Shaky anonymous sources: Journalists in the cyber age should shun discredited past practices like anonymous sources and off-the-record backgrounders, which damage public trust. From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.
Category Archives: Independence
Ethics Of Promoting Advertisers
Ethics of promoting advertisers: A New York TV station’s management tells the news staff to give favorable “news” coverage to local advertisers. From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.
NU’s Backlash To The Backlash
NU’s backlash to the backlash: The Daily Northwestern apologized to activists for its coverage and photos of a stormy news event, writes Robby Soave.
The activists worried that the student newspaper’s coverage of their disruptive actions undermined their safety and could get them in trouble. Journalism dean calls the paper’s apology “heartfelt though not well-considered.”
Unethical Bosses
Unethical bosses: An editor pressures a web editor to gratuitously mention an advertiser in a story. From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.
Ethics Puzzler; You Decide
Ethics puzzler; you decide: Three California universities paid the Orange County Register $275.000 for a year’s worth of weekly sections featuring campus life. A smart way to raise revenue, or a serious breach of journalism ethics? From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.
https://ethicsadvicelineforjournalists.org/2013/09/18/smart-way-to-rai…or-ethics-breach/
Media Restraint Praised
Media restraint praised: Almost every major news organization decided not to publish video of the mass shooting at two New Zealand mosques, write Erik Ortiz, Farnoush Amiri and Claire Atkinson.
“Media and journalism ethics experts who follow mass shooting and terrorist attack coverage told NBC News that it had been encouraging to see outlets recognize when they have crossed a line,” they write.
The Emergence of Transparency
The emergence of transparency: Transparency became a new guiding principle in media ethics, touching off a debate over whether it should replace acting independently.
From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.
https://ethicsadviceline.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=267&action=edit
Saving Local Newspapers
Saving local newspapers: Dwindling local news leads to partisan political polarization write Joshua P. Darr, Johanna Dunaway and Matthew P. Hitt.
“Local newspapers provide a valuable service to democracy by keeping readers’ focus on their communities,” they write. “When they lose local newspapers, we have found, readers turn to their political partisanship to inform their political choices.”
Ethical Boundaries–Paying For Interviews
Ethical boundaries–paying for interviews: “Reporters working with vulnerable populations, particularly in conflict situations, often face a high-stakes predicament: The job of bearing witness demands of us the highest ethical standards,” writes Annie Hylton. “At the same time, we confront extreme suffering, and even our pocket change might change someone’s circumstances, at least temporarily.”
Vanishing Media Ombudsmen
Vanishing media ombudsmen: The Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists laments the loss of sharp-eyed ombudsmen and media writers like Margaret Sullivan.
“You’d think an ombudsman would be most useful in a time of change, especially in a time of budget-cutting and layoffs — just to be sure the public interest is served, and the quality of journalism is strong,” says a story in AdviceLine’s archives.
Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists 