Slides for Class 3 Journalism Ethics: Trends in four principles of ethical decision-making: Seeking truth & reporting it; Acting independently; Demonstrating accountability; Minimizing harm

1. PERSPECTIVES ON
JOURNALISM ETHICS
JRNL 6202 SUMMER II 2015
• Instructor: Bill Mitchell
• 20 July 2015 | Northeastern Univ.

2. PERSPECTIVES ON
JOURNALISM ETHICS
JRNL 6202 SUMMER II 2015
• Instructor: Bill Mitchell
• Bmitch (at) gmail dot com
• 727-641-9407
• 20 July 2015 | Northeastern Univ.

3. YUJING INTRO
(ABOUT FIVE MINUTES)
3
• Who you are
• Why journalism in particular or media in general
• How you make ethical decisions
• try to sum it up in one word, and then elaborate
• Your sense of the state of media ethics
• one word followed by elaboration
• What you’re looking for from this class
• one word followed by elaboration

4. WHAT WE’LL DO TONIGHT
• Review of assigned readings
• Oral presentations by Audrey & Matt
• 10 minute break (at about 7:30 p.m.)
• This week in ethics
• Working a case
• Upcoming assignments, etc.

5. CLASS PARTICIPATION & ITS
RELEVANCE TO ETHICAL
DECISION-MAKING
• If you’re not inclined to speak up, consider doing so
• If you speak up a lot, consider encouraging others
• Do your best to stay on point
• Try to make your point briefly

6. ETHICS CODES AS
DECISION-MAKING TOOLS
• An argument against ethics codes?
• An argument in favor?
• 4 Guiding Principles of Society of Professional Journalists?

7. DRILLING DOWN ON THE PRINCIPLES:
SEEK TRUTH & REPORT IT
• Confirming names, ages, dates, every line in story
• Can you spell your name for me, please?
• And what’s your date of birth?
• Develop your own accuracy-checker system!
• Presenting sources to your audience
• With names if possible
• With as much description as possible
• With background on their motives as relevant

8. DRILLING DOWN ON THE PRINCIPLES:
SEEK TRUTH & REPORT IT, CONT.
• Be clear with audience about what you’re providing them
• News?
• Analysis?
• Opinion?
• Maintaining the integrity of the marketing tools of news
• Headlines
• Teases
• Blurbs

11. TRENDS IN TRUTH-TELLING
• Greater documentation, making source documents available
• More challenges to anonymous sources

14. DRILLING DOWN ON THE PRINCIPLES:
MINIMIZE HARM
• Show compassion for stakeholders affected by news coverage
• Stakeholders in this story?

15. TRENDS IN MINIMIZING HARM
• The “foreverness” of digital content
• To what extent should we have the right to “forgetability?”

17. DRILLING DOWN ON THE PRINCIPLES:
ACT INDEPENDENTLY
• Independent from what?
• Apart from loyalty to audience, any other loyalties you want to
retain?

18. TRENDS IN ACTING INDEPENDENTLY
• More paragraphs beginning… “Full disclosure:
• More content provided by brands
• Relevance of independence in that context?

24. DRILLING DOWN ON THE PRINCIPLES:
BE ACCOUNTABLE
• Accountable about what?
• What should journalists NOT be accountable about?
• Advantages of making the case for each in personal guidelines
• Accountable to whom?

25. DRILLING DOWN ON THE PRINCIPLES:
BE ACCOUNTABLE

28. TRENDS IN ACCOUNTABILITY
• Anticipating audience questions, challenges, objections
• Incorporating audience contributions
• Recognizing corrections as ways of advancing the story

34. TEN MINUTE BREAK

35. THIS WEEK IN ETHICS

36. THIS WEEK IN ETHICS, CONT.

37. After watching and listening to Donald Trump
since he announced his candidacy for
president, we have decided we won't report on
Trump's campaign as part of The Huffington
Post's political coverage. Instead, we will
cover his campaign as part of our
Entertainment section. Our reason is simple:
Trump's campaign is a sideshow. We won't
take the bait. If you are interested in what The
Donald has to say, you'll find it next to our
stories on the Kardashians and The
Bachelorette.
THIS WEEK IN ETHICS, CONT.

38. THREE MAIN STEPS
TO A GOOD DECISION
• Collect the information
• Analyze the information
• Make a choice and defend it

39. THREE MAIN STEPS
TO A GOOD DECISION (IN DETAIL)
• Collect the information
• What do I Know? What do I need to know?
• What is my journalistic purpose?
• What are my ethical concerns?

40. THREE MAIN STEPS
TO A GOOD DECISION (IN DETAIL)
• Analyze the information
• What policies/rules should I consider?
• How can I include other people with different views?
• Who are the stakeholders?
• What are possible consequences of my actions?
• What are at least 3 options in balancing truth-telling
and minimizing harm?

41. THREE MAIN STEPS
TO A GOOD DECISION (IN DETAIL)
• Make a choice and defend it
• The front-page test: How would this read as a story?
• The Mom test: What would she say about this?
• The jury test: Could you persuade 12 peers?

42. WORK A CASE
WITH FOREMAN’S 3 STEPS
• Teams of three
• Pick a case that’s tough, i.e. you’re not sure how you’d
decide… Possibilities:
• Reporting a Fact, Causing Harm (p. 98)
• A 4 year-old’s Visit to Death Row (p. 204)
• A believable hypothetical

43. ASSIGNMENTS:
• Reading: Chapters 9, 10, 13 in Foreman book
• By 7 a.m. Friday 24 July: First draft of your personal
ethics guidelines
• By 7 a.m. Sunday 26 July: A post to your blog
• By 3 p.m. Monday 27 July: A comment about a
classmate’s post