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Ethics in Journalism

When Journalists Start Pursuing, Ethics Too Often Get Left Behind

Jerry Lanson | Posted 01.16.2013 | Media
Jerry Lanson

Much of the reporting on now-former CIA Director David Petraeus has been filled with factual detail. But a piece on the front page of the same day's Boston Globe, modeled another side of journalism -- the ugly practice of protecting anonymous cheap shots.

Restoring trustworthiness to news

Craig Newmark | Posted 12.22.2012 | Media
Craig Newmark

Hey there, folks, I'm speaking at the Poynter Journalism Ethics Symposium today. I gave my speech a little earlier, and this is what I talked about: ...

'Chronicle of Higher Education' Allows For-Profit College With High Student Loan Defaults to Sponsor and Pick the Speakers for Loan Default Event

David_Halperin | Posted 11.26.2012 | Home
David_Halperin

The Chronicle is allowing its advertiser to determine the composition of an event that the Chronicle is presenting as a program of its own. It's renting out its reputation. This Chronicle event is like an event on "Guarding The Henhouse," sponsored by The Fox.

Student Journalists After the Truth, Not the Feel-good Story

The Miami Hurricane | Posted 10.23.2012 | College
The Miami Hurricane

As student journalists, we are the voice of the student body. We have a duty to report the truth, whether positive or negative. We aim to be as objective as possible in our attempts to tell each side of a story, because there is always more than one.

Correction: Climate Change Is a Fact

David Johnson | Posted 06.23.2012 | Media
David Johnson

If journalism can't help save the world, then why in the world should the world care about saving journalism -- at least this kind of journalism? Prove that you are smart enough to be trusted with the shield of humanity that you say you deserve.

Losing the Count: Gender Disparity in the Mainstream Media

Erin Siegal | Posted 05.07.2012 | Media
Erin Siegal

In 2011, the number of articles published by women in top thought-leader magazines was significantly less than the number of articles published by men.

Bonfire of the Ombudsmen

Dan Kennedy | Posted 03.19.2012 | Media
Dan Kennedy

January has not been a good month for media ombudsmen, as the in-house press analysts at our two leading newspapers have both come under attack for writing lazy, ill-considered commentaries that seemed to confirm the views of their most strident critics.

Whither Journalistic Ethics?

J.H. Snider | Posted 12.27.2011 | Media
J.H. Snider

Politico's remarkably poor job of disclosing its own corporate conflicts has practical consequences. Most notably, it serves to send a message of intimidation to Hill staff.

"Shocking Secrets Revealed: Illegal Means Used to Carve Up Live Humans for Human Consumption"

Rev. Barbara Kaufmann | Posted 10.11.2011 | Media
Rev. Barbara Kaufmann

Do you really welcome and enjoy the emotional, metaphorical or actual wounding and bleeding of a fellow human as tabloids claim you do?

Fabrication, Exaggeration and Sensationalization in Writings About Afghanistan

Bashir Ahmad Gwakh | Posted 07.09.2011 | Media
Bashir Ahmad Gwakh

Too many Western writers try to portray themselves as selfless, Mother Theresa-like figures who venture to an exotic and dangerous country to single-handedly save the natives.

The L.A. Times Stands Behind Incorrect Teacher Ratings

Kevin Welner | Posted 05.25.2011 | Home
Kevin Welner

The L.A. Times has not been simply reporting on teacher evaluations or ratings. It has been creating them and publicizing them.

The New York Times' Versailles Manifesto

David Sirota | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
David Sirota

Today's "journalists," like Matt Bai of the New York Times, see no difference between themselves and those they serve. Indeed, when they hear the term "political elites" -- they now see themselves in the mirror.

Media Lit 101: The Aspen Institute -- Photoshopping Madeleine Albright & Condi Rice

Susan Moeller | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
Susan Moeller

Imagine you are Walter Isaacson. You are the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, "a nonpartisan educational and policy studies institute based...

'Friendly Reminder': Fox's Unbalanced Ethics Threatens Democracy

Wendell Potter | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
Wendell Potter

Bill Sammon, Fox News' Washington managing editor, sent a memo "at the height of the health care reform debate" to his network's so-called journalists, directing them not to use the phrase "public option."

Times Public Editor Picks Wrong Target

David Callahan | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
David Callahan

It is good that the New York Times has a "Public Editor" to keep an eye on the paper's ethics. But sometimes, it seems like valuable column space is wasted chastising Times staffers for minor missteps.

Williams/O'Reilly

Jim Lichtman | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
Jim Lichtman

There's a very old fable of unknown origin that goes something like this... A scorpion comes upon a river and asks a friendly frog for a ride to the ...

The King is Naked! In defense of Michele Santoro.

Aldo Civico | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
Aldo Civico

There is no democracy, unless there is dissent and that dissent can be overtly expressed. It obfuscates one's mind to see how heads of states, democra...

Trustworthy Financial Crisis Reporting From ProPublica

Craig Newmark | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
Craig Newmark

ProPublica does true public service media, funded philanthropically and according to a strict code of ethics. The code is a really big deal; to me, it's a commitment to traditional journalism values.

Dean Sree Sreenivasan on Using Social Media For Better Journalism

Alexander Howard | Posted 05.25.2011 | Technology
Alexander Howard

"I used to say "justify every pixel," said Sree Sreenivasan, a dean of student affairs and professor at the Columbia Journalism School. "Now I say earn every reader."

Why ACORN Fell: The Times, Lies, and Videotape

Peter Dreier | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
Peter Dreier

The mainstream media, including the New York Times, played a pivotal role in ACORN's demise through shoddy, opportunistic journalism. But all have refused to acknowledge their role.

Why Believe Kapuscinski's Biographer?

Patrick Galey | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
Patrick Galey

Towards the end of The Other, Ryszard Kapuściński credits Bronislaw Malinowski, a Polish social anthropologist, with the contestable maxim: "To judg...

What's A Person's Story Worth?

Bill Sharpsteen | Posted 05.25.2011 | Books
Bill Sharpsteen

When I interview someone--especially when it's someone with a unique story--what is their time, opinion, version of events actually worth?

Egypt's Journalists Union Punishes Two Editors For Dealing With Israel

AP | SARAH EL DEEB | Posted 05.25.2011 | World

CAIRO — Two senior Egyptian editors – one a member of the country's ruling party and the other an expert on Jewish affairs – have be...

Jerry Brown Aide Showed Bad Judgment, But Didn't Break Law in Secretly Taping Reporter

Peter Scheer | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
Peter Scheer

Attorney General Jerry Brown's spokesman was unceremoniously "disappeared" from Brown's incipient campaign this week because of a lapse in judgment that, quite frankly, has been grossly overblown.

While Dying, Editor & Publisher Showed Journalism How To Live

Will Bunch | Posted 05.25.2011 | Media
Will Bunch

While I greatly mourn E&P's passing, I want to call attention to the splendor of its final years, when it died like a supernova, with a great burst of energy.