Law, Ethics & News Literacy.

Law and ethics are journalism’s core, and while we’re seeing mainstream media outlets sacrificing these values, it’s our duty as up-and-coming journalists to uphold them and to ensure news literacy around campus. My time in our introductory journalism class as a freshman exposed me to the basics of responsible, ethical reporting, and I’ve utilized those experiences in personal decisions I’ve had to make.

A solid foundation.

Our beginning journalism course featured many discussions surrounding moral dilemmas and ethical decisions in journalism. The below documents built in me a solid foundation for reporting the right way, and I often refer to them, even now.

  • 10 basics to remember as a reporter.

  • Why ethical reporting matters in the first place.

  • Zenger Trial and its implications for journalists.

  • Journalism fraud intertwined with finance.

Well-defined policies.

At The ReMarker, we’ve published a set of policies that our journalists must abide by. Here are some of our most important rules:

  • On showing stories to sources.

  • On staff dismissal.

  • On photo credits.

  • On visuals.

  • On photo illustrations.

  • On editor's note.

  • On errors.

Making the right decision when it counts.

If I could choose to be a high school journalist anywhere, it’d be right here: St. Mark’s School of Texas. We’re greatly indebted to our administration and specifically our headmaster for the trust put in our decision-making. We’ve never been forced to censor sensitive topics or to comply with prior review, and for that, I’m eternally grateful. However, I’ve still had to make tough moral decisions. Here are a few:

Balanced reporting — In our February 2023 paper, we ran a story about the Guardian Gun Law in certain Texas districts, which allows teachers to carry firearms into school after 80 hours of training. All our sources spoke to the benefits of such a law — with a few nuances. We lacked a dissenting opinion, so we found a Dallas Independent School District teacher who talked about how bringing firearms into the classroom is about the worst thing you can do for student-safety.

Personal dilemma — In my Individual Interscholastic League Press Conference second-place feature story about a third grade teacher who had half her face burned off when she was hit by a drunk driver, I struggled with the ethics of publishing graphic but newsworthy information. I worked side-by-side with our adviser to tell her story in its entirety without sacrificing her privacy.

Showing stories to sources — In our October 2022 special section that revealed construction plans for our school’s new athletic complex, administrators asked to see our pages before they print to ensure information revealed to the community was 100% accurate. I referred to our official policy, which noted that we were allowed to show these certain administrators stories prior to print. Still, I grappled with the ethics of it all — I opted to only run specific details, dates and names by them to ensure accuracy while not sacrificing unbiased reporting and our autonomy as journalists.

Anonymous sources — In September, a staff writer wanted to write a feature story about mental health, but his main source wanted to remain anonymous. I didn’t like the prospect of that for two reasons. One, by taking away the name of the source, we’d also be taking away the story’s main strength: humanity and a call for empathy. And two, we have a policy that allows for anonymous sources, but only in extreme, extreme cases. To me, this didn’t call for that, so I encouraged the writer to search for a new source or rethink the angle.