“I think journalism anywhere should be based on social justice and impartiality, making contributions to society as well as taking responsibility in society. Whether you are a capitalist or a socialist or a Marxist, journalists should have the same professional integrity.”

-Judy Polumbaum, Journalist and Media Scholar

Something to think about…

Trust has been lost between the general public and the media, and it’s up to the next generation of journalists to fix it.

Understanding the foundations journalism is built upon is critical to reporting accurately and respectfully. Eliminating bias, maintaining fairness, providing clear documentation and building accountability all come with knowing how journalism works beneath the surface. Increasing awareness and improving the quality of education for the practice of ethical journalism can help journalists instinctively make correct decisions while working towards building up confidence in the press again.

Demonstrating Command of Legal and Ethical Knowledge

A majority of staffers this year were unfamiliar with the ins and outs of journalism to start out since most of them were fairly new to it. Especially with many of them wanting to cover current events and tough topics right off the bat, I wanted to make sure an ethical and lawful standard of reporting was established.

Throughout my first year on staff, I didn’t fully grasp what law and ethics really meant in relation to journalism. Presentations were given on the matter, but weren’t in terms understandable as a beginner. So as the editor-in-chief, I crafted a presentation that possessed engaging, lighthearted elements highlighting on the main points of what the staffers needed to know. I introduced the need-to-know journalism cases to the staff through fun videos and following up with discussion on how they impact the publication as student journalists. Knowing the staff may need a refresher on the x’s and o’s of ethical journalism, I overloaded certain slides with information. I also linked the Josten’s Legal Guide in order for this presentation to be an all-in-one resource to post on the Google shared drive concerning this topic.

Ensuring Responsible Journalism Across

The Bridge Staff

The first step in The Bridge story production process is developing an outline for story ideas using the story planning sheet made by my co-editor-in-chief, advisors and I. Each staffer fills out two sheets each beat cycle, one for each of their assigned sections. Everyone presents them in front of the class before they start writing in order to receive feedback, additional ideas and spark group collaboration.

Although The Bridge used other versions of story planning sheets in the past, we decided to start including sections for how the reporter will remain unbiased and their research on topic. The unbiased section makes the reporter critically think about what steps they need to take prior to writing to provide equitable coverage about the topic, which cuts down the amount of editorialization seen in the editing process. The research section forces the reporter to look into the topic further before crafting the narrative of their story and encourages them to incorporate concrete evidence to build upon. This helps the staff take into consideration thoughts, opinions and statistics that differ while also bolstering fairness across all sections of writing.

During the first production cycle, a situation arose where a staffer asked an interview question that made the subject of the interview uncomfortable. The interviewee reached out to me expressing their concern. After addressing it with the staffer, I decided to include a ‘Questions You Will Ask’ section to the story planning sheet so the staff as a whole can prevent ethical issues from happening again and brainstorm higher-level questions together.

REPORTER ETHICS

WELL-INFORMED WRITING

ENSURING CONSIDERATE INTERVIEWS

Applying News Literacy

Remaining unbiased

In my in-depth story “The Locker Room”, I had to be careful to eliminate any hint of bias I may have being an athlete myself, especially when discussing the social issues considering female athletes. I made sure to only state the facts and consider both sides when discussing instances that I hold a personal opinion on.

Example: The article immediately received a whirlwind of response. Some were horrified by what they saw as a misogynistic angle while others defended it. Whether one is on either side of the debate, the article raises this question: ‘Why does sex appeal and athletic performance still coincide in female sports?’

Providing context

In my news story about the new safety measures in Cy-Fair ISD, the information presented could have been taken incorrectly by a reader without context, thus the story being misleading reporting. I heavily researched the reasoning behind these new policies in order to provide the proper background information needed.

Example: “CFISD Superintendent Mark Henry addressed the community in June amidst Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s concerns over Texas public schools’ safety. He outlined multiple different safety measures taking effect this school year which included approval of funding for six additional police officers, signage regarding CFISD schools being a ‘no firearm zone’ was displayed at every school in the district and the implementation of a ‘Reunification Functional Exercise’ at all campuses. These are amongst the numerous new or improved security policies activated by CFISD this school year.”

Using reliable sources

In “The Locker Room”, I wanted to make sure each section of the story incorporated some kind of concrete evidence to verify its validity. The sources I used were from the website of the topic it concerned. The website included a study and a metadata analysis that all checked out after doing research on all the sources.

Example: “A 2019 study took 1,587 Instagram images from the primary accounts of FOX Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports and NBC. The results from the data showed that in the already small percentage of female athletes covered, “females are more likely to appear alongside a male and are more likely [to] be shown in culturally ‘appropriate’ sports and in nonathletic roles.”

Respecting off-the-record conversations

In my news feature story about the League of Women Voters of Cy-Fair helping register and educate new voters, I additionally interviewed another LWV volunteer. Although she was willing to talk to me, she did not feel comfortable being recorded. The interview did help me grasp LWV’s mission better to write about it accurately, but I did not include any information she said out of respect for her wishes and to maintain journalistic integrity.

Understanding The Importance of Responsible Journalism

AP style is key to producing trustworthy work. With some staffers forgoing Journalism I before entering the newspaper class at Bridgeland, they miss out on critical foundations of journalism writing taught in the course. This can cause issues with the work produced, such as losing a sense of credibility if writing basics are absent. I work with professionals beyond the walls of the newsroom to learn how to properly apply AP style and structure different types of stories. I try to translate my outside experience into the school’s publication in order to give the staff a sense of what the professional world of journalism is looking for. Bringing the knowledge I have picked up from those who have been involved in journalism for many years back to the classroom has made the voice as a staff one the community can depend upon.

As editor-in-chief, I see stories after they have gone through a section and copy editor. Here are some of the AP style edits I made that went unnoticed.