Ethics for journalists tips on keeping bias out.

Reporting and biases how do you separate the two when it comes to reporting the information.

Important facts on keeping bias thought out of reporting. Accept that humanity has some bias rather it is conscious or nonconscious.

After accepting this please know reporters can not place any of his/her feeling or opinions into the articles in which is being reported.

Good ways and tips on trying not to place any opinions into the reported articles can be found in the society of professional journalism

This site speaks about how age does not matter in the reporting fields

Thanks to technology anyone can report anything, but the importance of reporting is to keep bias out in the articles you report.

To do this the reporter must place What they know about the subject and what they can support with data and facts. Into the article only.

Make sure that the story that is being reported meet the need of the editor who gets the final say. Make sure you have more the one source of information about the story in which is being reported.

Also if a reporter using a statement for a story feel free to research the story to make sure that person is telling the truth.

For example, if someone is saying they never did a crime but is being bland for it. double check before reporting the information.

Thes help tips can for this video listed below.

How Journalists Minimize Bias

https://players.brightcove.net/1513023957001/HyGZasuG_default/index.html?videoId=4870389538001

How to minimize biases in our reporting

Where we are from, our gender, religion, family, friends…etc. can affect our reporting and the way we view things. The fact that I am a female, a Muslim, and Arab American has effects on how I view the world. Even though a lot of times we try to get rid of these biases, we will still end up with some unconscious biases.

As mentioned in a video titled How Journalist Minimize Bias, we need to be aware of our biases and the facts that could affect the way we view the world. Also, collecting different resources about the reported subject will minimize the biases in our reporting because we are exposed to different angles of the same story. Lastly, talking to different people regarding the reported subject will give us different insights of the story which can minimize our biases as well.

To balance our reporting, we need to focus on the process of collecting different sources, talking to different people with different perspectives, and being aware of our own biases and what could affect our reporting such as ethnicity, gender, religion,…etc.

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.

What’s fair- ethics drive journalism

SPJ included a video of journalists in one of their articles who spoke on the topic of ethics where one of them mentioned that though journalists are trying to remain neutral, they do in reality have opinions. However, accuracy is more important and is a priority above all else, one journalist simply says it’s “what’s fair.”

SPJ includes a video in their article on what journalists think about bias.

As a reporter, a journalist tries to get every perspective. One source cannot run a story because it is begging for bias. Sources must be verified and reporters do this by going to more than one source to check and balance their stories. One journalists puts it like this; If a mother had a child who did something wrong and said that that same child was a straight A student and never got into any trouble with the law, one can’t quickly take her word for it. Rather, it’s important to go to the child’s school and police department to check out those sources as well. It might not be that the parent is lying, yet she may be overcome with grief and feel as if she has to prove her child is pure, just like most parents think their children are.