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.
Editors acting unethically: A web editor tells the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists that her boss is pressuring her to mention an advertiser in a story. She is thinking of quitting.
From a story in AdviceLine archives by David Craig.
New media funding strategies: Media seek editorial independence with grants, donations, cryptocurrency and investors, writes Jack Kelly.
“Decreases in advertising revenue have left media organizations looking for new sources of income and, in some cases, turning to completely new funding models,” he writes.
Sponsored content: All newspapers struggle to survive, observed Tom Rosensteil in a story appearing in the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.
Sponsored content might be the future of newspapers trying to be creative about finding new sources of revenue, he says.
Dubious polling: Poll results last year on presidential approval, the Mueller investigation, elections, politics and other issues were suspect, writes David W. Moore.
“Getting the news organizations to change their copious coverage of polls would be as difficult as…well, rolling a boulder up a mountain,” he writes.
Protecting sources: Best practices to minimize risks to whistle-blowers require new tactics, writes Joshua Benton, including a mix of digital and “human” practices.
He cites “The Perugia Principles for Journalists Working with Whistle-Blowers in the Digital Age.”
Reporting data with integrity: When inspecting raw data and statistics, writes Stephen Rynkiewicz, these are questions to ask:
Is it accurate? Is it timely? Is it relevant? Is it complete? Is it trustworthy?
From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.
Get a horror writer to boost circulation: Portland Press Herald strikes a deal with Stephen King — get 100 digital subscriptions and the newspaper will restore freelance-written reviews of Maine books and authors in the Sunday edition. King delivers.
Using Twitter ethically: Twitter evolved from an oddity to a key tool for gathering and reporting news, writes David Craig.
Ethical pressure points: Handling unverified information, navigating between personal and professional boundaries and providing context and narrative structure. From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.
The hazards of fact-checking: Three media and law groups join to form the Fact-Checkers Legal Support Initiative to fend off attacks on fact-checkers.
“Many are being threatened with lawsuits and often do not have the resources to defend themselves,” says FLSI.
Threats include online harassment and physical violence by those exposed in the public arena for misinformation.
Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists 