot of dialogue happening on social media. I monitored the conversations happening between my peers, watching students begin to develop methods of protest and making their voices heard. There were a lot of claims and points being made that were important for me to explore.
There were several claims circulating social media that neurodivergent students in particular were concerned about their own routine and how the new schedule would affect them.
First, I wanted to contact members of the West Albany student body that actually had experience with neurodivergence. Interviews such as these gave me additional insight about the factors that were in play when deciding the schedule change. The schedule itself was meant to promote education equality between both West Albany and South Albany High School, and while many students agreed with that concept, they felt it was being addressed in a way that decreased opportunity rather than promoting it.
During my interview with the superintendent of the district for my series on this situation, I used a significant portion of the interview to discuss these concerns and ask her how these students would be accommodated for in a schedule that was highly inconsistent. We also discussed her idea of educational equality and opportunity being similar between the two schools, and in the article I worked tirelessly to balance her ideals with the beliefs of students involved. Holding school board members accountable and lifting voices that were being dismissed was the most important factor to me in this series.
Documenting and Verifying Information
The Process of Planning a Story
Every step of collecting information and planning an article is important to maintain journalistic integrity. I have a very strict way of documenting my process that ensures that there are no missing perspectives in my story or unethical slip-ups in my reporting.
Stage One: Document Set-Up
The first stage in reporting is to set up my document in an easily navigable way that helps me keep all of my information organized. Usually, I’ll have a list of sources and I’ll color code each source depending on whether they’ve been contacted, an interview is pending, or they’ve agreed to be interviewed. I also plan out some guidance questions to direct the flow of conversation while I’m interviewing them. If the article requires research, I’ll have survey questions listed to send out to students and a section of my doc where I link significant research journals and first party sources. All of the sources I pull off of the web are cross-checked and verified for misinformation. Oftentimes this means reading through scientific journals or studies to check that they were done in a statistically ethical way.
Stage Two: Interview Transcription
I don’t use any third party apps for my interview transcripts. Transcription services like Otter are helpful, but I trust myself a lot more than the AI programmed in apps, plus most transcribing services have a time limit. My interviews are recorded in a locked voice memos folder on my phone along with pictures of my notes, where I keep them for at least a year after every interview in case of a complaint, objection, or accusation that the quotes in my articles aren’t accurate. I transcribe significant parts of the interview on a separate google doc from my planning doc, and then choose from there which quotes will go into the article.
Stage Three: Verifying Information
In the case that any of my sources levy accusations against someone or tell me information unsupported by fact, I reach out to the accused person(s) in order to accurately report both sides. In the case of the school board package that can be seen in the “Reporting and Writing” section of my portfolio, I had to reach out to my sources several times to receive counter statements to accusations and understand all parties involved.
Ensuring The Whirlwind Publishes Unbiased News
When I’m editing other journalist’s stories, I’ll usually read through more than once. The first time is to check for grammar, spelling and format issues, the second is to ensure (with the exception of opinion articles) that the article is unbiased and accurately reported, and the third is to offer constructive criticism on the content of the story. Below are some of the edits from the second step, in which I encourage journalists to observe their own bias and look into resources to help correct opinionated statements.
Identifying Opinion in Editing Comments
After making comments like these, I will typically reach out to the journalist to offer help and resources to assist them in taking their opinion out of their article. After they have made all edits, I'll go back and do a quick check over their Google Doc to make sure they caught all of the opinionated statements before the article is published.
Journalism Workshops
Teaching News Literacy Through Workshops
I’ve helped out in multiple workshops throughout my career on The Whirlwind Staff. During the pandemic, I hosted a workshop in which I taught some of my peers that weren’t in journalism but were interested in learning the process. We discussed editorialization, the correct formats for articles, how to collect interviews, and more. The goal of the workshop was to inform and promote curiosity about article production in members of the student body other than The Whirlwind’s staff.
Workshop Agenda
Below is the agenda for the workshop The Whirlwind had over the pandemic. The students in the workshop and the head editors met in a Zoom meeting two days a week for two weeks. Most of the material was taught by me, and I organized the agenda and all of the resources necessary.