ETHICS IN JOURNALISM
The Nationals Scholastic Press Association has developed a code of ethics for scholastic journalism students.
Before we dive into their code, its important to understand what the word "Ethics" means and how it applies to your writing.
The working definition of the word is as follows:
ETHICS = moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior.
But that definition has a couple of more words that could be difficult to get as well, and to be honest, ethics is a pretty big concept that is hard to define.
MORALS = a person's standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do.
When we add the word Morals to our understanding, Ethics starts to become a little easier to comprehend.
PRINCIPLES = a rule or belief governing one's personal behavior.
And now that we add the word Principles into the equation, we should have a good idea of what Ethics means.
In simple terms - ETHICS is a persons beliefs about what is acceptable for them to do regarding their personal behavior. It is what drives them to make the decisions about how the behave and act.
How does this apply to journalism?
It is crucial that journalists hold themselves to the HIGHEST level of ethical decision making. So much so that it might even be higher than they would act in the real world or in their personal lives.
Here are the criteria that NSPA has set down:
Seven Key Ethics Points
1. Be Responsible
2. Be Fair
3. Be Honest
4. Be Accurate
5. Be Independent
6. Minimize Harm
7. Be Accountable
You can read more about them here:
http://studentpress.org/nspa/pdf/wheel_modelcodeofethics.pdf
Here are some common ethical problems student journalists face:
Directions:
1. Pick 3 of the 19 Case Studies presented in the link below.
2. Read the prompt, decide if you want to read more.
3. Read the question presented.
4. Click to the link and read the story.
5. On your blog summarize the situation. Remember to stick with the facts in this portion, explain the situation as objectively as possible. This should be done in 3-5 sentences.
6. Then tell me your opinion, is it ethically acceptable to do what was presented or not (this is the question that is asked, the clickable link). Make sure to tell me WHY. WHY is such an important thing to specify so do your best.
Here is the link:
http://www.spj.org/ethicscasestudies.asp
Before we dive into their code, its important to understand what the word "Ethics" means and how it applies to your writing.
The working definition of the word is as follows:
ETHICS = moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior.
But that definition has a couple of more words that could be difficult to get as well, and to be honest, ethics is a pretty big concept that is hard to define.
MORALS = a person's standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do.
When we add the word Morals to our understanding, Ethics starts to become a little easier to comprehend.
PRINCIPLES = a rule or belief governing one's personal behavior.
And now that we add the word Principles into the equation, we should have a good idea of what Ethics means.
In simple terms - ETHICS is a persons beliefs about what is acceptable for them to do regarding their personal behavior. It is what drives them to make the decisions about how the behave and act.
How does this apply to journalism?
It is crucial that journalists hold themselves to the HIGHEST level of ethical decision making. So much so that it might even be higher than they would act in the real world or in their personal lives.
Here are the criteria that NSPA has set down:
Seven Key Ethics Points
1. Be Responsible
2. Be Fair
3. Be Honest
4. Be Accurate
5. Be Independent
6. Minimize Harm
7. Be Accountable
You can read more about them here:
http://studentpress.org/nspa/pdf/wheel_modelcodeofethics.pdf
Here are some common ethical problems student journalists face:
- Conflict of interest: Examples include interviewing friends; only interviewing one grade or those with a specific point of view; covering clubs and teams that you are a member of, "getting even" with those who might have wronged you; doing anything that might compromise objectivity in the reporting of the truth.
- Plagiarism: Claiming others' work as one's own, essentially stealing from them. Students must credit other people's materials and ideas, including those published in newspapers, magazines and books. This includes "borrowing" or downloading visuals from the Internet to use without permission with stories.
- Anonymous/unnamed sources: Although reporters sometimes use anonymous sources, most news organizations have strict guidelines about when to use them. A reporter has to determine the information's value and whether is it possible to get it any other way. The reporter and editor also have to determine whether it is wise to protect the source from harm from being an identified source. A comment about the cafeteria's food should not be permitted to remain anonymous, for example. But a revelation about suffering childhood sexual abuse may be.
- Offending or distasteful content: Although it's sometimes impossible to publish a story without offending or displeasing someone, journalists must strive to keep the communications open and accessible to a wide range of views without stooping to gratuitous offense. While some use of "dirty" language might be necessary, journalists have to decide if there is another way to present the information or if the presentation will be so offensive it will preclude readers from getting the information. There is almost always a higher road to take.
- Invasion of privacy: While this is often a legal issue, it is also an ethical one. Reporters and editors must consider the consequences of publishing the outstanding news value photo or naming someone in an article.
- Bias: Human beings cannot be purely objective. The mere selection of one story over another raises the issue of value judgments. Those who create content must attempt to be as fair, impartial and transparent to the public as is possible. Every issue has more than one side, and all sides should be represented as much as possible.
- Commitment to accuracy: Little undermines integrity and credibility of news reports more than carelessness, errors or, in rare circumstances, deceit or not being transparent about how/why a story was done. Holding back a story until it is ready is better than publishing inaccurate information. The rush to be first - whether digital, online or in print - is no justification for not checking and double-checking data, information and sources.
Directions:
1. Pick 3 of the 19 Case Studies presented in the link below.
2. Read the prompt, decide if you want to read more.
3. Read the question presented.
4. Click to the link and read the story.
5. On your blog summarize the situation. Remember to stick with the facts in this portion, explain the situation as objectively as possible. This should be done in 3-5 sentences.
6. Then tell me your opinion, is it ethically acceptable to do what was presented or not (this is the question that is asked, the clickable link). Make sure to tell me WHY. WHY is such an important thing to specify so do your best.
Here is the link:
http://www.spj.org/ethicscasestudies.asp