Journalism Certification Test

Published in

reimaginingjournalism

14 min readDec 12, 2018

Modern journalism faces a problematic pattern of citizen journalists, conspiracy theorists, and propaganda distributors who publish fabricated and often times harmful or unethical information under the label of “journalism.” This phenomenon contributes to mistrust in news and alters the public perception of journalists. The abuse of social media platforms and the popularity of sensationalized headlines allow influencers and fake news bots to hurt the work of credible, hard-working journalists. The influx of fake news stories and hidden advertisements have created an environment of distrust and bias that is permanently altering the way journalism is practiced and perceived.

Our solution features an online journalist certification program broken down into sections that we feel encapsulate the foundations of thorough, ethical, practical journalism. This program is not intended to act as a primary tool of education or alternative to higher education, but serves three main purposes:

Working as a summary of basic objectives and knowledge that credible journalists should have.
Helping to close the opportunity gap for those who have less access to college education.
Certifying one’s knowledge and confirming that they have been exposed to fundamental journalism ethics, laws, practices, and style. The Journalism Certification Test (JCT) is a tool of evaluation and certification to help ensure the future of information is in capable hands.

Media Law

The First Amendment:

As a journalist, you should be familiar with the First Amendment, especially the parts regarding freedom of speech and press. This section of the module will review and test you on this familiarity.

Which of the following is not a right protected under the First Amendment? Select all that apply.

Press
Petition the Government
Privacy
Assembly
Religion

2. What categories of speech are not explicitly protected by the First Amendment (all that apply)

Obscenity
Copyright infringement
Indecent speech
Lying
Defamation
Profanity
Hate speech

Libel

This module focuses on libel. You should make sure you understand libel law in order to protect yourself from lawsuits. Libel is the publication of a false statement that deliberately or carelessly damages someone’s reputation. There are different libel laws in different states and it is your responsibility to be up to date on laws in your area.

To be considered libel, something must be _____ (click all that apply):

Published
Spoken in person
Sent in private communication
Broadcasted
Posted online

Libel cases also depend on the people involved.

2. What are the types of sources that have immunity from defamation suits? Click all that apply.

Police
Politicians
Prosecutors

Question: What’s the difference in a libel case with a plaintiff that is a public official versus a plaintiff that is a not a public official?

Short response answer (100–200 words):

3. If you were sued in a libel case, how would you respond? What steps should you take to ensure your safety?

Short response answer (100–200 words):

Shield Laws

There is no federal shield law, but most states have passed statutes that allow journalists to refuse to disclose or testify about confidential or unpublished information, such as the identity of sources. The specific protections vary state to state in depth of protections, and it is important to know the laws in your area.

1. What is reporter’s privilege and how is it different than a shield law?

Short response answer (100–300 words):

2. Which of the following states have no protections whatsoever for journalists? Select all that apply.

Wyoming
California
Kansas
Hawaii
Nebraska

3. Is a promise of confidentiality a binding contract? If you tell a source you don’t reveal their identity and do, what are the repercussions, if any?

Short response answer (100–200 words):

4. Make an argument on why, or why not, federal shield laws should be put in place.

Short response answer (100–400 words):

Verification

Verification is the separation between journalism and the media. We want to avoid turning journalism into “infotainment” (broadcast material that is intended both to entertain and to inform). The main purpose of your work with news stories should be to give your readers “the facts” and “the truth about the facts.” An entertaining lede or kicker is great, but don’t let those be untrue or distracting just to get a reaction out of your readers.

“People will forget who got it first, but they remember who got it wrong.”

- Craig Silverman, Canadian journalist

What should you do if you like the story another news outlet has published and want to republish it?

a. Republish it. It’s a free country, and the original publishers had to have known it would be repeated.

b. Examine their sources, call them, and call some new sources to build on what the original publishers had and create your own version of the article.

c. Forget about the story and find something else to write about.

2. If a source tells you their name and you don’t know how to spell it, what do you do?

a. Try and find them online later to confirm the spelling.

b. Take a guess as to how it’s spelled since how their name is spelled doesn’t really matter. Only their quotes matter.

c. Ask them to spell their name and repeat the spelling back to them.

3. Can you record without a source’s permission?

a. It depends on the state you’re in whether or not you can do that, s you should research beforehand.

b. No. Never. Permission must always be given.

c. Yes, that’s ok. They should know you’ll probably record anyways.

