Laws, Ethics & News Literacy
Student Press Law Center Question
I wrote coverage of a vaccine drive (see Web and Social Media) at my school, and interviewed a student who was getting vaccinated at the drive. In the story, I identified the student as being unvaccinated in the transition where I introduced them, so I reached out to the Student Press Law Center to ensure that I was not violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and revealing sensitive personal health information in doing so.
The basic foundation of journalism are laws, ethics, and news literacy. From the beginning of my time as a journalist, I was constantly reading the New York Times and other news sources, consuming news, and learning what it was supposed to look like and what I should be doing. I learned about journalism ethics, and being fair, balance and accurate, all things that I strive to always keep at the forefront of my mind.
Navigating FERPA -- special education source
For a story that I wrote about 504 plans and Individualized Education Programs at my school, and how they were impacted by COVID-19, teachers and special education department members were not able to provide me with the names of student sources, as that would violate FERPA by revealing their status as students with special education needs. I went through the Special Education Department Chair to be referred to the parent of a student with an IEP, with the stipulation that the interview be conducted anonymously.
Centegix corrections
I wrote a story about a new security badge system that was used in my school, which included a quote from one of our administrators saying that the badges did not have GPS capabilities. A representative for the security company contacted us about the quote being incorrect, so the Editor-In-Chief and I re-transcribed the initial interview for accuracy, called the Safety Coordinator for CCSD to communicate about the issue, and obtained an accurate quote about the Centegix Badges. We updated the story with the correct information and a message about the correction.
Session with Mary Beth Tinker
I attended a virtual NSPA 2020 Zoom session with Mary Beth Tinker, and discussed the Tinker v. Des Moines court case and its greater meaning for student journalists, as well as her career as a free speech activist.
First amendment essay contest winner
I won first place in the Georgia Scholastic Press Association first amendment essay contest, which focused on the first amendment in regards to student journalism, and the complicated topic of hate speech. I wrote about how America should have stricter hate speech laws, and how that can be done without censoring free speech and journalism. Click on the photo to read the story on the GSPA website.
Unit in Journalism 1
Our first unit in Journalism 1 was about Journalism ethics, so that we would have a base understanding. We learned about things like the SPJ code of ethics, copyright, the importance of accurate transcribing. Here is part of our Staff Manual, which has a guide to journalism legalities, that I annotated.
Media literacy project
We worked on a media literacy project, choosing several NSPA award-winning stories to read and analyze, taking note of what they did well that we could replicate. Consuming news critically is an important part of being a journalist. Click on the photo to see my full analysis.
