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• Lesson Plan
  • "Judgment Calls: The Ethical Responsibilities of Reporters and the Media"
  • Student Handout: Group Quotations
  • Student Handout: Guidelines on Journalistic Standards and Practices
  • Student Handout: Scruples: A Game of Journalists' Dilemmas
• Additional Lesson Ideas
  • Relying on Unnamed Sources
  • Student Press
• Additional Resources
• Printable .pdf of entire guide
  (Adobe Acrobat required)

Additional Lesson Idea

Relying on Unnamed Sources
Select a book, movie or television program that depicts reporters determining the reliability of sources. For example, students will read All the President's Men or view the movie. They will identify the times when the editors were challenged about printing particular stories. Students will determine the criteria the reporters used to attribute their sources and what made a source reliable. They can consult The Washington Post's guidelines for rules of attribution at http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=53&aid=61244.

Student Press
Students will examine the United States Supreme Court case Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier to understand the extent to which student publications are or are not protected by the First Amendment. Students can write an op-ed piece commenting on the court's decision. Encourage them to submit their op-ed pieces to the school or community newspaper. This case can be found at http://www.splc.org/law_library.asp?id=1.