A scholastic media program needs a firm foundation. This presentation at the JEA Adviser Institute (2017) talks about writing a mission, a policy, ethical guidelines and staff procedures for such a program.

1. Policies and manuals
Giving direction to
Building a stronger Foundation for all student
media provides direction to achieve the best
legal and ethical guidelines, provides
consistency and
lets others know what you stand for.

2. What is the Foundation?
• Mission statement
• Policy (media-level and/or board-level)
• Ethical guidelines
• Staff manual procedures
• Our thinking is to create focused, meshed and
understandable model policies.
• Our Foundations model works as one document, but
with four clearly separated sections, covering all student
media in the school.

3. Definitions
• Mission statement: Establishes the principles, aim,
values and philosophy of the student media.
• Policy: Establishes the overarching principles and
concepts that guide students’ present and future
decisions and practice. Establishes the medias’ forum
status and role of prior review. (3 types of forum status)
• A policy is akin to a constitution, not changed often and
establishes the democratic concepts for which media
stand.

4. Definitions
• Ethical guidelines: Establish what standards the media
should make to best implement and explain decisions,
mission and role; outlines standards of conduct.
o Why to use unnamed sources
• Staff manual: Establishes the operating processes and
procedures consistent with the principles, policy and
ethical judgments of the media.
o Steps to follow to use unnamed sources
o Camera check out
o How to answer the phone

5. Mission statement
• What do you think should be in an effective mission
statement?

6. Mission statement
• _____________ (school name) student media
publish complete and accurate coverage across
platforms through journalistically responsible, ethically
reported and edited content. Student-determined
expression promotes democratic citizenship through
public engagement diverse in both ideas and
representation.
• Or containing in your own words…

7. Mission statement
• Audience engagement
• Journalistic responsibility
• Additional reporting basics
• Ethical reporting and editing
• Student-determined content
• Diversity of ideas and representation
• Platform consistency
• Connection to school mission statement

8. Policy statement
• What should be in editorial policy statements?

9. Policy model
(board- or media-level)
• Designated public forum for student expression without prior review
by school officials in which students make all final decisions of
content.
• Additional terms: freedom of Expression. First Amendment,
Constitution, roles, mission, ownership of student content,
advertising decisions, handling letters, consistent policy handling
across platforms
• Please remember, a pro-First-Amendment board-level policy is
always preferred.
• Be cautious. If you don’t have such a policy, test the waters carefully.
Build the case for this.

10. Ethics guidelines
• Remember, these establish what standards the media
should make to best implement and explain decisions,
mission and role; outline standards of conduct.
• Ethics. Principles that guide student decision- making.
• Think of ethics as a right v right dilemma.
• With unnamed sources neither using them or not not
using them is wrong.

11. Ethical guidelines
• A thorough set of student-designed ethical statements can
help guide all media activities.
• But … not as a part of the policy where someone might try to
use it as criteria for punishment.
• Ethical guides should be Green Light statements and not
measures for discipline.
• Green lights encourage; Red lights discourage.
• Where do ethics statements go: In a ethical guidelines
manual, a part of a strong Staff Manual.

12. Red light, green light ethics
• Red Light says back off; Green Light ethics call for
“pinning it down”
• Red Light ethics
o emphasize restraint and caution
o Keep things out of print and off the air
o See journalists as too aggressive
o Prescribes what journalists “ought not” do
• Green light ethics
o Emphasizes empowerment and duty over caution and restraint
o Consider “how to” rather than “ought not”
o Focus on opportunities rather than limits
o Views journalists as too timid rather than too aggressive
---Roy Peter Clark

13. Ethical issue: example
• If question on the veracity of publication persists, the issue
will be brought to the editorial board who must consider the
following questions before publication of the piece:
o Why is it a concern?
o What is its journalistic purpose?
o Is the information accurate and complete?
o Are any important POV omitted?
o How would we feel if the story was about ourselves or
someone we know?
o What are the consequences of the publication?
o Is there a logical explanation to anyone who challenges
issue?
o Is it worth risking our credibility?
o What are the alternatives?

14. Ethical situation,
statement
• Do you have one we could talk through

15. Staff manual procedures
• This is the how-to-do-it section.
• A list of steps to grant anonymous status to a source
who wants to be unnamed, for example.

16. Ethics/manual model
statements
• Ethical guidelines Journalism is based on truth and
accuracy. Using unnamed sources risks both of those
standards. For that reason, students should seek
sources willing to speak on the record.
• Unnamed sources should be used sparingly and only
after students evaluate how the need for the information
balances with the problems such sources create.

