Journalism ethics: a philosophical approach

(ed.)
New York: Oxford University Press (2010)
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Abstract

Since the introduction of radio and television news, journalism has gone through multiple transformations, but each time it has been sustained by a commitment to basic values and best practices. Journalism Ethics is a reminder, a defense and an elucidation of core journalistic values, with particular emphasis on the interplay of theory, conceptual analysis and practice. The book begins with a sophisticated model for ethical decision-making, one that connects classical theories with the central purposes of journalism. Top scholars from philosophy, journalism and communications offer essays on such topics as objectivity, privacy, confidentiality, conflict of interest, the history of journalism, online journalism, and the definition of a journalist. The result is a guide to ethically sound and socially justified journalism-in whatever form that practice emerges. Journalism Ethics will appeal to students and teachers of journalism ethics, as well as journalists and practical ethicists in general.

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PN4756.J665 2010

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9780195370805   9780195370799   0195370791   0195370805

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Chapters

A robust future for conflict of interest".Edward Wasserman
An explanation and a method for the ethics of journalism.Deni Elliott & David Ozar
B etween falling media revenues and the global financial crisis, the world in autumn 2008 had become topsy-turvy for journalists. The Dow Jones Index had lost $1 trillion in just one week, and the newspaper industry was in such disarray that fifty media CEOs huddled in a closed-door “crisis summit” to attempt to resuscitate the industry and stem the tide of declining ad revenues and resulting journalist layoffs. [REVIEW]When Yours Is Too
Consumers and the news : the ethical responsibilities of news consumers.Wendy Wyatt
Covering a world that's falling apart, when yours is too".Marty Steffens
Ethics and images : five major concerns.Paul Martin Lester
Image ethics in personal and public domains.Julianne H. Newton & Rick Williams
Introduction.Christopher Meyers
Inventing objectivity : new philosophical foundations.Stephen J. A. Ward
Journalism's tangled web : business, ethics and professional practice.Ian Richards
Journalistic independence as first amendment guarantee and moral obligation.Stephanie Craft
Respecting sources; confidentiality : critical but not absolute.Aaron Quinn
The Ethical Obligations of News Consumers.Wendy Wyatt
The decline of the news business".Rick Edmonds
The ethics of privacy.Clifford G. Christians
The ethos of "getting the story".Patrick Lee Plaisance
The moral justification for journalism.Sandra Borden
The practice of journalism : digital journalism.Jane Singer
The search for global media ethics.Herman Wasserman
The aim of this chapter is to help readers understand their responsibilities as persons and as journalists, and to provide them with a framework for addressing the ethical issues that routinely arise in the practice of journalism. Our approach, which is informed by the basic tenets of Western ethical tradi-tions and which borrows from Ozar's and Elliott's previous works, develops from the abstract to the concrete. 1 That is, we move from a discussion of the purpose of journalism, and the specific values ... [REVIEW]  (pages 9)Deni Elliott
Moral development and journalism.  (pages 25)Renita Coleman
Freedom House, an organization that promotes democratic values around theworld, annually ranks nations by the amount of freedom they accord to the press. Perhaps surprisingly, the United States does not appear in the top ten of recent rankings. Despite the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits laws that would abridge free press rights, and widespread agreement that the United States is among the most democratic nations in the world, the United States shares the number-sixteen ranking ... [REVIEW]  (pages 39)Press Freedom
As Lee Wilkins argues in her article in this collection, journalism seems to come into its own during natural disasters. The sheer drama of such events makes for great storytelling and provides a national showcase for the talents of local reporters. This was illustrated again in 2005 when the great flood caused by Hurricane Katrina overcame New Orleans and chased out the staff of the Times-Picayune. At first, the paper was unable to issue a print edi-tion and instead published on its affiliated Nola ... [REVIEW]  (pages 53)Sandra L. Borden
