LAW
ÐICS
Within the laws of journalism, many factors come into play. It's inefficient to allow a staff writer to cover a story and then immediately publish it without considering the accuracy and legality of the information. While news organizations may favor speedy coverage, it holds no purpose if the Information is minimal or inaccurate. Copyright, sources, quotes, and ethics should all be necessities that a true journalist values when they're on the job.
copyright
On November 4, 2019, I received my first taste of copyright infringement as a photographer. Well known influencer, Miranda Sings, who has millions of fans on Youtube, decided to use a photograph I took for a VSCO girl story on Tiger Times in her video. While to many this may seem like an exciting intro to fame, my credits were nowhere to be found. Considering this photo was pulled from our site without our discretion, I had to fill out numerous forms through YouTube in order to resolve this situation. Eventually, the entire video was taken down from her channel due to Sing's misuse of the law of copyright. READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
ethics
With every story we write, ethics remains one of our top priorities. When we publish an article, for instance, we always consider how someone can be impacted by our content. In our reporting, we strive to minimize harm to our subjects while keeping our audience informed. Also, when our staff covers news around campus, we keep in mind that our professionalism and coverage represents our school.
QUOTES
When our staff writers go out to get quotes, they have to inform the interviewee that they're being recorded by the app Otter Voice Memo which transcribes conversations. Second, no quotes can be altered from what the person originally said unless brackets are inserted for clarification.
SOURCES
When a story is written, especially opinion stories that relate to politics or controversial topics, it's important that we include links to the original sources within the text. This is to not only avoid copyright infringement, but also plagiarism. The links prove to the reader that our writers have an informed opinion based on the research of a topic and not just personal feelings.