17. Staff manual procedure
• Editors should train staff members on how to conduct proper
interviews on the record. Poor interview techniques could lead
to confusion between potential sources and reporters. Staff
members should always identify themselves when working on
behalf of student media. Reporters should be advised to use
anonymous sources rarely.
• Before agreeing to do so, they should ask the following
questions:
• Why does the source want to remain unnamed? Is it possible
he/she would be in danger if his/her name is revealed? What
other problems could occur?
• How important is the story? How important is the information
provided, and is there an alternative means for gathering it?
Using an unnamed source hurts credibility and could risk
legal action.

18. Staff manual procedure
• Students should consider what might happen if a court
demands to know the source’s name. Most professional
journalists would not reveal the name, and many have gone to
jail instead of doing so. Would student reporters be willing to
go that far? What legal protections exist in your state for
protection of sources?
• What might the source have to gain from getting this
information published? Some sources who want to be off the
record have ulterior motives that could harm someone else
• If students decide the information is vital and the source has a
solid reason for remaining unnamed, who, besides the
reporter, should know the identity? Many staffs decide the
editor should know to assess the credibility of the source, but
not the adviser in order to protect the adviser’s professional
position at the school

19. Summary & solutions
• Separate documents: policy, ethical guidelines and staff
manual procedure
• They can be in one document within clearly differentiated
sections with separate purposes and functions
• The ethics section would be more aligned with Green
Light thinking than Red Light, simplifying the process
and lessening confusion

20. Links
Foundations model:
http://jeasprc.org/buildingfoundations/
SPRC site:
http://jeasprc.org
• This presentation:
http://jeasprc.org/building-journalistic-foundations-advisers-
institute-session-materials/
• CC credit to Dayna Mason, bar magnet on a compass array,
Sep. 20, 2007, front slide.
• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
• No changes made other than cropping

21. JEA Adviser
Code of Ethics
• Model standards of professional journalistic
• Empower students to make decisions of style, structure. and
content by creating a learning atmosphere where students will
actively practice critical thinking and decision making.
• Encourage students to seek out points of view and to explore a
variety of information sources in their decision making.
• Support and defend a free, robust and active forum for student
expression without prior review or restraint.
• Emphasize the importance of accuracy, balance and clarity in
all aspects of news gathering and reporting.

22. Adviser Code of Ethics
• Show trust in students as they carry out their responsibilities
by encouraging and supporting them in a caring, learning
environment.
• Remain informed on press rights and responsibilities across
media platforms.
• Advise, not act as censor or decisions maker.
• Display professional and personal integrity in situations which
might be construed as potential conflicts of interest.
• Support free expression for others in local and larger
communities.
• Model traits of a life-long learner through continuous
professional development in media education along with
membership and involvement in professional media
organizations.

23. Adviser Code of Ethics
• Champion inclusion so that ALL students not only see
themselves and their ideas represented, but also see
themselves as able to contribute to and to lead student-
determined media.
• Foster cooperation and open communication with
administrators and other stakeholders while students exercise
their First Amendment rights.
• Encourage journalistically responsible use of social media in
schools and educate students, school officials and community
to its value. Educate students about the ramifications of its
misuse.
•

24. Panic Button

25. Resources
• Legal Protections For Journalists’ Sources And Information,
Student Press Law Center
• Position Paper on Anonymity of Sources, Society of
Professional Journalists
• Use of Unnamed Sources, National Public Radio
• Lesson: Exploring the Issues with Anonymous Sources,
Journalism Education Association
• Unnamed Sources, JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee,
Press Rights Minute

26. Prior review alternative
• Student media is called and practices as a designated public forum
for student expression where student editors and staff make all final
decisions of content.
• Before the pages/broadcast/web materials go to print, administrators
have the length of a school day (the day they are given materials) to
review content and to ask questions.
• All content must be in students’ hands at the end of the day, on
schedule, for publication.
• If administrators/school officials have questions, they may request
meeting time within that day and not to delay publication.
• School officials may comment, ask questions or request changes.
• All final decisions remain with the students as they meet their
deadlines. They can choose to heed school officials requests or
suggestions, or go with content as it was.

27. Ethics template
• Foundations: Ethical statement-staff manual
• The XXXXXXXX Times
• General statement of mission and roles as locally determined
•
• Editorial policy – board level
• XXXXXX High School student media are designated public forums in which students make all decisions
of content without prior review by school officials.
•
• Ethical statement(s) Title
• The topic’s general statements go here. One-three short paragraphs generally outlining the ethical issue
•
• Procedures
• This would indicate the procedure by which the general topic would be carried out.
•
• Suggestions
• This would indicate recommendations student staffs could choose from.
•
• Resources
• In some instances we would include recommended resources for additional ideas, lessons to stress the
approach, etc.