4. What number of sources is best to use to verify your “facts”?

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

5. Is there ever a case where you should allow a source to read your story before you publish it? (100–200 words)

6. What are the three core concepts of the Discipline of Verification and what do they mean? (200–300 words)

7. What can you use to verify locations? (100–200 words)

8. What can you use to analyze and/or verify images? (100–200 words)

9. Why are primary sources the best type of source? (100–200 words)

10. Does your lede have to answer all the questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how? (100–200 words)

Ethics of Journalism: Section One

True/False should you do these things?

You own stock in Macintosh inc. You should write a story about their new iPhone.

TRUE
FALSE

2. You misquoted a source and they called you out on it, but you don’t want to be seen as wrong so you don’t acknowledge or correct the mistake.

TRUE
FALSE

3. You just recently wrote a story about a Senate hearing about gun control, but in an attempt to get more clicks you get the idea to make the title “ SENATOR OF CALIFORNIA WANTS TO TAKE YOUR GUNS????” Is this a good choice ethically?

4. You should describe an African American man as “shady” in a title in an article that is not designed to be about the suspicious nature of an individual or popular culture.

TRUE
FALSE

5. A source you interview on the street will do an interview with you if you keep their name anonymous. What do you do?

a. Use them in your article and keep them anonymous

b. Find a new source

c. Talk them into only using a first name

d. Other

6. You’re covering the police beat and a robbery just happened at the local gas station. This is the third gas station robbery in the past two weeks. Describe the process you would go through to create this story. (100–300 words)

Ethics of Journalism: Section Two

Conflicts of Interest

“You can [get intimate with] an elephant if you want to, but if you do you can’t cover the circus.”

— The Rosenthal Rule (A.M. Rosenthal, former New York Times Executive Editor)

What is considered a conflict of interest?

a. A journalist being registered to vote as a member of a certain political party.

b. A journalist writing about an election in which their brother is a candidate.

c. A journalist writing about a topic they have a degree in.

d. A & B

e. B & C

f. A & C

g. None of the Above

2. What might be impacted if a journalist ignores a conflict of interest?

a. The public’s perception of a journalist’s credibility

b. The public’s perception of a news organization’s credibility

c. The public perception of an editor’s credibility

d. All of the above

e. None

If a journalist working for a regional newspaper is unsure as to whether or not something is a conflict of interest they should:

a. Write the story and decide upon completion if it can be published, given the conflict.

b. Inform the editor of their situation upon being assigned the story.

c. Write the story if there is no conceivable way the public could be made aware of the conflict.

d. Refuse to write the story under any circumstance.

Essay Question 100–200 words: In your own words, what is a conflict of interest?

Fact-Checking
What are some examples of fact-checking journalism in action:

a. Politifact

b. FactCheck.org

c. AZ Fact Check

d. Truth Test

e. All of the Above

f. None of the Above

Why is fact-checking important in journalism?

It is not the journalist’s job to fact check their work.
It is important on many levels including a journalist’s ethical obligation to seek truth and report it, and the importance of maintaining credibility.
Fact checking helps journalists in promoting their agenda and keeping the public misinformed.

Essay Question 1,000–2,000 words: describe what makes a credible source and how you check your sources’ credibility.

Challenging Journalism Scenarios

What you should prepare for.

Background Information

The following is a section covering challenging journalism scenarios that will prepare aspiring journalists to enter the field with the knowledge and tools to prosper in the field.

Information Glut

In our modern age of technology, there are thousands upon thousands of sources one could obtain information on any given subject. The volume of sources can be overwhelming for our audience not to mention make them fear missing out on important stories. Our generation has coined this phobia “FOMO” which stands for the fear of missing out. We live in a 24/7, 365 day news cycle where we are bombarded by articles, updates, notifications and alerts. As journalists, we have to make our content engaging enough to attract readers, otherwise our voices will disappear in all the noise. Our audience has limitless choices in where and when they get their information fill, and it is our job to point them in our direction. Fighting information glut in this age is a constant battle. The introduction of social media rocked the journalism world as it made storytelling instant. A reporter can now be at a sporting event and Tweet out the score and immediately inform their followers on the current state of the game. Before social media the game results would just be tomorrow’s news because the journalist had to get back to the office, hop on a computer, write out the story, get it edited and approved, and then printed and distributed. Now all we have to do is hit send. Your challenge will be to get the story out first, because odds are there are hundreds of others just like you about to click send. Who can do it the fastest? You always have to be one step ahead of your competitors and must be able to efficiently and effectively tell your story in a way that no one else can do better.

Fake News

Since the 2016 election, today’s journalists are being wrongfully lumped in with the mainstream media. Vincent Filak, the author of the Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing, writes, “Partisan bickering and digital aids have helped create a lucrative field of fake news that can give journalists incredibly painful headaches.” People often seek affirmation of their own beliefs rather than cold hard facts. As a journalist you will not only have to delegitimize the falsehoods present in trending gossip and rumors, you will also have to find a way to prove to your readers that you yourself are a credible and trustworthy source. The National Association for Media Literacy Education suggests that “Every platform should have an editorial team that’s looking and assessing trending articles and giving information to users about certain sites and sources.” Encouraging skepticism is salient in shutting down fake news. Being able to read content and then research its accuracy and do your own fact-checking will ensure for a more informed audience.

Shorter Attention Spans

As the audience is what all journalists cater their stories for, you have to be aware that the attention spans of our readers have significantly shortened. In print journalism, the average reader will only read the first 70 words of an article. Knowing that you have to make sure that the most crucial information is at the beginning of your article so that the reader can be as informed as possible. This is why the inverted pyramid model is so important. The need to know information has to be right at the top of the page so it can’t be skimmed over or skipped altogether. Then if you are captivating and engaging enough in the first 70 words, the reader will be more likely to finish reading the article. This is why the lead is at the forefront of the story. Being able to write a compelling and informative lead will maximize your chances to engulf the reader.

Hostility

In the interview process, not everyone you talk to will give you what you need to write the story. When a more controversial story breaks, the people involved can be angry, dangerous and threatening. Sometimes those are the people you will need to get information from. You have to remember that the audience is your priority and that you need to give them the most information possible and that takes some elbow grease. The first thing to remember is to always approach the source unbiased, calmly, and level-headed. Make sure that none of the questions you have prepared are accusatory, or leading. No matter where your personal assumptions lie you have to give the source an opportunity to speak. Have soft ball questions ready to relieve any tension that may build up. No matter how hostile the source becomes, you have to remain as polite as possible so you can squeeze out as much information from them as possible. The minute you let your emotions get the best of you, you will lose the story.

Crime & Disasters

Often times in breaking news, whether a criminal case, a weather disaster, or a car crash your news organization will send you out to the scene to cover live footage. Though in most other instances the audience is your first priority, in these dangerous situations your safety has to be priority number one. A story can’t be investigated properly if you put yourself in harm’s way. The job of the police officers, firefighters, and emergency officials trumps your job. You have to let them take care of the situation before you go around trying to dig up information. If an official is carrying out an important task you have to keep a respectful distance and allow them to carry out the safety protocols necessary. Some of the scenes you arrive at may be graphic and gory and it is important for you to maintain your composure to appear as professional as possible. People will be less likely to give you information if you aren’t calm and approachable. Always keep in mind the 5w’s and 1h. Those will be important when writing your lead. Finally, it is important to also be sympathetic and humane, some people have lost loved ones and you have to be considerate towards the victims and make sure they feel respected and not violated.

Short Answers:

In what ways will you make your articles stand out amongst others of the same general topic?
In the era of fake news, how do you suppose you could go about shutting down the spread of false information?
How do you make a lead captivating? What aspects do you include in a lead to inform the reader?
Give an example of a controversial event. Who would you have to interview in order to tell that particular story and why does their viewpoint matter?
If you arrive at the scene of a car crash, which questions will you ask and who will you interview to get your lead?

Statement of Change

Having certification for journalists will not only increase public trust in journalism but will also create a baseline of knowledge and standards to be held for all major publication organizations and journalists to maintain. This will help differentiate journalists from the mainstream media and ensure for a unified understanding of ethics, law, integrity and verification. These course modules and exam questions will prepare journalists to combat challenging scenarios they will see within the field.

This will change society and democracy for the better, because it will increase the amount of credible journalists and, in turn, will increase public trust in journalism.

Resources

Outtakes

Certification or license

A certification of journalists who already have a resume, created by analyzing their past work. This certification could be applied for by working journalists (who do or do not have degrees).

2. A board to oversee journalist/brand partnerships

In this age of online media, the line between journalism and brand sponsored content is often blurred. Journalists and influencers have the potential to use their position to manipulate users for compensation. To combat this problem we would recommend a board of journalists, legal consultants, and ethicists to monitor brand/journalist partnerships and deals. This would be to ensure that they are made and carried out with in a responsible and ethical manner.

3. Online course

This is the idea that we have selected to elaborate on above…

Authors

Monica Roche