TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — It's National News Literacy Week and we're raising awareness on how you can consume news while navigating the ever-changing media landscape.
As a journalist, we have a duty to uphold a code of ethics. Students in a newspaper class at Tanque Verde High School on the Eastside are learning about that code in choosing the stories they put in their monthly paper.
Alexis Rhyner teaches that class, where I got the chance to watch the students pitch their best ideas for the February edition of their paper.
"Our goal is to make sure that our stories make everyone feel good and heard and understood on our campus...and also build awareness on our campus and what's going on," said Rhyner.
It's a responsibility every student contributing to the newspaper has taken on.
"Our editing process is actually kind of intense," Rhyner said. "We have a week long process students have to print their stories and then send them to their editor to make sure that the story needs what the editor is looking for. And then they go to copy and continuity and that's where we also do fact checking. Once they do that, they go to me, and I go through and read them and check to make sure that everything in their story is meeting this. If they don't they get set back."
Besides spelling and grammar, students are making sure they meet the class's publishing ethics such as being honest, accurate, independent and responsible.
"We've changed some stories every once in awhile just due to the fact that there might be a little information that we wanted and it's not there. So we just do it. We always talk with the person that wrote the story to make sure they liked it," said junior Wiatt Penc-Bush.
"Ethically, we're never going to print something that's going to harm people or specifically offend people," said senior Natalie Luera. "We don't want to do anything that's going to make people feel unsafe at school."
You can learn more about News Literacy Week here.
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Denelle Veselik is an anchor and investigative reporter for KGUN 9. It's been her dream to tell your stories for the past decade. She is extremely curious and wants to continue to use her storytelling for the greater good. Share your story ideas and important issues with Denelle by emailing denelle.veselik@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram and X/Twitter.
