Hill talks with a student-run newspaper in Florida about Freedom of Information Act requests, interviewing and good journalistic practices. Originally Echo's adviser Lori Keekley was supposed to lead the conversation, but due to a scheduling conflict Hill stepped up. Prior to the conversation, Hill prepared talking points, but the students ended up asking questions most of the time.
Part of being a journalist is having a good reason for why you are covering what you cover. When deciding on stories, my co-editor-in-chief and I always consider if there are multiple sides to a story, what medium would be best to tell the story, and what the best course of action is.
That attention to detail and focus on motive has allowed me to better understand other news I consume, which varies from the local newspapers such as the Star Tribune, to The New York Times, to other high school newspapers near me. It has allowed me to think critically about the validity of a story, and not just take things at face value.
That attention to detail and focus on motive has allowed me to better understand other news I consume, which varies from the local newspapers such as the Star Tribune, to The New York Times, to other high school newspapers near me. It has allowed me to think critically about the validity of a story, and not just take things at face value.
Exploring the angles |
A few weeks ago, we decided to do a center-spread story on the privacy issues surrounding Airbnb and hidden cameras. We were inspired by a Shane Dawson video, because after the release of that video everyone was talking about hidden cameras. This is a very complex issue, that, while interesting to students, isn’t located just within the school.
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My co-writer and I spent time exploring the many different shapes this story could take. Stories that are meant for the center spread of our paper are typically divided into three sections. There were many options for what three sections we could do including:
Before entering into interviews, my co-writer and I made a comprehensive list of questions:
- Background on the issue
- The legality of the surveillance
- How does surveillance work at our school
- How are people psychologically affected by the thought of being watched
- What can students do to avoid being recorded unbeknownst to them
- How do the tiny cameras work
Before entering into interviews, my co-writer and I made a comprehensive list of questions:
Of course, during the interviews we reacted and adapted to what the source was saying, but we wanted to start out with a solid base of questions. In my experience the answers given to follow-up questions are often the most interesting, so I make a point to ask relevant follow-ups in every interview.
In every story we write, we have to have credible sources and facts, but this is especially crucial for issues outside our school as the facts are harder to find. In writing the interview questions for this story we looked at numerous sources including stories written by other news organizations, the Shane Dawson video that kickstarted the talk about the issue in our school, and first person accounts from students.
Maintaining credibility |
In a world full of fake news, click bait and unreliable sources, one of a news organizations main challenges and goals is to maintain credibility. To maintain credibility within our school and the wider community, we make sure we are always right.
Every interview is recorded (with consent of the interviewee of course) so we can easily go back and check a quote. In every story I write, I listen to the interviews at least twice — more if they are hard to understand. It doesn't happen often, but if someone feels they are misquoted, I personally will cross check the recording and the story, and talk to them to figure it out. This year, we have had conversations with several members of the girls' basketball team and a staff member at our school who felt they were misquoted in separate stories. In both cases they ended up not being misquoted, but the conversations we had strengthened their trust in us, because we showed that we care and will address and issue if it arises. Another way we build trust with our community is by allowing their voices to be heard. In the last month we have had two letters to the editor submitted, both by classmates of mine. We published both, because we believe it is very important that their voices get heard too. If there is any chance a source may be misinformed or incorrect, I double check. I double check with them, and with another source. It's not worth being a journalist if you are going to misinform the public, so I strive to only share accurate information. |