Ethical journalism in today’s society entails the importance of reporting with integrity and fairness. It is a journalist’s responsibility to report a story with full honesty so that an audience is consuming accurate media. The journalist should not allow personal bias and opinions to affect the reporting. Ethical journalism also means giving credit where it is due, including citing sources when using information from external sources. This maintains the integrity of a journalist’s writing. In addition to practicing ethical journalism, journalists have the responsibility to follow the law. This includes complying with copyright laws. Ka Leo staff is trained in practicing ethical journalism, and these principles are built upon from their very first day as a staff reporter and are upheld throughout their years in journalism.

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From my first year in journalism, I was taught to adhere to copyright regulations. We were taught what is acceptable and what wasn’t when it came to finding ourselves needing to find media from an online source. I learned the most about copyright-free media during my music and my book review articles. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to obtain the appropriate media for these articles myself, so I turned to the internet for pictures. I was able to rely on the presentations given to us to help me in finding copyright-free media. Our training in using copyright free media didn’t only include photos and videos but also royalty-free music. I learned the process of using royalty-free music when creating a podcast and when creating video posts for Ka Leo’s publication.

 

When Ka Leo staff reporters go through staff reporter training, we are taught about the importance of giving credit to sources, not just in media but also when we include outside information in our articles. I have had my fair share of citing other articles, studies, and websites when reporting. I understand the importance of doing so. When citing other sources, I include direct quotes to preserve the writer’s voice. I also name the source and directly link it to the article. Not including the appropriate citations would be a violation of ethical standards and a disregard for intellectual property.

 

By adhering to the regulations of copyright-free media and properly citing sources, I am not only practicing responsible journalism but also helping to create an example for the rest of our staff.

 

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