Law, Ethics, and News Literacy
The First Amendment:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
2022 Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference
This is the first day and we had a delightful conversation with Jan Neuharth, Al Neuharth's daughter.
Attending and being selected to represent Michigan at the Al Neuharth Free Spirit conference, hosted by USA Today's Freedom Forum, I learned just how the first amendment protects the ability of journalists' freedom. Throughout the conference, one of the first questions we were asked was, "What is the most important freedom to you and why? " Hearing 49 other people answer this question was truly insightful. I got to know what the first amendment and journalism meant to them and understood what it meant to me. It's a sheer responsibility to seek the truth and share the truth. As journalists, we uphold democracy so it's vital for us. Any sort of information we do share, big or small, has ripples of effects. As Al Neuharth said, "The First Amendment guarantees a free press. We in the media, must make sure it is a fair press."
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To read more about the press conference, visit the Al Neuharth Press Conference tab.
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Navigating Law and Ethics in a post-truth world
Since I have been a part of The Emery, we have been prior reviewed for only two years. After our old principal retired, we are longer prior reviewed, which is a blessing, but we live in a post-truth world, where misinformation is rampant in all facets of media. We still make sure we are getting it right and share the truth. As part of our journalism curriculum, one of the first things we study and learn are the Tinker and Hazelwood cases. This provides an oversight of the first amendment as well as the ethics and morals we, as a community of storytellers and truthseekers, follow. When there was an alleged assault in the locker room at Huron or the hoax call the Ann Arbor Police Department received at Huron, several rumors spread, which my staff and I mitigated and lessened. While writing out the statement, I made sure every line of reasoning was correct and to not put out information that was to be rumored. This was something I also did while reporting on COVID-19 coverage, attending long hours of weekly board meetings.
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Per our staff manual (which is undergoing revisions with the roles and responsibilities sections):
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"Material that is libelous, not fact-checked, or not presented factually is not protected expression and will not be tolerated. Such material is subject, at any time, to removal from publication by the editors or adviser."
Our new mission statement:
"The Huron Emery is a creative, compassionate open-minded publication filled with a community of diverse storytellers and truthseekers. We strive to share and uplift unheard voices, perpetuate bold, truthful perspectives in hopes of inspiring change and seeking the truth within Ann Arbor and Huron High School while maintaining our ethical code."
With the mission statement, we wanted to emphasize and highlight how The Emery will share and tell unbiased content and coverage while also maintaining our democracy through journalism. Ann Arbor Huron's diversity is something I wanted to highlight, to inform our public of the commitment of our journalists to tell the truth and maintain our ethical code as journalists.
Using my platform
Covering all sides of the story and including those perspectives is adhered to at The Emery. It's a journalistic standard we make sure to look up to within all of our pieces. When I wrote a story about the reality of school safety within Ann Arbor, after just being faced with several hoax threats and lockdowns, I interviewed my school district's head of school safety and operations. I included the student perspective of what they think of our school's administration in conducting a school lockout. I had a huge dilemma as to whether or not I wanted to publish the students' quotes. I gave a lot of opportunities for our school's administration to comment on the issue as I approached the principal, and assistant principal, and have has a conversation as to why they did not want to comment on the situation. I really did not want our publication to be prior reviewed again, but I knew it was important to include her perspective. I ended up including the students' quotes and of course, made sure the information she mentioned was factual.
Fact-checking: Accuracy Matters
Fact-checking is a system of checks and balances. As I worked at The Free Press, I fact-checked every quote I received, re-listening several times to quotes and the interviews, making sure every line of the stories I wrote was correct I would also reference research and records, to make sure everything was correct, before I would send it off to my editor, Melanie Scott-Dorsey. I also do the same fact-checking process for all my other pieces as well and through doing COVID-19 coverage. It's important that we get it right. With social media taking a huge role today, misinformation spreads like fire.
During the Al Neuharth Conference, I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Meghan Twohey, a New York Times journalist who uncovered Harvey Weinstein's crimes. She discussed the grueling fact-checking process and difficulty proving the accuracy of the story when sources would want to go anonymous. Listening to her dedication to the story and the obstacles she crossed co-reporting and writing this story with Jodi Kantor was inspirational. Her talk reinspired me as a journalist. In addition, attending NSPA's fact-checking session was also an amazing learning experience learning how fact-checking is a system of checks AND balances.
During the press conference with Megan Twohey.
Regarding the hoax calls that took place on Feb.7, my fellow editors and I went through a more rigorous fact-checking process. We made sure to reference several news outlets and cross-referenced social media posts, where superintendents of school districts made announcements about a lockdown of the school or school closure. Twitter was also where the Ann Arbor Police Department I went through a series of fact-checking and asked my peers to also fact-check every line - from the wording to the information - and then we post it. Click image to read story.
Our sports editor -- Quinn, his cousin attends Okemos, where the lockdown happened. Our sports editor confirmed with his cousin and even got a quote from him.