Ethics

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.

A careful look at when a student newsroom should grant a source anonymity, the conditions to attach, and the credibility cost of overusing it.

How to write a persuasive editorial or op-ed that argues a clear position while keeping the newsroom’s news coverage credible.

Guidance for reporting carefully on mental health, protests, and campus crime without sensationalizing difficult subjects or causing further harm.

A framework for weighing privacy, public value, and potential harm before deciding what a student newsroom should and should not publish.

A step-by-step guide to writing and following a corrections policy that turns mistakes into evidence of your newsroom’s honesty.

Publishing power is real, even at a student newspaper. Here is a framework for thinking through the ethical decisions that will come up every semester — before they come up.