LAW, ETHICS, & NEWs LITERACY

COVERING CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS

In 2024, our school's online - newspaper published an article about a former student involved in protesting in support of the Palestinian people. The article included quotes from the former student, describing her opinion on the Gaza conflict and her call for action and aid. This topic was highly politicized in the news and led to a member of the school community reaching out to our superintendent, demanding the article be taken down. Instead of getting in contact with anyone at the high school journalism level, they went to the most powerful person in the district. The Westside Journalism department has a longstanding history of turmoil dating back years before I stepped foot into the school. That being said, the administration was quick to place all the blame on a department just beginning to glue itself back together. They demanded that our advisors take the article down, attend meetings after meetings with community members and even consider re-enacting prior review, the most restrictive limits that could be placed on a school publication.

This quickly became a journalistic integrity issue rather than a content issue. As a department, we tried to explain that we planned on publishing two stories, each with a different perspective on the Palestine and Israel conflict; however the second author withdrew her story minutes after publishing. Yes, we could have tossed the protesting story —waited till we had both sides again— but, as student journalists we are always taught to go after the bold stories, to write what nobody has written before. We knew this was a stark contrast to the everyday movie reviews and football game rundowns we normally post but we wanted to share a very deep and relevant story about a Westside alumni. One of our advisors fought his hardest to keep the article up, saying that taking it down would be a sign of giving up, going against the integrity he preached everyday in the classroom. However, he felt disrespected and unsupported by everyone outside of the Journalism Department. He called us into the classroom and informed us that he was leaving, effective immediately. The only advisor that I had been with for more than 2 years, was gone.

As the conflict grew, we were asked to attend a meeting with two women from the Jewish Press Association. I went into the meeting with an open mind, eager to learn the journalistic tactics of covering controversial topics and remaining sympathetic to both sides of the conflict. However, instead of insightful information and journalistic advice, we were met with nothing but disrespect and hostility. The women repeatedly interrupted us, told us we had ‘poor journalistic abilities’ and avoided almost all the questions we asked. I had asked what angle we should have taken, given they believed this one was too bold. Their answer: write about if she has any favorite foods or if she has any pets. I did not understand how writing about her go-to lunch order would have been relevant to the article. I questioned this advice and was directly told I should not pursue a career in journalism. When I asked why, they said it was because I was young and didn’t understand what the real world was like. But, I think this meeting showed just how much I understood it. As a student journalist, I understand I cannot cover everything happening in the real world. I also know that topics such as politics and protesting are relevant to everyone, including teens. I felt empowered after this meeting to not only cover the bold stories but cover them with importance and confidence.

When we feel as though something we cover could be seen as controversial, we first ask our advisor if he thinks we can cover it. If he thinks we need a second opinion, he asks our school's administration for permission. When obtaining information for reports like this, we always strive to learn all perspectives and do extensive research about the topic. An example of this extensive process is the 2024 Presidential Election Spread I created. I began by sending out a Google Form to all Westside students, asking a variety of questions related to the election. Topics included voting status and eligibility, methods of voting, important issues on the ballot, and how students obtain their political news. I used the responses to create graphics for the page and added notes explaining my data collection process, including the number of students who participated.

Since all Google Forms sent to the student body require approval from the Superintendent, I submitted my form for review. I originally included an open-ended question allowing students to share their opinions on the election, but I was asked to remove it. Because I was unable to gather responses from the entire school, I sought out students who were willing to share why they voted—or would vote—for each presidential candidate. Ideally, I would have liked to ask all students, but I knew that speaking to individuals in person was just as valuable. Finding students willing to share their perspectives was challenging, but I was ultimately able to collect enough responses to fairly represent different viewpoints.

Additionally, I included a sidebar covering the election at a local level. This section featured Nebraska’s Senators and Congressional candidates for the two most relevant districts, along with their party affiliation, total number of votes, and final percentage of the vote. I used NBC News to obtain this information. I also included the following note:

"These statistics were pulled from NBC News on November 17th. These are projections, and the number of votes is subject to change."

Covering controversial topics like this means understanding it will come with backlash in one way or another. No matter the level of effort I put in to making this as unbiased and one sided as possible, everyone reading has the right to feel a certain way about it. If someone wants to share their opinion on the matter, I am open to listening.

JEA SESSION - Covering the #MeToo Movement

In November of 2022, I had the privilege of attending the 2022 JEA Convention in St. Louis. It was here that I attended a session about covering controversial and heavy topics in journalism such as The #MeToo Movement. The session emphasized the importance of ethical, thorough, and cautious reporting, especially when dealing with sensitive issues like sexual violence. Mistakes in reporting could have serious consequences, both for the journalist and the people involved, so the advice was clear: be careful if you're tackling such a story. Lives are at stake, and the professionalism required for this kind of reporting cannot be overstated. I learned the importance of asking for assistance when covering a story with such depth. The session covered resources for that help as well as resources for students to access information about events and topics like this, in order to get the most realistic, unbiased and accurate information as possible. I was informed about websites like The RCFP (Reporters Committee For Freedom Of The Press) and The SPLC(Student Press Law Center) and all that they can do to support student journalists. The main take away however was: if a story is too difficult or doesn’t meet standards, it's okay to pass on it. This stuck with me. I had never considered the idea that we had the power to cover something so grand, it may not be covered at all.

TAKING CRITICISM

While criticism is always expected and, in most cases, encouraged in the publication of the yearbook, the past year was one that opened my eyes to the tougher side of journalism. After a long string of strongly worded emails between a parent and our previous advisor, we made the decision to include a slip of paper in the front of the yearbook this year. I, alongside our current advisor, devised the following message to place in 2024/2025 book.

GIVING CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

Our department is made up of five publications: Shield, Lance, Wired, Sports Journalism, and Warrior Television. Given the number of publications, we often collaborate on different projects. In the yearbook, for example, we may use stories written by sports journalism writers or we may give photos to Wired, our online publication, to use in their stories. That being said, we always make sure to give credit when borrowing content form other publications. Below is an example of a spread with two stories used by the Shield originally written by other publications. Kickball In Memoriam was written for The Lance and Stepping Up To The Plate was written by a sports writer. We gave credit to the respective writers at the end of each story.

MARKETING & AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT

You may also like