Chapter 9: Ethics and Editing — CampusJourn
Chapter 9

Ethics and Editing

Great writing isn't enough. It also has to be right.

🎯 Chapter Objective: By the end of this chapter, you will be able to apply the six ethics rules of sports journalism and edit your own article in three structured rounds.
A Filipino student carefully re-reading and marking up a printed sports article with a red pen
📖 Introduction

Great Writing Isn't Enough. It Also Has to Be Right.

Last chapter, you learned how to write with power.

Strong verbs. Sharp adjectives. Sports lingo. Figures of speech.

Your language is sharp now.

But here's something every real journalist knows.

A well-written article that gets the facts wrong — or treats people unfairly — is not a good article. It's a problem.

That's where ethics comes in.

Ethics means doing the right thing as a journalist — being honest, fair, and accurate in everything you write. And editing means checking your work carefully before anyone else reads it.

⚖️
This Chapter Covers Both. Writing the truth, writing it fairly — and checking your work before anyone else sees it.
📏 Six Ethics Rules

The Ethics Rules of Sports Journalism

The NSPC rubric checks for all six. Learn them, and your writing earns trust — not just attention.

1
Gender-Fair Language
Writing that treats all athletes with equal respect regardless of gender. Three rules: give equal detail to all athletes, never describe appearance instead of performance, and use the same language for everyone.
❌ Unequal detailThe boys dominated their match. The girls also played.
✅ Equal detail

The boys' team dominated their match. The girls' team was equally clinical, sweeping their opponents in straight sets.

❌ Appearance, not performanceZiah, who wore her hair in a ponytail, scored 18 points.
✅ Performance only

Ziah scored 18 points to lead her team to the championship.

2
Attribution
Every fact in your article needs a source — the person or record it came from. Attribution is what makes your article trustworthy.
✅ Attributing a quote

"We never stopped believing," said James after the win.

✅ Attributing a statistic

James finished with 28 points, according to the official scoresheet.

✅ Attributing an interview fact

Coach Dela Cruz said the team had practiced that play all week.

3
Fairness and Balance
Your job is to report what happened — not to cheer for one side. A balanced article covers both teams fairly. That's why the balance paragraph exists in your article structure.
🤔 Ask Yourself Before Submitting
"If a player from the losing team read my article — would they feel it was fair?"

If no — fix it.

4
Accuracy
Every fact you write must be true. Wrong score. Wrong name. Wrong school. Any of those and your whole article loses credibility. Before you write — verify every fact. If you're not sure about something — check it. Never guess.
5
Originality
Your article must be written entirely in your own words. Never copy another writer's sentences. Write what you observed — in your own voice. That's original journalism. And it's the only kind worth reading.
6
No Plagiarism, No Libel
Plagiarism means copying another person's words or ideas without giving them credit. It's wrong. It's dishonest. And it will cost you marks.
Libel means writing something false or harmful about a person that could damage their reputation. If you're not 100% sure something is true — don't write it. When in doubt — leave it out.
A classroom poster showing three editing rounds for a sports article: facts, structure, and language
🔍 Editing Process

How to Edit Your Article

After you finish writing — don't submit straight away. Read through your article three times. Each time, check for something different.

Round 1: Check Your Facts
  • Are team names spelled the same way every time?
  • Is the score the same in every mention?
  • Are all player names spelled correctly throughout?
Round 2: Check Your Structure
  • Does the lead give the result in the first sentence?
  • Does the body follow a logical order?
  • Does the tail tell readers what's next — not repeat the score?
Round 3: Check Your Language and Ethics
  • Are all body verbs in past tense?
  • Did you rotate names, positions, and pronouns?
  • Is every quote attributed to its speaker?
  • Is every statistic attributed to a source?
  • Are all athletes covered with equal detail?
  • Is everything you wrote verified and true?
  • Are all words your own?
🔗 Two More Checks

Unity and Coherence

Two more things NSPC judges check.

