Law and Ethics

One of the biggest risks I have taken as a student journalist was to cover the effect of "loaded teas" on my school and community. I interviewed a local owner of a "loaded tea" café who later reached out to express his disdain for the article I published. While I remained as objective as I could when writing this article, this business owner's quotes in contrast to the quotes I included for a health professional in the area essential spoke for themselves. After this business owner reached out to my high school administration about the article I published, I began doing a lot of research on defamation and the 1st Amendment, worried that they could sue me for what I wrote. While the conflict thankfully did not go to that end, I learned a lot through this experience about how journalism and the law intersect. 

While the news may not always be pretty to hear, it is important to me to tell the stories that people want to keep quiet. Journalism has emboldened me to not be afraid of public backlash to my writing and to prioritize what my audience of readers have the right to know about the community they live in.