What are Ethics?

• Ethics are the moral principals that govern the conduct of individuals and organizations.

• The moral basis we use to resolve dilemmas.

• Ethics is not about laws.

• Journalists must always conduct themselves ethically

Elements of Ethics

1. Accuracy

2. Credibility

3. Objectivity

Accuracy

• Accuracy means getting all the facts right and always seeking the truth.

• From something as simple as getting the correct spelling of a name

• The smallest mistake reduces credibility • Never guess, always double check if you are

not sure.

PLAY – Richard Jewell

Credibility

• Credibility is the reputation for being right.• It is the ability to be believed and trusted.• Without credibility a Newspaper or News

station loses its audience

Objectivity • Objectivity is to be fair and impartial..to

present both sides. • Avoid any conflict of interest.• No matter what your personal feelings are,

you must remain objective.• Always set aside personal feelings

Ethics Violations• Plagiarism

• Fabrication

• Lack of objectivity

• Deception

Plagiarism

• Plagiarism is copying the work of others and passing it off as your own.

• Computers and the internet make it easy to cut and paste and pass things off as your own.

• There are no excuses for plagiarism

Jayson Blair

• 27-year-old rising star at the New York Times

• Fired in 2003 after he was caught plagiarizing and fabricating stories about the Washington-area sniper case

• Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd resigned after failing to catch the fraud.

PLAY

Fabrication

• Making up a story that never happened • Making up quotes • Making up details• Fiction

Stephen Glass• a 25-year-old former superstar at the

New Republic• fabricated quotes, sources and stories

to rise to the top. • He attempted to substantiate his

wrongdoing by inventing phony business cards, creating a bogus Website and crafting notes from interviews that never took place.

• His con ended in 1998 when a Forbes online reporter unmasked the serial liar's "Hack Heaven" story as a fraud.

PLAY

Lack of objectivity

• Not keeping personal opinions to yourself.• Not just in stories, but in the public• Not being balanced

Juan Williams

• Commentator for NPR• Fired for making

statements about muslims on Fox News

• Has a right to his opinion

• Doesn’t have a right to continue being employed by NPR

PLAY

AVOID LIBEL & SlANDER

• Libel is printed false defamation of character• Slander is spoken defamation of character • Libel is rarely considered a crime, it is a civil

action• Only the truth is a defense against libel• Attribution is no defense

Case of Richard Jewell• American police officer • While working as a security guard became known in

connection with the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

• Discovered a pipe bomb on the park grounds and alerted police.

• Helped to evacuate the area before the bomb exploded, saving many people from injury or death.

• Initially hailed by the media as a hero, Jewell was later named as a suspect through the media.

• Jewell's case became an example of the damage that can be done by reporting based on unreliable or incomplete information.

• He was never charged • Eventually he was exonerated completely. • In 2006, Governor Sonny Perdue publicly thanked Jewell on

behalf of the state of Georgia for saving the lives of those at the Olympics.

PLAY – Getting it Wrong