Law, Ethics, & News Literacy








Reflection
Writing the Creamery fundraiser story was a critical step in my journalism career, as the lens of this story was deeply personal and as such forced me to choose my wording incredibly carefully out of respect for my sources. Speaking to the owner of the Creamery by phone and adding some quotes from him added some needed depth to this story, and as a result, I ended up asking him how he felt more broadly about the COVID relief packages that were being discussed on the federal level. He ended up giving a deeply impassioned response regarding our nation and its values while describing the trials of running a small business such as his.
When writing a story on Gavin Newsom, I made sure to do significant preliminary research on the governor and the history of recalls in California before interviewing local sources on the subject. I am an avid follower of politics, and this story utilized my knowledge in this area, which helped broaden the scope of the story.
In the "Experiencing Roe reversal" my story partner and I worked diligently to ensure that our story provided useful information to our community to raise awareness of the abortion rights of college students in California and across the country. As part of the story, we interviewed a legal expert from UCLA's Center on Reproductive Health, Law and Policy to help us understand which communities were being most impacted by the overturning of Roe vs. Wade.
Our "Trans Identity in Sports" story required special attention to ethics given that our subject, a trans student, was a minor, and as such my story partner and I, along with our Journalism Advisor and EICs, were sure to take special precautions; this included asking permission from the parents of our subject before proceeding in addition to having a lengthy in-person discussion with them underscoring the possible consequences of publishing this story. As we interviewed sources, we made sure to conduct large amounts of preliminary research in order to ensure that we gained the proper understand of the nuance of this extremely controversial topic, and in addition we consulted global experts in the field (such as researcher and trans athlete Joanna Harper) and asked them not only about the science in question, but also the proper ways to cover such a sensitive topic. Their advice was instrumental in ensuring our confidence in the publication of this story.