Ethics
and the Law
To assist you in following proper guidelines for gathering
information on the internet, SNN has put together the following
information on legal ethics, the law and copyright issues.
This is
important information if you wish to publish your articles online.
Ethics
|
The pen is mightier than the sword.
That was true when Edward Bulwer Lytton wrote those words
in the 1800's. Words can have a powerful impact on other people.
However, with the World Wide Web, words are more powerful
than ever. Someone can make a statement in India and it can be
transmitted to New Brunswick in a matter of seconds.
If the statement is not correct, malicious or damaging, the
impact is immediate and lasting. |
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That is 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.
As
student reporters you must also follow a code of ethics.
Most newsrooms 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. As a student reporter you must
always ask yourself if you are being fair and accurate in your
reporting and if you are writing your stories in context.
It is important for you to set up a set of principles which
can guide you in publishing your articles. Check out the
Media Awareness website.
The Law:
Libel and The Art of (not) Getting Sued
|
Libel is a published false statement that is damaging to a person's
reputation. Like newspapers and magazines, the Internet is a
permanent record and can be looked at over and over again. The
key to avoiding a libel suit is to be able to prove anything
you print in a court of law. |
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TRUTH
IS YOUR FIRST DEFENCE.
When
reporting, you must remember not to 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 they 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 corroborating source
to back up the previous person's comments. Even if he/she refuses
to comment, the reporter can put it in the story. Make
the refusal of a comment important.
CONSENT
IS YOUR SECOND DEFENCE
Basically, when you are doing an interview,
the person you are talking to will know that their comments are
"on the record". That
means that everything that they say is a source of information.
He/she will ask to be "off the record"
if they do not want their name associated with the information
given. "Off the record" is a way of getting the information
from the source, without letting the student's readers know it
was him/her. You simply tell the information without attributing
the source.
If the information was about the recent cuts to jobs in the
government and the source was a minister in the cabinet, they
could say "a source said that....."
If the source says to the reporter "I don't care what
you print, I didn't do it", the source just told you that
anything you print is all right with them, so print the story.
You should record the date, time and place he/she said it, or
tape record it.
Get information or facts from both
sides of the story. Balance your opinions in print.
If you can, you should 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
opinion. You have to save personal opinion for an editorial or
entertainment reviews. Another person's opinion on your topic
is fine to use even if the comment is a bad one. That's called
fair comment.
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 you have to make sure
you attribute the statement.
PRIVILEGE
IS YOUR FOURTH (and last) DEFENCE
If the information you
are using 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.
Copyright
|
Copyright is a law giving rightful ownership to an original
piece of work. These works could be books, movies, songs, essays,
articles, letters, or poems. In Canada, original works are usually
copyrighted when they have been published, or put in a permanent
form for people to see.
Examples:
Lucy Maud Montgomery's book, "Anne
of Green Gables," or the song "Starseed," by Our
Lady Peace. |
 |
As a student reporter you must give a reference to people
whose work you 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, you must include
the following:
- The name of the writer, composer, artist,
or owner
- The title of the article, album, picture,
or other work
- The publishing or production company,
or record label
- The year it was created or published
(if available)
- Copyright symbol (©) is optional.
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"
Dave & The Bike Spokes
RubberTire Records ©1996
When doing a review, you should 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, you must provide
an online bibliography of the resources you use 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 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.
Rules for you
to remember:
|
1.. |
If you use an image/audio file from a collection on the Internet,
you should always link back to that site as a courtesy, proof
of source and acknowledgment of credit. |
|
2. |
If you use an image/audio file from a collection on the Internet,
you should always link back to that site as a courtesy, proof
of source and acknowledgment of credit.
You can make your own original pictures and avoid any copyright
infringements. |
|
3. |
If you find a graphic you really like, you need to read the fine
print for copyright information and request permission to use
it on your site. |
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4. |
Use established formats for citing Internet resources. |
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5. |
If you copy part of an article, use pictures, or download sound
or video clips that you find on the Internet, you must e-mail
the Web page owner and ask to use it. As a reporter, it would
be smart for you to do this, just so you don't get into any trouble
later. A page owner may have gotten an article from someone else,
so you need to make sure you get the real owner of the article
and the real page it came from. If you have your sources covered,
you should be safe from most legal matters. |
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6. |
Give credit where credit is due by providing a bibliography on
their homepages. |
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7. |
Again, do not take every bit of news you get from the Net as
the truth. Anyone could say that a buffalo ran through Main Street
but it doesn't mean that it really happened. Check your facts
and ask more people about it, so you get more than just one person
telling you what happened but several sources giving a viewpoint.
Readers will believe it if you back it up with truthful sources. |
Permissions
To ensure safety
on the Internet follow these 3 basic rules.
- Follow your school's Acceptable User Policies for Internet
use by students to ensure that you are protected and understand
online safety. If your school does not have a policy yet, a basic
guide for students can be found at Staying Street Smart on the
Web! Be street smart on the Internet by following these rules
of online safety!
- Obtain parental permission to participate in Internet-based
projects which use the World Wide Web both for research and the
publishing of student-created work. Feel free to use or adapt
the letters for your own needs.
- Parental permission for participation
in a Web-Based project (view
sample)
- Teacher Statement of Provision of Student
Access to the Internet (view
sample)
- When publishing your work or pictures, do not use your full
names. If an e-mail is included make sure it's a general e-mail
for your school or class and not a personal address.
