Ethics

What a student newsroom should have in place before a byline draws coordinated harassment, and how to respond once it starts.

How student papers can report honestly on donors and fundraising campaigns instead of just reprinting the advancement office’s press releases.

How to set up a way for readers to send tips safely, and the vetting steps before an anonymous tip turns into a story.

A working standard for when to name a person in an arrest or crime story, and when to hold the name until the facts are clearer.

Rules for staffers’ personal social media that protect the newsroom’s credibility without policing their private lives.

A working policy for handling copied text, recycled quotes, and unattributed borrowing before it becomes a public problem.

Why student publications need a clear separation between who sells ads and who decides what to cover, and how to write that policy down.

Where the line sits between acceptable light editing of a spoken quote and altering meaning, with examples student reporters actually run into.

How student newsrooms should decide bylines, shared credit, and contributor lines for stories with more than one person’s work in them.

Why student newsrooms need a written conflict-of-interest policy, what belongs in one, and how to handle the overlaps that come with covering your own school.