Global news media have contributed to a world where we are confronted with the faces of Others we will never meet. Although the interconnec-tions between people in a globalized world are often overstated, it is hard not to agree with Zygmunt Bauman when he speaks of “being aware of the pain, mis-ery and suffering of countless people whom we will never meet in person.” 1 In today's globalized world, news media have brought distant people closer, and the media confront us with a moral responsibility for ... [REVIEW]  (pages 69)Herman Wasserman
Why journalism is a profession.  (pages 91--102)Michael Davis
Who is a journalist?  (pages 103--116)Jay Black
Journalists, embracing the Internet with varying degrees of enthusiasm, have gradually adapted to characteristics of the medium. Many of those adapta-tions have involved work practices, in particular those to accommodate delivery of multimedia content—text, audio, video, and so on. Although this “conver-gence” involves some ethical issues, it requires adjustments mostly in skills and techniques. [REVIEW]  (pages 117)Jane B. Singer
Is objective news possible?  (pages 153)Carrie Figdor
N ever bury the lead; of course, objective news is possible. Unfortunately, I will also conclude, it is not earnestly pursued.  (pages 153)Carrie Figdor
At the December 2001 media week conference for investors, sponsored by Credit Suisse and staged in the grand ballroom of the Plaza Hotel, Arthur Sulzberger Jr. led the New York Times presentation team. Business was only fair after eight months of recession, but Chairman Sulzberger bantered ligh-tly with then CEO Russ Lewis. Putting on his publisher's hat, an exuberant Sulzberger turned to editorial matters. He bobbed on the balls of his feet at the podium as he talked about his flagship paper's coverage ... [REVIEW]  (pages 185)Rick Edmonds
In nearly every survey of public opinion and the media, privacy is a premiere issue if the press wishes to main its credibility. The laws safeguarding privacy are impressive, but legal prescriptions are an inadequate foundation for the news business. Privacy is not a legal right only but a moral good. For all of the sophistication of case law and tort law in protecting privacy, legal definitions do not match today's challenges. Merely following the letter of the law presumes the law can be determined ... [REVIEW]  (pages 203)Clifford G. Christians
Understanding and Respecting Privacy.  (pages 215)Candace Gauthier
Understanding and respecting privacy.  (pages 215)Candace Gauthier
Conflicting loyalties and personal choices.  (pages 237--247)Jacqui Banaszynski
C onflict of interest has become a signature element in the claim by Internet-based commentators to moral superiority over their legacy news media counterparts. The insistence of so-called mainstream journalists that they are free not just of private material entanglements but of personal sympathies that might tilt their reporting and commentary is brandished as a prime exhibit in the indictment of the media establishment as hypocritical, secretly biased, and unworthy of public trust.  (pages 249)Edward Wasserman
M uch of the literature on journalism ethics considers journalists' duties in light of their responsibilities to multiple stakeholders, including, impor-tantly, citizens. James W. Carey took seriously this connection between the press and the public. In one of his more eloquent and memorable passages, Carey described the bond this way. [REVIEW]  (pages 283)Wendy N. Wyatt
Mitigation watchdogs : the ethical foundation for a journalist's role.  (pages 311--24)Lee Wilkins
Twenty-first-century journalism juxtaposes words with still photographs, graphics, cartoons, video, sound, and animation in seamless presentations intended to be understood as real. As images work with words and music in short-and long-form journalistic presentations alongside advertising and entertainment media, fact and fantasy merge, dancing together in human memory as if all are real. These increasingly sophisticated messages, conveyed by media of every function and form, deserve careful attention ... [REVIEW]  (pages 331)Julianne H. Newton & Rick Williams

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Author's Profile

Christopher Meyers
California State University, Bakersfield

Citations of this work

Journalism Ethics' Eightfold Truths.Edward H. Spence - 2010 - Journal of Mass Media Ethics 25 (3):246-250.

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References found in this work

Why privacy is important.James Rachels - 1975 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 4 (4):323-333.
Privacy, intimacy, and personhood.Jeffrey Reiman - 1976 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 6 (1):26-44.
Enforcing media codes.Clifford Christians - 1985 - Journal of Mass Media Ethics 1 (1):14 – 21.
Three Essays on Journalism and Virtue.G. Stuart Adam, Stephanie Craft & Elliot D. Cohen - 2004 - Journal of Mass Media Ethics 19 (3-4):247-275.

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