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| Ethics and the Law |
That's why journalists must take their work seriously and recognize the impact they can have on their community. Many journalists have their own personal code of ethics -- a set of principles that guide the way they do their work. Their sense of ethics helps them determine what is fair when they write about others and sets standards for their own performance. Most newsrooms also have a formal set of rules of conduct for their journalists. For example, some newspapers and broadcasters will not allow their reporters to accept gifts, meals or free services from people they meet through reporting. That policy makes it clear that reporters cannot be influenced by others as they do their stories. Other news outlets refuse to let their reporters quote any "off-the-record" or unnamed sources in their stories. They want to ensure that all quotes and information can be tracked back to a specific person and that gives the story credibility among the readers. Other newsrooms have specific guidelines for staff when it comes to covering issues that they have a personal interest in. For example, a person whose spouse sits on the school board would not be permitted to do stories related to the board's work. Journalists are constantly being forced to consider ethical issues during their work days. They must always ask themselves if they are being fair and accurate in their reporting and if they are writing their stories in context. The Law: Libel and The Art of (not) Getting Sued
Don't use second-hand information. You can't get an accurate story from a friend of a friend of a guy who knows the guy who saw the accident you are reporting on. Get the facts from the source. If you can't get an interview with a believable source, that's
fine. You may have to go out and find a CONSENT IS YOUR SECOND DEFENCE. Basically, when you do an interview, the person you are talking
to will know that their comments are If the information was about the recent cuts to jobs in the
government and the source was a minister If the source says "I don't care what you print, I didn't
do it", the source just told you that anything Get information or facts from both sides of the story. Balance their opinions in print. If you can, get a source who is an authority on the subject. That gives believability to your story. FAIR COMMENT IS YOUR THIRD DEFENCE. Opinion is all right to use if it is not your own. Save personal
opinion for an editorial or for Example: If you interviewed someone protesting the prime minister's decision to cut 25% of all student funding, the protestor could call the PM a "liar." You could print it under fair comment as it is not your opinion. But make sure you attribute the statement. PRIVILEGE IS YOUR FOURTH (and last) DEFENCE. If the information is of public record, like a court case or a meeting of the government, all spoken words are of record and are written down, so you have a right to get information needed.
You must give a reference to people whose work you have put in a story. Creative people want to see that their work is identified as theirs and not someone else's. When giving reference to someone's work, include the following: The name of the writer, composer, artist, or owner For example: I'm riding down the street / I see a girl I'd like to meet / She looks my way, and I almost fall off my bike. "I Hit A Tree" When doing a review, only use what you need to make your point. It would be silly to write out an entire song or a whole paragraph of an article because it's just too long for people to read. Copyright protects your published news stories, too, by preventing others from copying the writing or opinions in your article. However, information or ideas cannot be copyrighted, so it does not stop anyone from ever using that idea for another story . Other reporters can write news stories with the same topic, except they get their own quotes from other sources, or even interview the same sources you used. For example: When the space shuttle, Challenger, exploded during takeoff, everyone did stories about it, because it was important news. Most stories had similar information, only written differently. Copyright Issues As in any research project, students must provide an online
bibliography of the resources they used in creating homepages.
It is too easy to copy material from the web and forget to respect
the intellectual property of others whether it is an article,
a graphic or an audio file. Credit must be Rules to remember:
Citing Sources Credit must be given to the authors; permission must be requested to use material and links must be provided to other people's sites as a courtesy for materials used. Excellent resources are available online to help students compile a bibliography. Citing Internet Addresses: Classroom Connect's comprehensive how-to guide for citing online information in student bibliographies. MLA Citation Examples: for both hard copy and online resources. Permissions To ensure safety on the Internet follow these 3 basic rules.
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