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PERSPECTIVES ON JOURNALISM ETHICS JRNL 6202 SUMMER II 2015
• Instructor: Bill Mitchell • 17 August 2015 | Northeastern Univ.
PERSPECTIVES ON JOURNALISM ETHICS JRNL 6202 SUMMER II 2015
• Instructor: Bill Mitchell• Bmitch (at) gmail dot com• 727-641-9407• 17 August 2015 | Northeastern Univ.
WHAT WE’LL DO TONIGHT• Final paper due Friday: Questions?
• The ethics of deception
• The ethics of visual journalism
• The ethics of emerging business models
• Affirmative ethics: Your ideas for coverage
• 10 minute break (at about 7:30 p.m.)
• Lessons & puzzles from the course
FINAL PAPER DUE 7 A.M. FRIDAY 21 AUGUST
• Describe a dimension of media ethics that needs work
• Explain the shift you propose
• Explain how the reform you propose would benefit journalism
• Use specific examples, conduct some interviews
• Invite assessment of your ideas from knowledgeable sources
• Explain how this reform or rethinking fits with your personal ethics guidelines
• See discussion of Final Paper in syllabus: bit.ly/SummerEthics
• Questions about your final paper? Email or call me 727 641 9407
MINNESOTA HARASSMENT FOLLOW-UP
THE DECEPTION PARADOX• Obscuring truth in pursuit of truth
• Unacceptable in deontological context
• Acceptable in teleological context,
• But only if…
• The information has critical public significance
• There’s no way other than deception to get it
• The deception is disclosed to the audience
• No innocent people are put at risk
CONFIRMING TRUTH VIA DECEPTION
WHERE’S THE MAYOR?• Coho fishing in northern Michigan?
• Or visiting Jamaica with a lady friend?
A QUESTION FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
(CLICK IMAGE FOR EMBEDDED VIDEO)
ON THE ETHICS OF THE QUESTION• Steps to consider:
• 1. Journalistic purpose?
• 2. Does it meet 4 criteria for acceptable deception?
• The information has critical public significance
• There’s no way other than deception to get it
• The deception is disclosed to the audience
• No innocent people are put at risk
• 3. OK for reporter to write a question for the soldier?
• 4. OK for reporter to ask without reference to the reporter?
• 5. OK for the reporter to write about Rumsfeld’s response?
• 6. How much disclosure required by circumstances?
THE MAYOR IN THE CHAT ROOM(CLICK IMAGE FOR EMBEDDED VIDEO)
THE MAYOR IN THE CHAT ROOM• Steps to consider:
• 1. Journalistic purpose?
• 2. Does it meet 4 criteria for acceptable deception?
Information that’s important for the public to know
No other way to get this information
Deception to be disclosed to readers
No harm to innocent parties
ETHICS OF VISUAL JOURNALISM• Manipulation
• (how much editing is too much?)
• Addition
• (such as music)
• Impact
• (potential of powerful images to do harm)
• Intrusion
• (a consideration not just in publication but in news gathering as well)
GUIDELINES FOR VISUAL EDITING (OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
ACCEPTABLE MANIPULATION)
• National Press Photographers Association’s code of ethics:
• “Editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images’ content and context. Do not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects.”
ON THE IMPACT OF ADDING MUSIC TO MULTIMEDIA
(CLICK IMAGE FOR EMBEDDED VIDEO)
CONSIDERATIONS IN USE OF GRAPHIC IMAGES
• The scale of the event
• Who is involved
• Proximity of event to home
• Platform of publication
CONVICTED KILLER OF ABDUCTED CHILD
MERCURY NEWS EDITOR’S LETTER TO READERS
Dear reader,
The decision to publish the front page photograph of Richard Allen Davis' obscene gesture wasn't an easy one. Let me tell you why we decided to do it.
Ever since Davis' arrest, I've wanted to know more about the character of a man who could kill Polly Klaas.
Ever since it became clear that the jury would convict him, I've wanted to know how he would react, what he's thinking.
Even though it's unclear precisely who the target of the gesture is, I believe the photograph tells us something about Davis' contempt for the system that convicted him.
While the gesture is vulgar, it does give us some insight. In fact, I suspect that it will become one of those indelible photographic images that will come to represent a terrible episode in American life.
For those reasons, I thought the photograph was worth publishing. I'd be interested in your views, too.
Jerry Ceppos
Executive Editor
PUBLIC GRIEF
FALLING MAN
• “…an unneccessary trauma for readers” -- Dallas Morning News Editor Bob Mong
FALLUJAH, 2004
THE FIRST GULF WAR: (DAVID TURNLEY VIDEO EMBEDDED)
IMPLICATIONS OF DISINTEGRATING BUSINESS MODELS
• Experimentation that sometimes creates ethical problems
• Blurred loyalties
• Clickbait content
• What else?
IMPLICATIONS OF MEDIA CONVERGENCE
• Greater demands on individual journalists
• Diminished quality when tasks previously performed by several experts are now done by a single jack-of-all-trades
• Ethical implications of news cycles being replaced by NOW
UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS:• What will become of verification?
• Digital tools in service of verification?
• What will become of civility?
• How will journalists navigate tensions between opinion and independence?
• How will journalism be sustained financially?
AFFIRMATIVE ETHICS• Journalistic alternatives that involve enterprise as
opposed to simply NOT doing something unethical or simply covering a breaking story ethically
SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM(IMAGE LINKS TO THE TOOLKIT)
START WITH THE MISERY BUT DON’T STOP THERE!
(IMAGE LINKS TO NATTIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM)
RESTORATIVE NARRATIVE(IMAGE LINKS TO IVOH SITE)
AN AFFIRMATIVE ETHICS APPROACH TO:
• Mass-shootings in movie theaters
• Police violence against African Americans
• Anything else?
A LESSON & A PUZZLE
MY LESSON & PUZZLE• Lesson: The power of affirmative ethics to serve
audiences with enterprise reporting
• Puzzle: How to align journalism that has consequential value with journalism that has commerical value
FINAL PAPER DUE 7 A.M. FRIDAY 21 AUGUST
• Describe a dimension of media ethics that needs work
• Explain the shift you propose
• Explain how the reform you propose would benefit journalism
• Use specific examples
• Invite assessment of your ideas from knowledgeable sources
• Explain how this reform or rethinking fits with your personal ethics guidelines
• See discussion of Final Paper in syllabus: bit.ly/SummerEthics
• Questions about your final paper? Email or call me 727 641 9407
ASSIGNMENTS: • For all assignments, see
bit.ly/EthicsAssignments• By 7 a.m. Friday 21 August: Final version
of your final paper• By 7 a.m. Monday 24 August: Any missing
assignments
JIM NAUGHTON’S DREAM OF AN ELECTRONIC REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
