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By Aly Colón
Editors and reporters work as a team.
The reporter seeks to uncover the truth, gather evidence, and connect the dots. She stitches the information together; Sometimes it comes out looking like a quilt, or a patchwork, or a vast array of squares loosely connected.
The editor seeks to discern the pattern in the reporter’s writing. They both want to create work that most accurately and seamlessly connects the pieces into a compelling, representative story.
Along the way, they may discuss anonymous sources, potential conflicts of interest, and how to minimize harm to the people they cover. There are other ethical considerations, too.
Here are some ethical questions that can help guide fairness in storytelling for a diverse world.
Reporters can ask:
- What lived experience might I bring to reporting the story? How might that inform this work?
- How can I put myself in someone else’s shoes to understand their experience of this story?
- How do I prepare myself to report on communities that are not my own?
- What questions can I ask that will allow the story to show itself?
- Did I do the story I already had in my head or allow the reporting to shape the story?
Editors can ask:
- Does the story I’m editing appear fair, complete, and holistic?
- Does the story reflect the voice of the writer more than it does the voices of the people being interviewed and covered?
- Does it seem like a patchwork that represents the story the writer wants to tell, rather than the story the people are trying to tell the reporter?
- Does the story call for more questions? More answers?
- Will the readers and the subjects of the story see themselves in the story?
Aly Colón is the Knight Professor of Media Ethics in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Washington and Lee University.
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