chapter 7 - codes of ethics - jnl-2105 - professor linda austin - national management college,...

CODES OF ETHICSChapter 7, The Ethical Journalist

Codes as a decision tool• Codes represent an effort to define best practices.

• Use them as part of a step-by-step decision process, not as a substitute for that process.

A code on a wallet card• “Don’t accept free stuff. • Don’t cover friends, families – or enemies. • Don’t use your position for personal benefit. • Don’t make stuff up. • Explain where you got your information. • Don’t steal other people’s work. • Don’t alter photographs.”

-- Manning Pynn, public editor, Orlando Sentinel in Florida, United States

Don’t use your position for personal benefit.Don’t use your position for personal benefit.

Photo by Wendy Harman

SPJ Code’s 4 guiding principles

1. Seek truth and report it.

2. Minimize harm.3. Act independently.4. Be accountable and

transparent.

How the principles work

•They operate in tandem, not in isolation.•Sometimes, they conflict.

How the principles work

Frequently, you have to balance truth-telling against minimizing harm.

Your turn: Report donor’s prison record?

$1. Seek truth and report it versus 2. Minimize harm1. Seek truth and report it versus 2. Minimize harm

Arguments:1. YES, I would report it, and here’s why:2. NO, I would not report it, and here’s why:

4 Classic Theories of Ethics

1. Rule-based thinking.Follow the rule.

2. Ends-based thinking.Greatest good for the most people.

3. The Golden Rule.

4. Aristotle’s Golden Mean.Avoid extremes. Compromise.

1. Seek truth and report it versus 2. Minimize harm1. Seek truth and report it versus 2. Minimize harm

Your turn: Report donor’s prison record?

$1. Seek truth and report it versus 2. Minimize harm1. Seek truth and report it versus 2. Minimize harm

Arguments:1. YES, I would report it, and here’s why:2. NO, I would not report it, and here’s why:

Standards for the profession• Below each of the four guiding principles are specific standards of conduct.

• Each of these standards represents a consensus within the profession. Updated in 2014.

SPJ Code’s 4 guiding principles

1. Seek truth and report it.

2. Minimize harm.3. Act independently.4. Be accountable and

transparent.

1. Seek truth and report it1. Seek truth and report it

1. Seek truth and report it.

• Truth starts with getting the facts verified and accurate.

• Goes beyond transcribing what someone in authority has to say.

BossBossStenographerStenographer

1. Seek truth and report it1. Seek truth and report it

1. Seek truth and report it1. Seek truth and report it

“You are not a stenographer.”

“Your job is to get the answers.”

“Your job is to get the truth.”

1950s: U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy

• Journalists reported his undocumented charges of Communists in U.S. government.

• Great damage done to his targets• ASK: HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?

1. Seek truth and report it1. Seek truth and report it

1981 movie: Absence of Malice

“Suppose you picked up this morning’s newspaper, and your life was a front-page headline….and everything they said was accurate but not true.”

1. Seek truth and report it1. Seek truth and report it

Lessons: Absence of Malice• Can be accurate but

not true.• Beware the motives of

anonymous sources.• ASK: HOW DO YOU

KNOW THAT?• Make more than one

phone call to the target of an investigation.

• Should you identify a target before arrest?

1. Seek truth and report it1. Seek truth and report it

SPJ Code’s 4 guiding principles

1. Seek truth and report it.

2. Minimize harm.3. Act independently.4. Be accountable and

transparent.

2. Minimize harm2. Minimize harm

2. Minimize harm

• In reporting the truth, journalists need to be aware of the harm that can result.

• They should inflict as little harm as possible while fulfilling their duty to inform the public about news of importance.

