Online Reporting, Research & Writing

Avoid being biased in your writing

Ethics is very important when it comes to journalists. The SPJ website has a video on how journalists minimize bias. The video talks about how not all journalists are the same, and how journalists are diverse people.

The common topic that was used was ethics and how journalists are neutral and everyone has their own opinion. The video really helps journalist learn more about the importance of fact checking and how to be creative in your writing without being biased.

When it comes to my reporting I feel like I should put other peoples feelings and opinions in perspective. I know that I have to have an open mind when writing and not believe that I am always right.

It’s very important to avoid being biased in your writing because everything you write is in the public eye. It’s always important to focus on the real facts and also feelings. It’s always important to use some sort of feeling into your writing but it should let it affect the facts that you are trying to put out.

Do you know your freedom of information rights?

Reading about Digital Journalist’s Legal Guide made me realize how many rights journalist has. FOIA stands for Freedom of Information Act.

The guide states that people have legal rights to open records, for example, police misconduct, how the government spends taxpayer money and any kind of traffic records. People also have the right for open public meetings such as meetings of commissions, councils, and boards.

When it comes to news gathering reporters have limited rights. Reporters can come to a news scene but it depends on whether the property is public, non-public or private. The owners of private property usually have more control over who accesses their property. Public properties have a place and time to when reports can come and access the property.

A journalist should always know their rights when reporting and also be sure about the information that they publish. If publishing a false document, it could affect a reputation and could lead to criminal charges and be taken into court.

Anything that the government does, including salaries and information on money as a citizen you are allowed to ask for the information, and they have 20 days to respond to your request.

How FOIA affects journalists

The Freedom of Information Act gives the government, journalists and citizens access to public records that cannot be found online.

Journalists went into detail about their experiences with FOIA at an event hosted by the Detroit Free Press. For example, Jim Schafer, professor at the University of Michigan – Dearborn and staff writer for the Detroit Free Press, has made FOIA requests for the Kwame Kilpatrick scandal, where the Detroit Free Press broke the story.

Police reports are the most common form of documents requested through FOIA, along with information, according to the event. The journalists advise to send a FOIA request as the last option, because chances are that information is public online.

The most interesting thing about FOIA is due to the advances in technology. Journalists and citizens are able to now request body cam footage. This is a great opportunity to review a situation further than a police report document, however, there are chances that footage can be exempt.

Exemption has been a problem for the journalists at the event. FOIA can black out any information that may give private information or the details needed to complete a story. The Detroit Free Press once requested medical records about the legionnaires outbreak at the beginning of the Flint water crisis. When the Press received the document, there was about 160 pages of blacked out information.

There are many pros and cons to FOIA, but if anything ever goes wrong, journalists are able to sue to receive information or to get money back. It is possible to lose the lawsuit. FOIA can be difficult at times but it provides a great system to receive information, especially being an investigative journalist.

Avoiding bias in journalism

When writing an article, I write with an open mind. Most of the events and organizations that I cover focus on positive things, so there are no true negative feelings within my stories.

However, this mindset did not occur last year when I was covering the Planned Parenthood protests. My article was biased towards Planned Parenthood, and I discussed how important it was to keep the non-profit in our communities. During the protest, I didn’t talk to the side that was against Planned Parenthood. This showed where my bias was placed, favoring Planned Parenthood and not acknowledging the opposing side.

The publication that I was working for at the time also accidentally published it before editing it. So not only was it biased towards one side, but it hadn’t been cleared by anyone.

Since this incident, I have been very careful about what I write and to make sure that it is not biased. The journalism career field does not accept bias, because as a journalist, you are supposed to tell the story through someone else’s perspective.

It was a true learning experience for me, and it definitely placed fear within myself. Knowing that an issue like this can get you shamed by other journalists and the public is a scary thing.