Journalism ethics and standards

Journalism ethics and standards is a set of voluntary principles that journalists use as a guide to deal with ethical dilemmas such as accuracy, bias, and conflicts of interest. Several codes of ethics exist, and major news organizations, such as the New York Times and Associated Press, have their own guidelines. In addition, some specific professions within the industry, such as photojournalists, have their own sets of ethics and standards to follow. The introduction of social media and technology to the journalism industry in the twenty-first century has led people to question if journalistic ethics should be changed to accommodate the industry's growing needs.

Background

Journalists, or people who report the news, have been around since ancient times. Journalism evolved over the centuries and became a professional industry, comprising broadcast, print, and online journalists (reporters, editors, photographers, graphic artists, newscasters, production crews, and more) as well as journalism educators. In the United States, the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. This means that the US government cannot intervene and censor the media from reporting the news. However, this does not mean that members of the media can print or report whatever they want. They are held accountable by journalistic codes of ethics and standards.

Prior to the early twentieth century, no set standards existed for the journalism industry as a whole. Several journalistic organizations, such as the American Newspaper Publishers Association (ANPA; later the News Media Alliance) and the American Society of News Editors (ASNE), formed to address and resolve the problems and issues the industry faced.

The ANPA was founded in 1887 as an organization of newspapers and publishers, but it primarily served the needs of publishers. Over the years, it merged with other organizations, underwent several name changes, and became the News Media Alliance. In 1909, a group of journalists formed Sigma Delta Chi, which later became the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), to set standards for the industry. Editors at several newspapers formed a society of their own called the American Society of News Editors in 1922. It introduced a code of ethics the same year. The SPJ introduced its own code of ethics in 1973. It continued to expand, organize, and revise its code of ethics in the years the followed. Other organizations within the industry as well as specific publications began to draft their own codes of ethics, but they usually borrowed standards from other established codes, such as the SPJ.

Journalistic codes of ethics are a guide for all journalists to follow as they navigate the industry. They provide guidelines on how to handle ethical challenges that journalists may face. While various codes of ethics exist, they all typically share the following core elements:

Truth/Accuracy: Journalists should ensure they report accurate information by verifying all research and facts, using reliable sources, attributing information, etc.

Independence: Journalists should act independently of political, corporate, financial, or personal affiliations that could be considered conflicts of interest.

Fairness/Impartiality: Journalists should consider every side in a story and present each piece of the story in a balanced, objective way.

Humanity: Journalists should minimize harm by being aware of the impact their words and images could have on other people.

Accountability: Journalists should hold themselves responsible; they should correct errors, listen to their audience, and provide solutions to any issues that may arise due to their reporting.

Topic Today

While many people used to get their news from printed newspapers and televised news programs, this has changed in the digital age. In the twenty-first century, the majority of individuals receive their news from the Internet and social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter. This has brought the subject of journalism ethics to the forefront of debate, as people both inside and outside the news world wondered if codes of ethics still applied to the changing industry.

Most journalistic codes of ethics are voluntarily followed; most times, they cannot be properly enforced by organizations and publications. Such enforcement also can be perceived as a threat to First Amendment rights. It remains up to journalists to act professionally and adhere to ethical codes when reporting the news. However, they also must report the news in a balanced way, which sometimes means they must follow the principles to the best of their ability to achieve this.

Not all journalists follow these ethics, and some have trouble adhering to specific codes. Evolving interactive technology is a factor that many cite as the primary reason for altering codes of ethics. For example, the Internet and social media sites have made it nearly impossible for confidential sources to remain unnamed. This makes it difficult for some journalists to adhere to minimizing harm and being fair. While these sites might contain numerous news tips, the sources they come from sometimes make it difficult to verify facts. In addition, social media sites contain misinformation and fake news, so journalists should be diligent fact-checkers when using information from these sources.

Another source of contention is journalists posting on social media sites. Journalists should maintain separate professional and personal accounts and be careful about what they post online. Journalists can use social media to promote their work on both professional and personal accounts, but they should avoid posting controversial topics, especially ones that could be seen as violating conflicts of interest or minimizing harm. Many news organizations have instituted guidelines for acceptable practices on social media to guide journalists on how to use social media effectively and ethically without having their freedom of speech rights violated.

While journalism ethics in the digital age has been a debated topic since the introduction of social networks, as of 2017, no hard rules existed on how to definitively use these sites in journalism. Some news organizations have begun to include social media use into their codes of ethics, but many are still trying to determine the best way to utilize new media platforms while following journalistic ethics and standards.

Bibliography

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