Journalism Content Knowledge: Law, Ethics, and Editorial Conventions
The Journalism content knowledge domain tests newsroom practice: accurate reporting, media law and ethics, and copy editing to professional conventions. Expect questions on libel standards, student-press precedent, source agreements, story structure, and headline and caption style.
Media law essentials
Libel requires publication, identification, defamatory meaning, falsity, fault, and harm. Public officials and public figures must prove actual malice - knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for truth - under New York Times Co. v. Sullivan; private figures generally need only negligence. Prior restraint is presumed unconstitutional (Near v. Minnesota), yet Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier lets administrators censor school-sponsored student publications for legitimate educational reasons, while Tinker v. Des Moines protects personal expression that does not disrupt school. Reporter's privilege is qualified and varies by state, so a subpoena can still compel testimony. Fair use weighs purpose, nature, amount, and market effect.
Ethics and sourcing
Follow the SPJ Code of Ethics: seek truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently, and be accountable. Default to on-the-record sourcing; anonymous sources require editor approval, corroboration, and a plain-language explanation to readers of why anonymity was granted. Never fabricate or plagiarize, disclose conflicts, and correct errors promptly and visibly.
Editing and style
Use the inverted pyramid, leading with the most newsworthy fact. AP style spells out one through nine and uses figures for 10 and above; capitalize titles before names but lowercase them standing alone. Headlines take sentence case, present tense, and no period. Attribute before quoting and give full name plus title on first reference. Captions identify people left to right.
Worked example
A story says a coach "took money from the booster fund." The statement asserts a crime, so the paper needs documented records and precise attribution, not the word "alleged," which is not a legal shield. If the coach sues, the court asks whether the claim is false and whether the paper was at fault; verifying the ledger and quoting the audit is the defense.
Traps that cost marks
Treating a shield law as absolute; assuming "alleged" prevents a libel claim; mistaking every government employee for a public official; misspelling a name, which breaks the identification element.