News literacy and ethics
A big part of journalism is making sure we stay ethical. Biased or false information in news can be harmful and it is necessary to steer clear of misleading the public. As a journalist, I strive to collect a variety of sources as well as remain unbiased in my work. In addition, it is always necessary to attribute information I reference in my articles. When your work is open to the public a greater weight is placed against on your words which is why it is so important for journalist to report only the truth.
Remaining unbiased
Carlmont has strict policies to ensure one writes without bias for their articles. Especially if a journalist isn't writing in an opinion section, before we even start writing, we must interview various sources. I would get interviews across different grade levels and positions in my sports articles. At least one adult would be featured in my articles as well.
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An excellent example of the variety of sources I got would be from my feature; Convicts help fight against wildfires. In this article, I received sources from all aspects of the prisoner firefighter program. I interviewed an ex-convict who participated in this program, a Fire Chief at a prison, a firefighter with CalFire, and a fire mitigation specialist for the Bureau of Land Management. All of these different insights from different pieces in the chain of firefighting helped make my story come to its full light. I also ensured I wouldn't leave any viewpoint in this story.
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Yet remaining relatively unbiased was one of my most challenging duties as an opinion writer. Although opinion writers can use some of their opinions in their articles, they have to be careful that they are not spewing propaganda and have factual evidence to back up their statements. As I developed as a writer I grew better at ensuring I had a specific point that was defendable by facts and creditable research.
Attributions
When including research in my articles it is important I make sure to share my sources. Not only does this increase the credibility of the facts I state, but it also prevents me from stealing work. One example of this is photo citations. However, when using another person's photo, credits are extremely important. Below is an example from one of my articles of how I cite a photo.
