LAW, ETHICS, AND MEDIA LITERACY

In 2024, a small group of students from The Pinion including myself testified at a school board meeting about the Board of Education Policy 101-9. This was a school-sponsored media policy. We testified as part of an attempt to get the policy realigned with the Hawaii Student Journalism Protection Act, which affirms the right of student journalists attending public schools in Hawaii to determine the content of student media and provides protection against administrative censorship. Student journalists are most affected by this implementation of this policy, so I believed it was of paramount importance that I, as a student journalist myself, be involved in the steps to execute it. That being said, we thought that the terms should be clearly outlined to eliminate any ambiguity regarding our rights as student journalists. Not only did this experience lead me to truly appreciate my freedom to express my ideas in school, but it also led to a deeper gratitude for what others had to go through to get to the level of progress we are currently at. The annotations I had made on the documents alone showcase my knowledge and awareness of the situation. I learned the significance of clarity when it comes to my rights as a journalist. I take pride in being a part of an incredibly important issue to me and stand up for others. 

The use of ethics in the newsroom is crucial to ensuring the integrity, credibility, and trustworthiness of the information that we are putting out into the McKinley community. My adviser for the pinion had us take law and ethics quizzes with the aim of assuring that we are well-versed in what these terms mean. The law quiz covers 5 types of unprotected speech based on the Hawaii Student Journalist Protection Act. It includes things that are libelous or slanderous, constitutes a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, violates State or federal law, is obscene or incites students as to create a clear and present danger of the commission of an unlawful act, the violation of lawful school or board policies, or the material and substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school. In my article about transgender athletes, I had to make sure that people were comfortable answering the poll questions about trans athletes and their rights as well as if it was okay to add their answers in. Even if it would make a great addition to my article, it was essential for me to respect their wishes. This demonstrates that I have learned the significance of ethics and law within The Pinion as a team, and my individual articles. Using these guidelines, I have made sure to display accurate, transparent information to my school and the public. 

​Fact checking is an integral part of supporting the concept of ethical journalism. This is a routine course of action for the Pinion Staff when nearing the end of writing our articles, as well as discussions where we inform each other about current events happening in our school, state, country, and world.  We see to it that the information being discussed in our newsroom is factual so that our staffers are aware about the world around them. We do this so that the articles surrounding certain events are morally and ethically based in reality.  These are two articles that I fact-checked during my junior year. They show my dedication to creating a well-written, ethical article, as I whisked myself around campus during my free time to get each quote fact checked by my sources. I learned ethical responsibility and initiative in a world where widespread misinformation is running rampant through our media. This is my opportunity to interact with a source so that they can say their experience being interviewed was a positive and even enlightening one. This helps build trust in the media. S138-Malia Manuel - Learning Journey Slideshow Template - Google Slides