Tag Archives: Fairness

Skipping the small stuff

June 17, 2021Case StudyFairness, petty crimeethicsadviceline

By Casey Bukro

Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists

The Associated Press became the latest news organization to adopt a humanitarian policy aimed at fairness in the way it reports on people.

AP will no longer name suspects in minor crime stories, writes John Daniszewski, the AP’s vice president for standards.

“Usually, we don’t follow up with coverage about the outcome of the cases,” writes Daniszewski. “We may not know if the charges were later dropped or reduced as they often are, or if the suspect was later acquitted.” Yet such stories might make it difficult for a person to gain employment or move on with their lives.

Similar moves announced earlier by the Chicago Tribune and the Boston Globe were described in a post by the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists. At least 36 states allow for the expungement of criminal records after a person completes sentencing.

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The Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists was founded in 2001 by the Chicago Headline Club (Chicago professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists) and Loyola University Chicago Center for Ethics and Social Justice. It partnered with the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 2013. It is a free service.

Professional journalists are invited to contact the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists for guidance on ethics. Call 866-DILEMMA or ethicsadvicelineforjournalists.org.

Doubt Cast On Pulse Coverage

April 5, 2018Accountability, Accuracy, Fairness, Media, Minimizing HarmFairness, Huffpost, Omar Mateen, Pulse nightclub massacreethicsadviceline

Doubt cast on Pulse coverage: Melissa Jeltsen writes that the widow of the man who killed 49 inside a gay nightclub in Orlanda, Florida, was wrongly accused.

“In the wake of the shooting, the media and public focused on certain details, many of which were later determined to be unfounded, and discounted others….,” she writes.

“Activist” A Dangerous Word

March 29, 2018Accuracy, Fairness, Mediaactivists, Fairness, loaded words, Poynter Institute, word usageethicsadviceline

“Activist” is a loaded word, writes Tara Murtha.

“Certainly, there are occasions when ‘activist’ is an appropriate way to identify a participant in an article,” she writes. “Often, though, identifying someone as an ‘activist’ is a subtle but effective way to degrade the person you are quoting and their perspective by erasing credentials and professional expertise.”

Who Rates An Obit?

March 26, 2018Accountability, Fairness, MediaFairness, gay people, New York Times, obituaries, people of color, transgender, womenethicsadviceline

Who rates an obit? The New York Times ponders why most obituaries are still of white men.

“So why not more women and people of color on the obituary pages?” asks its obituaries editor. “Why, for that matter, not more openly gay people, or transgender people?” Obits are among the most heavily read parts of media.

Covering Sexual Abuse

November 22, 2017Accountability, Boss Encourages Unethical Conduct, Compassion, Fairness, Media, Minimizing Harm, Weighing Benefits and Harmcovering sexual abuse, Fairness, guidelines, Harvey Weinstein, Poynter Institute, Transparencyethicsadviceline

Poynter Institute gives guidelines for covering sexual abuse: “Journalists have a great obligation to investigate stories that potentially involve many victims.”