Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists

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Direct Service Journalism

October 31, 2019Accountability, Accuracy, MediaCity Bureau, direct service journalism, government reportingethicsadviceline

Direct service journalism: Chicago-based City Bureau plans move to Denver to fill need for reporting on government.

The three-year-old program trains and pays people to monitor public officials in Chicago and Detroit.

 

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Even Pirates Had Codes of Ethics

October 30, 2019Accountability, Accuracy, Media, Minimizing Harm, Online News, Social Media, Weighing Benefits and HarmCodes of ethics, Journalism, piratesethicsadviceline

Even pirates had codes of ethics: A look at various codes of ethics, including one adopted by pirates in 1722. Today’s media codes fail to show a love for words. From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.

 

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New Model For Local News

October 28, 2019Accuracy, Media, newspapers, Online News, radio, Television newscommunities, Local news, new model, NiemanLabethicsadviceline

New model for local news: Ken Doctor aims to launch Lookout next year.

“Overall, we believe the successful local news outlets of the 2020s will be the ones that authentically embed themselves into the life of the communities they serve,” he writes.

 

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The Guardian Digital Profitable

October 24, 2019Accountability, Media, Online Newsdigital news, NiemanLab, profitability, The Guardianethicsadviceline

The Guardian digital profitable: “This is all pretty remarkable,” writes Laura Hazard Owen. It makes the majority of its revenue from reader donations and digital sources. The news remains free.

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Offensive Halloween Photo

October 23, 2019Media, Minimizing Harm, Online News, Photoseffigy, Halloween, Offensive photosethicsadviceline

Offensive Halloween photo: Recalling a controversial 2014 photo of an effigy scene in a homeowner’s yard near Clarksville, Tenn.

A website news director uses the photo, then calls the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists when the homeowner objects to the photo. Keep the photo up or take it down? From the archives.

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Tweets Backfire

October 22, 2019Accountability, Media, Social Media, Weighing Benefits and HarmEthics, guidelines, newspapers, Offensive tweets, Social Mediaethicsadviceline

Tweets backfire: The Des Moines Register fires a reporter for offensive tweets while he was working on a story about offensive tweets. His own tweets from nine years ago came to light, writes Sydney Smith.

 

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Ethics In Comedy

October 21, 2019Accountability, Accuracy, Attribution, Using DeceptionComedy, comedy ethics, joke ownership, professional comedians, stealing jokesethicsadviceline

Ethics in comedy: For professional comedians, stealing jokes is no laughing matter.

Jokes come in two parts, a setup and a punch line. Does ownership come with one, or both? From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.

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Etiquette of Linking

October 18, 2019Accountability, Accuracy, Attribution, Media, Online Newslinking, New York Times, Vice.comethicsadviceline

Etiquette of linking: The New York Times standards editor tells why the company’s journalists should always link and credit, write Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai and Jason Koebler.

It’s just good journalism to link. It’s free and easy. Readers like it.

 

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Drone journalism

October 17, 2019MediaFederal Aviation Administration, immersion journalism, Professional Society of Drone Journalists, virtual realityethicsadviceline

Drone journalism: Flying drones are seen as tools for virtual reality and immersion journalism, allowing audiences to experience the sights and sounds of news events as if actually there. From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.

 

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Ethics of Hugging Candidates:

October 15, 2019Accountability, Broadcast news, Media, Television newsethics code, ethics debate, hugging candidates, politicsethicsadviceline

Ethics of hugging candidates: A TV host touched off an ethics debate in 2016 by hugging political candidates.

The Society of Professional Journalists ethics code does not outlaw hugging specifically, but it does warn against conflicts of interest. From the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists archives.

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RSS Society of Professional Journalsits

  • On-Air Interviews – A Complex Equation
  • The Power of Words
  • Transparency a Must During Harassment Investigations
  • The Three Missteps of ABC News
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  • Journalists Must Speak up for Colleagues
  • Video: The Balance Between Necessary and Excess
  • Puerto Rico’s Situation Is Not up for Debate
  • Reporting on Disasters
  • Journalists Are Journalists Because They Like Our Country

RSS Chicago Headline Club

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  • CHC Foundation awards internship grants to 15 West and Investigative Project on Race and Equity
  • DePaul’s Grace Logan wins 2026 Les Brownlee Memorial Scholarship
  • These are the winners of the 49th Annual Peter Lisagor Awards
  • ’25 Brownlee Scholarship Winner Encourages Illinois Journalism Students to Apply Early

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