Ethics of stock imagery: Using old images with new stories is not ethical journalism, Mark E. Johnson tells Jack Kelly. It’s like using generic quotes in a story.
Visuals attached to stories increase engagement, writes Kelly. But “photojournalists and visual journalists are often the first members of a newsroom to be the victims of budget cuts,” resulting in the use of stock images.
Newmark mixes journalism and Judaism: A “do unto others” attitude fuels the ambitions of Craig Newmark, billionaire founder of Craigslist and a self-described nerd.
Newmark says giving money to journalism organizations and schools is critical because journalists have come under increasing attack, writes Rob Gloster. Newmark also is blamed for the demise of U.S. newspapers.
Crosstown project turns citizens into squeaky wheels: “Crosstown joins a nationwide movement by government, universities and other institutions to make big data more useful to citizens and the news media,” writes Mark Jacob, focusing on core quality-of-life issues.
Trusting news: Balance and honesty lead in what news consumers seek in trusting journalism, writes Joy Mayer.
Many say balance means journalism should reflect a diversity of opinions, and journalists keeping their opinions out of their work.
April fooling: The Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists once got a call from a reporter asking if it would be ethical to write an April Fools’ Day story in the tradition of the late hoaxer George Plimpton. See the advice here.
Peoria Journal Star apologizes for letter: Editor Dennis Anderson said publishing a letter comparing the Illinois governor to Adolph Hitler “crossed a line.”
Linking abortion and the Holocaust was not right, Anderson wrote.
“Reckless references to abominable history are part and parcel to the astonishing decline of public discourse in our country, and in this case we should have known better,” he wrote.
Georgia media ethics board proposal: CBS reports a Georgia lawmaker seeks a “cannon of ethics” for print, television and digital journalists.
“It would also mandate anyone interviewed by the media could request copies of video, audio and photographs of their interaction for free,” CBS reports.
Preserving digital content: The Tow Center for Digital Journalism finds a need for archiving web content, write Sharon Ringel and Angela Woodall.
“Few newsrooms expressed confidence in their archival practices, or could say they were taking any steps to make sure that what is published today remains available in, say, 20 years,” says a study.
Slow journalism advancing: News fatigue spawns a slower kind of journalism born of frustration with the mainstream press, writes Benjamin Bathke.
“One of the hallmarks of slow journalism is giving readers a realistic chance to consume everything before more content arrives,” he writes.
Spotting fake video: Reuters created a fake video to train journalists to detect manipulation, writes Lucinda Southern.
Clues include a mismatch between audio and lip-synching and visual inconsistencies, she writes. Humans verify all Reuters video content.
Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists 