But remember that sources do not reserve the right to review your work before it is published. Just because a source may be an adult or a teacher or someone in authority does not make them entitled to review your work before publication. However, a source does have the right to ask to see his or her quotes before you use them in an article. Most people don't ask to do this, but you should always comply with that type of request if asked. So if someone you've interviewed asks or demands to see your article before it's published, simply explain to them that "that's not our editorial policy." (In other words, that's not the editorial policy of news organizations, including school publications, that abide by sound journalistic practices -- not to mention the First Amendment.)
Click here to read an interesting article about a recent situation involving a private school that showcases this type of dilemma. Do you think the school did the right thing?
I don't think the school should have given the rough draft of the article for Justice Kennedy to read. I believe the school, instead of sending the entire article, should have sent the justice the quotes they used in the article but not the entire article. It's the school paper's decision, though, and it's not like anything completely negative came out of the story, so I guess it's not bad that the school sent the article to Justice Kennedy, it just doesn't seem like the best thing to do as an academic newspaper.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe the school should have allowed the Justice to review the article. He was not entitled to read the article and it was not a wise choice for the school to give him that right. If he was worried about his image, which I believe this scenario boiled down to, the school could've let his read his quotes. It also was unfair for him to tweak his quotes because by tweaking them, he is changing what he said therefore making what he said false because the corrections made were not his actual words. In the end, it probably was the best thing to not publish the article because it would've been plagued with falsehoods and not the entire truth. The school had a say in whether or not to let the Justice read the article and letting him do so was not wise.
ReplyDeleteI think that the school should not have given Justice Kennedy the whole article when he wanted to make sure he was being properly quoted. The school should have only given him his quotes to review because that is all he really needed to make sure he was being properly quoted. There was no need for him to read the whole story when just reading his quotes would suffice.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with the school letting Justice Kennedy reviewing the article beforehand. He doesn't have that right. He really shouldn't need to review his quotes either, the only reason that would be necessary would be if Justice wanted to change their quotes which would make them less accurate. I don't think that anyone who agrees to an interview should have to review them, if they agreed to let you publish their words then that's enough.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that allowing Justice Kennedy to review the entire article before its publication was necessary. Since he even got to see the quotes being used, he should have trusted that the students would not portray him in a bad light or take anything he said out of context.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was very unprofessional for the school newspaper to grant someone the right to prior review. The press is not subject to anyone's approval, and as long as the quotes weren't taken out of context, the Justice had no right to edit what he had said. It is false journalism to edit a quote other than for grammatical purposes.
ReplyDeleteI think that Justice Kennedy was out of line to review the article. It's completely against code. It was wrong on the school newspaper's end too, though. They shouldn't have even given him the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI think that Justice Kennedy was out of line in asking to be able to review the article. The school newspaper was also at fault, though. They shouldn't have even given him the opportunity to do so.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been perfectly acceptable for the school to send in the direct quotes of the Justice that were used in the article for revision, but it was not necessary or expected that the school provide an entire draft for the Justice to "tweak." It bothers me that the students and even the moderator felt that they needed to comply with the Justice's requests because of his status. If the same situation had occurred when writing an article about another student, it is unlikely that a full draft would be provided for the student.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the school newspaper should have let Justice Kennedy review the article before its publication. It is understandable to want to see quotes before publication but asking to see the whole story was unprofessional. Regular newspapers do not have to comply to such wishes and neither should school newspapers. The term prior review for school newspapers should be used by school faculty members only.
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