Law + Ethics
From the beginning of sophomore year, we learned about the important ethical and legal rules of journalism in terms of anonymous sourcing, on and off-record interviews, how to report on more sensitive topics and other important guidelines. These lessons have helped shape the way I ask questions and write articles, and will continue to affect my future approach as I encounter more challenging situations.
Freedom of the Press
The first amendment guarantees freedom of speech and of the press to United States citizens, which is of course applicable to journalistic mediums like the Scot Scoop or Highlander Magazine. This freedom is sometimes restricted when it comes to school publications, depending whether they are a closed or open forum, meaning the school has the right to censor and remove content (closed) or not (open.) Carlmont is lucky enough to operate under an open forum newspaper, but we still learn about censorship disputes elsewhere, if nothing else but as motivation to preserve the integrity of our publications and continue spreading the truth.
Anonymous Sourcing
Carlmont Media: Anonymous Sourcing Policies
Only use anonymous sources if the reporter and the editor can reasonably forecast some sort of harm may befall a person now or in the future by including their name.
A source shall be granted anonymity upon request if revealing the identity of the source in the specified published work...
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May result in physical or emotional harm to the person or others
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May result in loss of employment or inclusion in a group
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May result in legal harm to the person or others
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May result in intervention by the school, including but not limited to suspension or expulsion
The source’s identity will not be revealed to anyone except the writer and editor of the article and the Editor-in-Chief of the publication. The journalism adviser is a mandatory reporter but is not obligated to know the identity of the source. Journalism students are not mandatory reporters, and therefore have no obligation under the law to report any issue which may cause harm to the source.
Process:
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Verify the identity of the anonymous source
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The editor will document this person’s actual identity and make sure of the verification. It will not be shared with the adviser.
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Place an asterisk next to the name on the first reference but the note at the end like *these sources' names are changed blah blah blah
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Be clear and transparent in including the reason for hiding the name.
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Include a reference to “Carlmont Media’s anonymous sourcing policy” and provide a link to the policy if this is an online publication.
Any student who discloses an anonymous source’s identity beyond this is subject to discipline within the school and possible legal consequences.
Anonymous tips will be investigated further and must be confirmed by at least two other known sources before any information is released to the public.
Anonymous sourcing is another important aspect of journalism, which is taken very seriously at Carlmont. Due to the sometimes sensitive nature of the topics we cover, at the request of interviewees or writer/editor discretion, the anonymous sourcing policy is applied and names are changed to be able to publish the article.
Here is an example from one of my articles where the policy was applied. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic of mental health, specifically eating disorders, we changed the name of the interviewee to preserve their anonymity.
Copyright
Copyright becomes more of a central focus in terms of acquiring feature photos and article images. For our print work in the Highlander magazine, the goal is for it to be all student-produced to maintain authenticity as an entirely original publication. On the Scot Scoop, we similarly strive to have as many original photos as possible. When this isn't an option, like for coverage of national or international events or something similar, we use sites like Wikimedia Commons to find available images within copyright laws and source them appropriately.
Here is an example of an appropriately credited image from Wikimedia Commons, which I found for my article on wildfire prevention, as a more striking feature photo.
