Journalism is often misunderstood, especially in an era where social media and online content break the line between reporting and endorsement. Oftentimes coverage is mistaken for support, but at its core, journalism is not about taking sides. Journalism is about ethically and accurately representing what is happening in the community a publication covers.

At The Skyline View, we take our role seriously. We do our due diligence to uphold journalistic ethics and maintain a standard of reporting we are educated in and trained to follow. However, in our modern era which is influenced by social media and nonstop content, the fundamentals of journalism are lost in translation for many viewers. 

Journalism did not always look like this. Prior to social media, reporting was literally pen to paper and while the tools have changed, the responsibility has not. Many readers do not fully understand what goes into producing ethical, responsible journalism.

One of the most common misunderstandings for ethical news publications is the idea that coverage equals endorsement. When a publication with journalistic integrity covers a campus event, an organization, student government, or faculty group, it’s not endorsing them. It is informing the community, and that is its responsibility: to reflect what is happening on campus. We do not promote or support any particular group.

TSV covers events and organizations because they are part of the Skyline College community. Our goal is to represent what is happening here so students can stay informed, especially if they could not attend an event themselves. We try to capture a story to provide context and share perspectives — not to make an organization look good, not to make the campus look good, and not to make ourselves look good.

It can also be difficult to cover everything happening on campus. Every story TSV publishes is chosen because it is relevant and important for the people to understand what is going on in their community — not because it is affiliated or in support of the story’s subject.

This distinction matters, especially when it comes to student government.

When TSV reports on the Associated Students of Skyline College, we cover meetings, agendas, and events — not to assist them or advocate for them, but to keep them visible and accountable. Our job is to ask “what is the student government doing? How does it affect students? Are they fulfilling their responsibilities?”

If something is not working, it is not the role of a publication to fix it for them — it is our role to report on it and ask questions. Journalism exists to inform the public, not to serve as a public relations arm for organizations.

The same applies to labor coverage, such as reporting on teacher’s unions and district negotiations. When TSV publishes stories on union meetings or negotiations, it does not mean TSV “supports” one side. In fact, our job is to capture both sides of these negotiations. Negotiations are complex and often contentious, and it is not our job to tell readers which side is right, it is to explain what each side is arguing and why.

Opinions belong in the opinion section. That is what editorials and opinion pieces are for. Ethical news coverage should be independent, unbiased, and published with factual information and multiple perspectives.

This is why TSV does not accept requests to promote events, wear merchandise, or “support” causes in exchange for coverage. Doing so would be unethical and induce bias because newspapers are not here to take sides, rather to simply cover the community in a way that is inclusive and informational.

Every staff member of the TSV has a personal opinion, just as normal people do. However, it’s the responsibility of journalists to keep those opinions out of our reporting and in clearly-labeled opinion pieces. TSV’s job is to be the tour guide of this campus, the record of what happens, and the source students can trust when they want to understand their community.

That is what journalism is, and that is the standard we and all journalists should be committed to upholding.