U
Unity — every sentence is about the same game.
If a sentence doesn't belong — cut it.
❌ Wrong articleSan Isidro also has a strong swimming team this year.
C
Coherence — your paragraphs connect smoothly.
If a reader has to re-read a sentence to understand it — that's a coherence problem. Fix it by checking your transition words and making sure each sentence follows logically from the one before.
Write with Integrity
Gender-Fair + Attributed + Fair + Accurate + Original
No plagiarism. No libel. Edited in three rounds. Unified and coherent.

✏️ Practice Time

Apply what you learned. Work through both activities below step by step.

1

Spot the Ethics Problem! Identify what ethics rule is being broken in each sentence.

📋 Read each sentence. Identify the problem and tap the correct rule it breaks.
SENTENCE 1 OF 5
📄 Sentence

What rule does this break?
🎉 All five spotted! Gender-fair language, attribution, fairness, unity — you can now spot exactly where an article breaks the ethics rules.
2

Fix the Flawed Article Find each error, name the rule it breaks, and write the corrected sentence.

📝 Read the flawed article below. It has four marked errors. For each one, write your corrected version in the input box. Sample fixes are shown for each one.

📄 The Flawed Article

LeadSan Isidro Elementary defeated Mapagmahal Central, 3–1, in the football championship on Friday, with Laurence scoring three goals.
Support — ⚠️ Error 1Laurence scores three goals — a hat-trick that powered San Isidro to the title.
Quote — ⚠️ Error 2After the game, someone said they were really happy.
Play-by-Play Q1Mapagmahal Central led 1–0 after the first quarter.
Play-by-Play Q2San Isidro leveled at 1–1 before halftime.
Play-by-Play Q3Laurence gave San Isidro a 2–1 lead in the third quarter.
Play-by-Play Q4 — ⚠️ Error 3In the end, Laurence sealed a 3–2 win in the fourth quarter.
Balance — ⚠️ Error 4Mapagmahal Central lost because they were not good enough.
Historical BackgroundSan Isidro Elementary had not won the football title in four years before Friday's victory.
TailSan Isidro Elementary will face the regional champions next month.
Error 1
⚠️ The support paragraph uses present tense — "Laurence scores" should be "Laurence scored."
✅ Sample
Laurence scored three goals — a hat-trick that powered San Isidro to the title, according to official match records.
Error 2
⚠️ The quote has no attribution and no exact words — "someone said they were really happy" names no speaker and uses no quotation marks.
✅ Sample
"This win means everything to us," said Laurence after the match.
Error 3
⚠️ Score inconsistency — the lead says 3–1, but Q4 says 3–2.
✅ Sample
In the end, Laurence sealed a 3–1 win in the fourth quarter.
Error 4
⚠️ Fairness violation in the balance paragraph — "not good enough" is an unfair opinion, not a fact.
✅ Sample
Mapagmahal Central's Henry fought hard throughout, but San Isidro's clinical finishing proved the difference.

A fifth issue is worth checking too: if a girls' team also competed in this tournament, they deserve equal coverage with equal detail — that's the gender-fair language rule from this chapter.

🔍 Self-Check Guide

What to CheckDone ✅Try Again 🔄
Found the present-tense verb error☐☐
Found the attribution error in the quote☐☐
Found the score inconsistency☐☐
Found the fairness violation☐☐
Wrote correct versions for all errors☐☐

📊 Simple Rubric

5/5
You can edit a sports article like a real journalist. 🗞️
3–4
Almost. Find what's missing and fix it.
1–2
Re-read the ethics rules and try again.

Answers for writing activities will be different for each student. Use the rubric to check your work or ask your teacher for help.

🧠 Rate It!

Read each excerpt and rate it Strong, Okay, or Weak.

0/5
Score
Question 1 of 5
EXCERPT 1 OF 5
out of 5
Up Next

Chapter 10: Writing and Editing a Full Sports Article

Ethics. Attribution. Fairness. Accuracy. Originality. Gender-fair language. Editing. You now write with both power and integrity. In Chapter 10, you'll put everything together — one complete, polished sports article from scratch. This is what the whole course has been building toward.

Chapter 10 →
← Chapter 8
Chapter 10 →