Davis Senior High School

HUB MANUAL

Davis Senior High School

2013-14

Revised September 2013

HUB Awards

You are part of an award-winning journalism program. Bring honor to it.

2006-07
NSPA Feature Story of the Year, Honorable Mention: Samantha Motekaitis
Al Neuharth Free Spirit Scholarship: Lindsay Schrupp
JEA Journalism Honor Roll Scholarship: Lindsay Schrupp
2007-08
JEANC “Superior” in Best of the West/Large Newspaper
2008-09
NSPA All American (print)
2009-10
NSPA Brasler Prize for Story of the Year: Jane Seo
NSPA Diversity Story of the Year, First Place: Jane Seo
NSPA Sports Story of the Year, Honorable Mention: Emily Lam and Jordan Souza
2010-11
NSPA Online Pacemaker (Website)
NSPA Pacemaker Finalist (Newspaper)
NSPA Multimedia, Fifth Place: Anna Sturla and Ines Guinard

JEA/NSPA Best of Show (Anaheim): 6th place
Al Neuharth Free Spirit Scholarship: Kelly Goss
2011-12

NSPA Pacemaker (Newspaper)

NSPA Sports Multimedia Story of the Year: Anna Sturla

NSPA News Multimedia Story of the Year, 4th place: Anna Sturla

NSPA Design of the Year, Illustration, Honorable Mention: Henry Anker

JEA Impact Award, Honorable Mention

JEA/NSPA Best of Show (Seattle): 2ND place

Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, High School Print: Anna Sturla and Daniel Tutt
Sacramento Journalism Network, Overall School Newspaper Excellence

Sacramento Journalism Network, Best Newswriting: Anna Sturla and Daniel Tutt

Sacramento Journalism Network, Best Cartoon: Henry Anker

2012-13

NSPA All-American (Print)

NSPA Pacemaker Finalist (Online)

NSPA Front Page Design Finalist: Henry Anker, Daniel Tutt and Ben Baek

CSPA Gold Medalist

JEA/NSPA Best of Show (San Francisco): 2nd place

JEA Honor Roll Scholarship: Anna Sturla

JEANC Runner Up, Journalist of the Year: Anna Sturla

Sacramento Journalism Network, Overall School Newspaper Excellence

Sacramento Journalism Network, Best Feature: Daniel Tutt

2013-14

Sacramento Journalism Network, Overall School Newspaper Excellence

Sacramento Journalism Network, Best News: Rana Eser and Amy Jiang

Sacramento Journalism Network, Best Feature:

Sacramento Journalism Network, ??

JEANC, First Place News Story: Rana Eser

JEANC, First Place Online Breaking News Stream: Natalie Silver and Thomas Oide

2014-15

What excellent work will YOU do this year?

NSPA Journalism Honor Roll

Lindsay Schrupp, 2007
Shirley Gao, 2008
Emily Lam, 2009
Jane Seo, 2009
Anna Schickele, 2009
Alana de Hinojosa, 2010
Alex Young, 2010
Anna Sturla, 2012 2013
Lauren Blackwell, 2012

About The HUB

Our Mission

Newspaper: Integrates writing, graphics, and photos to provide in-depth news analysis and features for the DHS community. Uses highly visual presentation to engage and inform readers.

News: Provide important information in an eye-catching and easy-to-read way, and to hook potential readers with graphics and with current stories.

Features: Cover students’ interests and activities and to tell student stories.

Op-Ed: Voice personal and staff opinions, to reflect the beliefs of the student body, to bring problems to the attention of staff and students and to applaud successes.

Culture: Inform the student body of the latest interesting and entertaining movies, books, music, dramas and other events on both the local and national level.

Sports: Use action photos, text, and graphics to inform students about sports at school and physical activities in the larger community.

Infographic:Integrate writing, photos, and eye-catching graphics to engage and inform readers and non-readers alike on sports and news issues.

In-Depth:

Website: Uses a variety of media to provide DHS and the larger community with regularly updated and accurate news, sports and features. Encourages interaction with readers through special features and social media.

News/Features: Provide frequent and accurate news updates that reflect the interests of students and others in the DHS community

Sports: Provide text, photos, and video of key games within 24 hours, covering all sports that students participate in.

Multimedia: Use the full possibilities of radio and video to tell the stories of students and the issues they care about. Also provides breaking news coverage of top school and sports stories.

Graphics: Take advantage of the digital and print mediums to create readable and functional graphics that illuminate the message of the paper or website.

Photos: Provide high quality and eye-catching photos that tell stories for the print newspaper and website.

Our Coverage

Ensuring We Represent the School:
We ensure that our articles represent the broad range of interests and concerns of the student body by choosing a wide variety of topics and sources of information, by monitoring our coverage through diversity audits and other means, and by providing balanced information from both sides of the story.
Topics We Report On:
Although our focus is on high school news, we will also report on local, national and international stories that affect our students, faculty and staff.

Staff Diversity:
Our goal as a staff is to represent as many groups on-campus by accurately reporting on as many issues and concerns that involve our student body. No matter how diverse our staff, it is our job to include every group in our newspaper.

OUR CONTENT

Role of the Adviser and Editors-in-Chief:
The role of the adviser is to guide staff writers and editors through the production of the newspaper. The adviser focuses on legal issues, instruction, maintenance of professional standards and assignment of grades. The editors-in-chief are responsible for establishing a vision and direction for the newspaper, as well as guiding students through the writing process and leading HUB-related discussions. Our newspaper is an open forum which has never been subject to prior review. As a result, the student staff, under the leadership of the editors-in-chief, takes sole responsibility for decisions regarding content of the paper.

We created the guidelines below so that our paper will always meet the highest ethical and journalistic standards. We never capriciously violate or change a guideline unless our class as a whole undergoes an in-depth look at the issue.

Language:
NEVER PERMITTED: Any derogatory terms that refer to race, gender, or sexual orientation (b*tch, fa**ot, ni**er, slut). The “f” or “sh” word.
DECIDED BY EDITORS-IN-CHIEF- Other swear words may be accepted in quotes if there is a demonstrated news value (not just for shock value) but never in the content of the article. Internet abbreviations such as wtf, lol, etc. will not be run unless it directly pertains to the article.
PERMITTED- Mild and commonly used words and phrases such as butt, shut up, and damn will be permitted, if relevant or necessary.

Revealing Names:
Information and quotes cannot be included anonymously without the approval of the editors-in- chief. In addition, we will not accept any anonymous letters to the Op-Ed section. While it is legal to name minors who are engaged in illegal activity if they agree to be named (i.e., they confess their illegal activity to a reporter who has clearly identified him/herself), it is our policy to keep the names of those minors anonymous unless they have already been revealed in a public record.

Obituaries:
Obituaries are printed on page 2 under an obituary flag and will be included for every current student, teacher, or staff member.. At the discretion of the editors, an additional news story may be printed on the front page. Whether to include obituaries of former teachers, staff members, students, or district employees will be the decision of the editors-in-chief.

Ads:
No ads that advertise illegal activities within our age group will be printed. That includes smoking, drugs, alcohol, tattoos and gambling. Ads with purely sexual content will not be printed; however, ads that aim at sexual health or education will (for example: Planned Parenthood). We will check ad resolution immediately after receiving it. If the ad is unclear then we will contact the advertiser as soon as possible to try and fix the ad. If we do not contact or attempt to contact the advertiser, and print the unclear ad as is, we will be responsible for the mistake, and give the advertiser a reduction for their next ad.

Photos:
Published photos must not violate journalism standards. Photos cannot be obscene (example: nudity). We must also be careful not to invade the privacy of private citizens. At an open-to-the-public event, students and others may be photographed without permission. In a setting where private citizens can expect privacy (school bathroom, counseling office, their own homes, at a party) or in places where they are required to be present (in a classroom), photographers must identify themselves and their publication, ask permission to take a photo, and tell the subject the general topic of the article. All photos must be identified with a photo credit. We may only manipulate resolution, size or cropping. Keep the picture the way it was taken. Staged photos must be credited as photo illustrations. We cannot stage events. The events must be attended by the photographer.
Outside HUB:
Columns from clubs, organization, etc. that are affiliated with Davis High School will be reviewed by the section editor and the editors-in-chief and adviser, and, if appropriate, accepted. If a story is submitted by someone outside the HUB, it must be reviewed by the section editor in which it will appear along with editors-in-chief and adviser, and must be attributed to the person.

Editorial Process

Professional Behavior

The HUB is a class, but it is also a newsroom and workplace environment. Whether we are interacting with other staff members, the adviser (classroom teacher), or the people we interview or photograph, it is essential that each of us behaves professionally and respectfully.

For many HUB staff members, this is the first ‘job’ we’ve ever had. This is our chance to learn and practice skills that are essential for the rest of our lives.

In the workplace, repercussions for not exhibiting professional behavior can include being fired. In The HUB, repercussions can range from warnings and discussions to being removed from an editor position, all at the discretion of the adviser. Remember, all staff positions on The HUB are extracurricular in nature, and are therefore a privilege which can be revoked if you do not follow the expectations listed below and elsewhere:

With other staff members

Even when deadlines are looming, and tempers may be short, we do our best to treat each other with respect and kindness.

We never yell or shout at each other, nor use derogatory or demeaning language.
If we need to share criticism, we never make it personal. Instead, we try to talk about the problems privately and in a matter-of-fact way.
If we are in a position of authority, we are especially careful to be kind and encouraging to the people who work under us. We know that part of our job is to help others to gain the skills they will need to take over from us someday!
We don’t gossip about problems or people. Instead, we limit our discussions to those who are part of the “chain of command” and can help us resolve an issue.
We always tell the truth. This is an imperative both in our roles as journalists and in our goal to be people of good character. If we miss a deadline, we don’t make excuses. If we do something wrong, we admit it right away.
We say thank you a lot. We all depend on each other to create quality journalism that we can be proud of. That’s why we’re quick to acknowledge all the people who help us along the way.

With your adviser

You can think of your adviser (classroom teacher) as your boss and your mentor. She is an experienced professional devoted to training students to meet professional standards in journalism. She respects California press freedoms, leaving final content decisions to students unless they violate state law. She supervises hundreds of lunchtime and after-school work sessions each year, giving students the time and space to produce quality media. She challenges students to improve their work and shows them how to do so. And she advises students on college and career plans, often long after they graduate. Your adviser has earned your respect. Here’s how you can show you respect her:

Listen to her advice, knowing that it comes from years of experience that you do not have.
Clean up your own mess and help to do classroom chores like putting desks back in order so the adviser doesn’t have to spend valuable time on these tasks.
Say thank you when she helps you, stays late, or writes a recommendation, knowing that these acts of support are not required.
Follow the school rules that the adviser is required to enforce. Don’t ask for exceptions. You can’t, for example, be late to your next class or leave campus without a parent’s permission.
Discuss problems or concerns with her after trying to resolve them yourself. Learning how to speak up for yourself is a valuable part of The HUB experience. Practice this with your peers, but, if unsuccessful, ask for help from an adult who has been in the workplace for years.

Professional Behavior

While interviewing and reporting

Reporting and interviewing must be done correctly in order to preserve the reliability of our newspaper. Following is the policy for reporting and notetaking in the Davis High School newspaper, The HUB:
IDENTIFYING YOURSELF AS A REPORTER

How must a reporter identify him or herself when doing an interview?
The reporter should say something along the lines of: Hi, I’m a reporter from the HUB. My name is ______and I’m doing an article on ______. Mind if I ask you a few questions? Reporters should give at least a general description of their topic. For example, a student interviewing a teacher about teachers who grade unfairly could say that they’re doing a story on teachers’ grading policies.

What must I carry while reporting, taking photographs, or recording video?

Staff members must have their notebooks out and visible while reporting. Reporters, photographers, and videographers must wear a press pass at all times while working. IMPORTANT: Only information obtained while you are wearing a press pass is considered “on the record.” Why? Because classmates and teachers know us as friends and students. The press pass gives a visual signal that we now have the different role of reporter.
How must a reporter identify him or herself when doing on-the-scene observation? What other things do I need to remember when observing?
First and foremost, on-the-scene observations should not be made in private places. If they are, the reporter must identify him or herself to those present as a reporter. If the reporter is at a public event, they don’t have to identify themselves if they are not going to use names when describing what occurred. Reporters may quote anyone who gives a speech at public events and use their names without identifying themselves beforehand. Reporting on-the-scene observations should be done with a fair, balanced approach, only saying what is happening, not adding in opinion. Also, description of a person’s race, gender, size, religious affiliation, etc, should not be included unless it directly pertains to the story.
CONDUCTING INTERVIEWS

Who may a reporter interview?
A staff writer may not report on or write about any activity that they are involved in (i.e. clubs, sports, jobs, etc.). Reporters may not interview close friends unless absolutely necessary (for example, a story about a new student government program where the person in charge happens to be a friend of the reporter). A close friend is someone that the reporter associates with regularly outside of school and during extracurricular obligations. If reporters are having difficulty finding sources that are not close friends, they should ask other HUB staff, especially their editors, or their friends for other possible interviewees.
How should reporters deal with direct quotes?
Quotes must be recorded word for word if they appear in a newspaper article (short or long hand), and you must put quotation marks around your quotes. Quotes may be abridged using ellipses. Clarifying words may be added using brackets, as long as the context and original meaning are preserved. It is always a good idea to read back key quotes to the person you interviewed to verify that you captured it correctly.
Can reporters use tape recorders?
Reporters may use a tape recorder if they wish. However, they must ask the interviewee before using it. Ask the interviewee if it is okay to record the conversation after turning on the recording device so that there is a record of his/her permission.
TAKING NOTES

What do my notes need to include?

Everyone has their own way to take notes. However, all notes need to: begin with the date of the interview; make it clear when one speaker stops and another one starts (usually by skipping a line and writing the new name in all caps); clearly mark direct quotes, as opposed to paraphrasing (usually with large quotation marks); and end with contact information for the interview subject.