Obscene comics: Artist Michael Diana is the first cartoonist in U.S. history to be jailed for obscenity, writes Meagan Damore.
Diana was sentenced in 1994 to prison, probation, community service and told to take a journalism ethics course, get a psychological exam, draw nothing obscene and avoid minors. He says public attitudes changed since the mid-1990s.
Religious journalists: The Columbia Journalism Review conducts a roundtable of journalists of faith.
“In newsrooms, religious practices often goes unspoken — but maybe it can be an edge,” says CJR, in giving the public information they don’t have.
Objectivity explored: “The ideal of objectivity has led to an increase in ‘both-sidesism’ — often elaborate attempts to avoid showing favor to any person in a story,” writes Will Meyer.
Saving journalism will mean saving it from a false notion of objectify, he writes.
Poll results canceled: An electronic glitch is blamed for casting doubts on a poll of Iowa democrats, so results are not released, writes David W. Moore.
It matters that two media organizations and the pollster agreed to adhere to the highest ethical standards by not releasing data that might be faulty, he writes.
Mobile reporting ethics: Ethicist David Craig lists tweets in which “these journalists highlighted a range of ethical challenges in mobile journalism.” From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.
Fact-checker’s dilemma: Facts alone have limited power to resolve politicized issues like climate change or immigration policy, writes Adrian Bardon.
We accept expert testimony we like and reject the rest.
Jim Lehrer’s rules: Ethicist Jack Marshall tells the 16 rules of journalism espoused by TV host Jim Lehrer, who died recently.
“It’s an excellent, excellent list, reflecting an experienced and ethically astute professional’s keen understanding of what his profession is supposed to do for our society, and the best way to do it,” writes Marshall. Lehrer moderated eleven presidential debates.
Getting it right: ABC News suspends correspondent who falsely speculated about Kobe Bryant crash fatalities, writes Stephen Battaglio.
“Journalism organizations have a heightened sensitivity over errors because they can give ammunition to President Trump’s attacks on the media, which he frequently describes as ‘fake news,'” he writes.
Speaking ill of the dead: A backlash against Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez for mentioning the Kobe Bryant rape case “steams from the ancient wisdom that urged folks not to speak ill of the dead,” writes Erik Wemple.
“A fine rule for everyone except for historians and journalists….,” he writes.
Media transparency debate: Two views of transparency in journalism. From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.
Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists 