Law, Ethics, & News Literacy
As EIC of the publication, it is my responsibility to make sure that our staff does not get into legal or ethical trouble. More importantly, it is my responsibility that we are pushing for our freedom of the press rights.
Where my freedom of the press story started...
In 8th grade, my school's newspaper published an opinion article about discrimination. Our school's administration promptly ordered us to delete not only the article, but the entire issue. They then had a meeting with our staff where they proceeded to yell at us and say we were libelous. After that meeting, I was furious. I wrote this essay, utilizing the journalism court cases I knew at the time, to demonstrate why I believed this was unjust. I posted it on my Instagram story, and suddenly, almost everyone in my grade had posted it, too. I almost got suspended... thankfully, I didn't, and with the help of the Student Press Law Center, we were able to reclaim our original article. After this, however, I realized that the power of the press is to be the ultimate voice for the underdog. I will not ever let myself be censored, or let any other journalist be censored.
Our Policies
Having clear written policies is essential for us to refer to if we face challenges with reporting or opposition to it, especially because Florida is not a new voices state. Me and my co-EIC updated this year's policies. Here is the link to our policies.
This controversial issues topic has become particularly necessary as we have written articles about American politics and the district tracking our website activity within the last year. We refer to these frequently.
In our school district, prior review is generally encouraged. However, our principal is kind enough to work with our publication. Me and my co-EIC meet with our principal before every issue to discuss our stories. She does not have to approve of them, but she generally gives us advice about sources around the school and gives her opinion about the stories.
Photo credits
Previously, we've used Tribune news service if we need a photo that our staff can't take. However, it is still necessary to educate our staff about copyright laws. In the past years (before I was on staff) we did not appropriately follow copyright laws, and we recently got sued, even though past staffers had left the publication.
Dealing with potentially controversial situations
Recently, a story about our local West Palm beach community becoming more right wing was posted to our website. I didn't edit it, but when reading, I had immediate concerns. Because it was a controversial topic, I knew that any ounce of detected opinion could spell trouble, so I texted my co-EIC and coverage managing editor.
New laws, new policies
I made a second semester new policies slideshow that includes this slide to emphasize new 2025 legislation against social media usage. While I wrote an article against this legislation, I don't want our publication to get in trouble for it, so it was important for me to teach the staff how to abide by these laws.