Incident at the library: FOIA and ethics
Up until recently, I had no idea how FOIA requests worked. I had a very basic understanding from what my adviser went over during East Lansing Info's summer youth journalism workshop. I first filed a request when I was doing the second tier of the program, aiming to find documents about the eviction moratorium from the city. It did not work out, and a long process began that ended in the records being unattainable even through the court.
This January, however, I found myself filing five separate FOIA requests in the span of two weeks. It started as part of our investigation into the incident at the public library a few days prior, where a Black East Lansing student was falsely accused of starting a fire in the bathroom several months beforehand. That story can be found here. We ended up filing six requests in total, with my co-writer filing one to Ingham County 911 and myself filing the rest to the police (three times) and fire department as well as the City of East Lansing. All returned at least one document that was useful to our story, which has not yet been published. This story also came with some ethical considerations. The accused, his brother, and his mother, all considered the accused to have been racially profiled, making it a sensitive topic. We decided to not reveal the names of the minors, since they are students, the topic is sensitive, and the library is seeking their names in order to officially ban them. However, we are planning on including the name of the mother with her permission. Our note of omission was included at the top of the initial article and is below. We also attended a library board meeting, both to see what would be decided and whether they would discuss our story-- which they did. During the meeting, me and my co-writer each used our public comments to state our intentions and to give ourselves an opportunity to speak against claims made by the library administration. |
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Recognizing the sensitivity of what we are covering
We cover heavy topics. The nature of journalism is that not all stories can be about success or happiness. With harder hitting stories comes the need for sensitivity, both for our readers and our sources. Whether we keep sources anonymous for their safety and wellbeing or if we choose to simply not cover something that is happening, the issue of how ethical our decisions are is always in the background. Most of the time, we have a consensus as editors. When we don't, we try to come to one, or err on the side of caution.
For example, I include content warnings, especially if an article or video attached to an article contains obscene language, as I did with my shared story about an incident that happened to our football team (linked). For this story, we were also extremely mindful of whether student athletes wanted to go on or off the record, and were careful to let them speak about their negative experiences at other schools.
Being mindful of how my stories and coverage can affect readers or my fellow staffers is also a core part of who we are as a publication. Portrait represents the student body of ELHS, and its diverse voices, and as a result, we are required to act in ways that will not put any of them in any remotely uncomfortable place.
I strive to be mindful not just when writing for the paper, but also in my daily life. Being able to learn about the sensitivity of certain topics from other staff members and from interviews has allowed me to be more aware of what I do and write, both as a student journalist and as a person.
For example, I include content warnings, especially if an article or video attached to an article contains obscene language, as I did with my shared story about an incident that happened to our football team (linked). For this story, we were also extremely mindful of whether student athletes wanted to go on or off the record, and were careful to let them speak about their negative experiences at other schools.
Being mindful of how my stories and coverage can affect readers or my fellow staffers is also a core part of who we are as a publication. Portrait represents the student body of ELHS, and its diverse voices, and as a result, we are required to act in ways that will not put any of them in any remotely uncomfortable place.
I strive to be mindful not just when writing for the paper, but also in my daily life. Being able to learn about the sensitivity of certain topics from other staff members and from interviews has allowed me to be more aware of what I do and write, both as a student journalist and as a person.