2. Minimize harm2. Minimize harm

Examples of minimizing harmNot reporting:•troop movements• location of police-assault teams•Names of sex-crime victims and children accused of a crime

2. Minimize harm2. Minimize harm

Examples of minimizing harm

Not reporting Prince Harry’s service

in Afghanistan

2. Minimize harm2. Minimize harm

Examples of minimizing harm

• Not reporting the kidnapping of a New York Times reporter and two Afghans by the Taliban for seven months

2. Minimize harm2. Minimize harm

Examples of minimizing harm

Interview with Kelly McBride, who teaches journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute

2. Minimize harm2. Minimize harm

Examples of minimizing harm

Comments from Joel Simon, Committee to Protect Journalists

2. Minimize harm2. Minimize harm

From New York Times “Covering Hostages, Without Becoming Pawns”

“Although he supported the blackout on the coverage of Mr. Rohde’s abduction at the time,” Mr. Simon has changed his mind. ‘I support more coverage,’ he said….”“Lack of public attention can increase danger, and… ‘governments tend to act’ when issues are getting media attention.”

Your turn: what would you do?• Arguments:• 1. YES, I would withhold news of the reporter’s

and his Afghan colleagues’ kidnapping by the Taliban, and here’s why.

• 2. NO, I would not withhold news of the reporter’s and his Afghan colleagues’ kidnapping by the Taliban and here’s why.

2. Minimize harm2. Minimize harm

• Rule-based thinking• Ends-based thinking• Golden Rule• Aristotle’s Golden

Mean

Your turn: what would you do?Arguments:

1. YES: •Ends-based: minimizes harm to the kidnapped•Golden Rule: I wouldn’t want it published if I were held.•Golden Mean: ???

2. Minimize harm2. Minimize harm

2. NO:•Rules-based: publish all true information•Ends-based: greater good for NGOs, governments to know how dangerous it is

Your turn: Would you print this photo?

2. Minimize harm2. Minimize harm

Facts:•Boy injured by falling furniture.•Mother waiting for helicopter.•Photographer on public street.•Mother objected.

Arguments:1. YES, I would publish it, and here’s why:2. NO, I would not publish it, and here’s why:

Your turn: Would you print this photo?

2. Minimize harm2. Minimize harm

Arguments:1.YES:•Ends-based: minimizes harm to the mother•Golden Rule: I wouldn’t want it published if I were the mom.•Golden Mean: ???2. NO:•Rule-based: I publish all true info•Ends-based: greatest good to most – a warning

SPJ Code’s 4 guiding principles

1. Seek truth and report it.

2. Minimize harm.3. Act independently.4. Be accountable and

transparent.

3. Act independently3. Act independently

3. Act independently

•Journalists = observers, not players.•Distance themselves from sources to avoid apparent conflict of interest.

View from the press box at FedEx Field, outside Washington, D.C.

3. Act independently3. Act independently

Review vocabulary words•Conflict of interest:Putting concern for a person or group other than the audience first in your stories•Apparent conflict of interest: Something that the journalist does – or says – publicly that causes the audience to perceive a conflict of interest or bias, even though the journalist’s reporting is appropriate.

3. Act independently3. Act independently

Apparent conflict of interest3. Act independently3. Act independently

Your turn: what would you do?

3. Act independently3. Act independently

Facts:•The Eagles doing benefit concert tickets to support a U.S. Senate candidate•Editor bans journalists from buying tickets

Arguments:1. YES, I would ban journalists from attending, and here’s why:2. NO, I would not ban journalists, and here’s why:

SPJ Code’s 4 guiding principles

1. Seek truth and report it.

2. Minimize harm.3. Act independently.4. Be accountable and

transparent.

4. Be accountable and transparent4. Be accountable and transparent

4. Be accountable and transparent

•Accountable: Journalists correct their mistakes.

• Transparent: Journalists explain choices and processes.

4. Be accountable and transparent4. Be accountable and transparent

One day of corrections

• 10 stories corrected!• Invites corrections from readers

4. Be accountable and transparent4. Be accountable and transparent

Told readers their pre-Iraq war coverage was lacking

4. Be accountable and transparent4. Be accountable and transparent

Independent public editor writes about Times’ performance

4. Be accountable and transparent4. Be accountable and transparent

• Reviewer had lunch with author• Reviewer of book on

psychotherapists had bad experience in therapy

SPJ Code’s 4 guiding principles

1. Seek truth and report it.

2. Minimize harm.3. Act independently.4. Be accountable and

transparent.

3. Act independently3. Act independently

Next: Codes as a decision tool

• How similar and how different is the Myanmar Media Code of Conduct from the U.S. Society of Professional Journalists’ code?