Transcript Ethical Issues in Journalism

Ethical Issues in Journalism
TRUTH
TRUTH
The Key to Good Journalism
• When you read an article or news
report, you usually assume it is true.
The greatest asset of any news
organization is accuracy.
• Reporters must get their facts straight,
they must always seek the truth.
• Consistent accuracy gives journalism,
reporters and news organization
credibility.
Journalistic Responsibility
• It is the responsibility of the journalist to
report the truth. They are bound by a
code of ethics that requires them to
report truthfully, accurately, objectivily,
impartialy, and fairly. To ensure this,
journalists are held accountable by their
viewers, or the public in general.
But what happens when a
journalist loses sight of these
crucial ideals?
• Consider the following journalists and
how their actions affected the credibility
of their news organization.
Dan Rather
How might the devoted
followers of Dan Rather and
CBS feel once they
discovered CBS didn’t
“verify” the facts before
sharing them with the
public? Who is to blame for
not verifying the authenticity
of the documents? Why is
important to verify your
facts?
• Dan Rather presented
several documents
criticizing President Bush’s
service in the Air National
Guard as authentic in a 60
Minutes Wednesday
broadcast aired by CBS on
September 8, 2004, less
than two months before the
2004 Presidential Election.
It was later found that CBS
had failed to authenticate
the documents, and
subsequently, several
experts concluded the
documents were forgeries.
Jayson Blair
How did Blair’s actions
affect the credibility of
the NY Times? How
did it affect the careers
of his editors?
• A reporter for the New York
Times resigned from the
paper in 2003 after editors
confronted him about making
up facts, quotations, and
passing off the work of others
as his own. In 2002 he was
assigned to write about the
D.C. sniper, and forged
documents to make it look
like he was in cities like
Washington D.C. The San
Antonio Express News
accused him of plagiarizing a
story it had written about a
missing soldier’s mom.
Jack Kelley
What might cause a
reporter to make up
stories the way Jack
Kelley did? Why is
truth the most
important principle in
journalism?
USA TODAY reporter Jack Kelley
fabricated substantial portions of at
least eight major stories and “lifted”
nearly two dozen quotes or other
material from competing publications.
In 2000 he used a snapshot he took
of a Cuban hotel worker to
authenticate a story he made up
about a woman who died fleeing
Cuba by boat. The woman in the
photo neither fled by boat nor died,
and a USA TODAY reporter located
her four years later. Significant parts
of one of his most gripping stories,
an eyewitness account of a suicide
bombing that helped make him a
2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist, were
found to be untrue.
Keith
Olbermann
What is bias? Why is it
important for reporters
to remain unbiased in
their reporting?
In 2008 MSNBC dropped
Keith Olbermann as coanchor of its political night
coverage in an effort to
regain some of the
credibility that the network
lost when the liberal bias
of the host was
challenged on the air by
their colleagues. The
news organization
responded to public
feelings that he could not
remain neutral in the heat
of the presidential
campaign.
Janet Cooke • Janet Cooke became
What was Janet
Cooke’s
responsibility to the
public when she
learned she won a
Pulitzer for this
article?
infamous when it was
discovered that a Pulitzer
Prize winning story that
she had written for The
Washington Post had
been fabricated. The
article, "Jimmy's World",
which appeared in the
Post on September 29,
1980, was about an 8year-old heroin addict.
Christopher Newton
Journalists sometimes phone
around looking for the precise
quotation their story needs to
appear "balanced." They lead their
witnesses with language such as,
"So would you say ...?" or asking
the question five different ways
until they get the right quotation to
fit their story. How might this affect
the credibility of the story? What
might happen if you misquote a
source? What is the likelihood that
you will be hired by another news
company if it discovers you made
up quotes or facts?
The AP alleged that in
at least 40 of the many
hundred stories Newton
wrote for the wire
service between Jan.
13, 2000, and Sept. 8,
2002, Newton quoted
sources who appear not
to exist. The AP is a
news syndicate that
provides local and
worldwide coverage for
purchase by smaller
news companies.
Code of Ethics
• Ethics are the moral principles that
govern appropriate conduct for
individuals and organizations.
• In groups of three to four, come up
with a Journalistic Code of Ethics for
our publication. You must have at
least four guidelines in your
document. Write them on the poster
sheets provided and you will present
them to the class for discussion.
After presenting your ideas…
• What are the elements of ethical
conduct in journalism? Check out the
Code of Ethics as they are stated by the
Society of Professional Journalists:
Click here to view the SPLC
Code of Ethics