Using drones in journalism: Newsrooms need policies on using drones, according to a Center for Journalism Ethics report.
“While news organizations and individual journalists are safely integrating drones into their daily operations, as well as the national airspace, it is crucial to remember that this evolving technology still faces many regulatory and legislative hurdles, not to mention privacy issues and ethical concerns,” says the report.
Liar’s dividend explained: Exposing lies can have an unsettling backlash, writes Kelly McBride.
“Debunking fake or manipulated material like videos, audios or documents ultimately could stoke belief in the fakery,” she writes, making it harder for the public to trust the media. Collaboration by media could help.
Evaluating medical studies: Journalists should consider newsworthiness, methodology and categories of studies before covering them, writes Chloe Reichel, who offers a tip sheet.
“With the amount of research published on a daily basis, journalists have to work to discern what’s worth covering,” she writes.
Media covering their own scandals: Sex scandals in 2017 and 2018 brought down top media figures, forcing outlets to report about themselves.
Organizations faced questions of how sexual harassment and assault could fester unaddressed, writes Claudia Meyer-Samargia.
“But for individual journalists, particularly those who cover news media, questions focused on how they could cover these cases ethically, with the right balance of truth-telling, transparency and respect for privacy.” Protecting an organization’s reputation is an issue.
Updating its code of conduct, Investigative Reporters & Editors adopted principles calling for banning members who violate the code.
“IRE may take any action it deems appropriate to deal with those who violate our principles, including exclusion from our events, forums, listservs and the organization itself,” says the code.
By contrast, the Society of Professional Journalists says its ethics code is voluntary.
Parting company with Facebook: Journalists working with the giant tech platform is a Faustian bargain, writes Mathew Ingram: “The benefits of doing business with Facebook don’t begin to outweigh the ethical compromises required to do so.”
Ingram asks: “How much of what you are doing serves (Facebook’s) interests rather than yours, or the interests of journalism, or society in general?”
Covering mental health: Do more stories on successful mental health treatment, advises Kelly McBride.
Often experts are wrong. Ask how they know that’s the right term, she writes.
What #MeToo means to ethical journalism: Three “tragedies” lurk in the tech workplace, finds Claudia Meyere-Samargia while covering a University of Wisconsin ethics conference.
Quoting tech journalist Kara Swisher, they are lack of self-awareness and reflection, believing that money equates social good and having the inability to empathize with people who are not like you.
90 Days, 90 Voices is a nonprofit news outlet aiming to transform immigration reporting by telling better and more ethical stories.
It guidelines call for asking a source how to tell their story, protecting their identity and creating a safe space for the interview.
Wall Street Journal tames online commentary: Select articles will be open for audience posts, writes Louise Story, to encourage “thoughtful discourse.”
Aims to focus on “original comments,” not on boisterous “repliers” who don’t read the articles.
