Media Ethics 2001 Abstracts
Media Ethics Division
Social Dimensions of Ethics Decisions in Newswork: A Comparison Across Ethical Situations • Dan Berkowitz, University of Iowa and Yehiel Limor, Tel-Aviv University • This paper studied decisions about ethical problems in newsgathering through five social dimensions: individual, small group, organizational, professional, and societal. Data were gathered through a mail survey of reporters in one Midwest state. Results found two broad response patterns, one basing decisions chiefly on professional autonomy and public interest, and another pattern that considered all five social dimensions more broadly. These patterns were most clearly distinguished by a reporter’s degree of professional experience.
The Ethics Agenda of the Mass Communication Professoriate • Jay Black, University of South Florida, Bruce Garrison, University of Miami, Fred Fedler, University of Central Florida, and Doug White, University of South Florida • This study reviews a growing body of faculty ethics literature and surveys one-third of the AEJMC membership about its attitudes toward 65 different issues. Forty-eight percent of the 775 people who received the mail questionnaire in late 2000 provided usable responses. They indicated that in many respects journalism and mass communications faculty are very similar to colleagues from other disciplines, but on many items, are far more sensitive to the welfare of students.
History, Hate and Hegemony: What’s a Journalist To Do? • Bonnie Brennen and Lee Wilkins, University of Missouri • This paper focuses on the distribution of a KKK flier in Columbia, Missouri, as a case study through which to explore the responsibility of journalists confronting the issue of hate speech. It draws on Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, which is contrasted with an ethically-based discussion of the societal impact of hate speech. In an effort to help journalists cover hate without furthering its ends, this paper concludes with some practical advice for journalists that is grounded in communitarian theory and the notion of journalism as a transformational activity.
The Role of Questions in TV News Coverage of the Ethics of Cloning • David A. Craig and Vladan Pantic, University of Oklahoma • This study is a qualitative analysis of how the ethics of cloning was portrayed in 36 network TV news pieces after the cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1997. It focuses on ethical questions, a prominent feature of most of the stories. All but a few questions pointed to issues of ethical duty or consequences, though often only in general terms. Responsible uses of questions are discussed, along with uses that distorted or sensationalized.
Characterizing Plagiarism: An Interdisciplinary Critical Analysis • Victoria Smith Ekstrand, University of North Carolina • This paper presents an interdisciplinary analysis of the literature on plagiarism in an effort to inform the discussion on plagiarism in journalism. It argues that characterizations of journalistic plagiarism as a recent trend work against solving the problem. It identifies three characterizations of plagiarism the behavioral, empirical and structuralist approaches – and argues that industry observers tend to see journalistic plagiarism through the behavioral lens and would benefit from a more comprehensive view.
The Fairness Factor: Exploring the Perception Gap Between Journalists and the Public • Deborah Gump, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Few moral frameworks as formed as early in life as fairness, and few are more difficult to define. While journalists focus on professional values of even-handed and dispassionate reporting as the basis of fairness, readers often include social values of compassion and respect. This paper offers a definition of fairness within the contexts of procedural and distributive justice and uses two surveys to find that journalists and the public hold different values for three of four selected elements of fairness: accuracy, balance, respect, and reporting expertise in a subject area. Journalists and the public are also found to be poor judges of how the other values the four elements.
WHAT WOULD THE EDITOR DO? A THREE-YEAR STUDY OF STUDENT- JOURNALISTS AND THE NAMING OF RAPE VICTIMS IN THE PRESS • Kim E. Karloff, California State University-Northridge • According to recent surveys, 80 percent of Americans say the news media “often invade people’s privacy,” 52 percent say they think the news media abuse the First Amendment, and 82 percent think reporters are insensitive to people’s pain. In the case of whether or not those in the press should name or not name the survivors of rape, journalism students – those who will be making these decisions in the future – have offered even more opinions, newsroom policy suggestions, and optimism. The purpose of this three-year, 140-student study was to examine how these future journalists might write/rewrite newsroom policy on naming names. Their responses include: a call to publish names, but only if the victim asks for or consents to identification; a charge to lessen the impact of the social stigma attached to the crime; and a request for the ethical treatment of rape victims and survivors.
Applying Sociological Theory to Statements on News Principles: Functionalist, Monopolist, and Public Service/Status Claims in Four Recent Journalism Ethics Codes • Susan Keith, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • This paper examined four recently written or rewritten journalism ethics codes in light of functionalist, monopolist, and public service/status views of professional ethics described in the sociological literature. All three types of theoretical elements were present in the Gannett newspapers, Radio-Television News Directors Association, and Tampa Tribune codes. However, the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors code featured only monopolist elements. As predicted in Andrew Abbott’s work on professional ethics, the elements present in the codes corresponded roughly to the external pressures on the organizations that wrote them.
Impartial Spectator in the Marketplace of Ideas: The Principles of Adam Smith as an Ethical Basis for Regulation of Corporate Speech • Robert L. Kerr, The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • This integrative essay offers an ethical basis justifying regulation of corporate speech, based on the neglected moral and political theories of Adam Smith. His essential tenets on free markets are applied to the First Amendment marketplace of ideas concept that has been prominent in developing corporate free-speech rights. It is argued that regulation of corporate speech cam actually enable more ideas to flourish in the political marketplace – advancing utilitarian ideals of the common good.
Privacy and the pack: Ethical considerations faced by local papers covering the JFK Jr. plane crash • Mark W. Mulcahy, University of Missouri-Columbia • Local journalists covering the deaths of John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Kennedy and Lauren Bessette primarily dealt with three ethical dilemmas. The first issue was the invasion of the Kennedys’ privacy through photographs. Second, reporters had to consider privacy, accuracy and credibility in their use of unnamed sources. The third issue was how increased competition affected the journalists’ ethical decision-making. This case study examines the link between those dilemmas and local journalists’ behavior.
Leaks: How Do Codes of Ethics Address Them? • Taegyu Son, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This paper is to analyze how journalistic codes of ethics wrestle with the matter of leaks. Leaks are an important means for the government to control the media. In order to maintain their competitiveness, journalists become the government’s managerial tool, often ignoring fundamental precepts of journalism ethics – independence and the fourth estate function. Codes of ethics have been the most widely used mechanism for journalistic accountability. None of the 41 codes analyzed explicitly mentions leaks.
Media Ethics 2002 Abstracts
Media Ethics Division
Moral Language in Newspaper Commentary: A Kohlbergian Analysis • Wendy Barger, Oregon • This study begins with the question of whether the news media are conveying messages that help us as individuals grow morally. Using a Kohlbergian model, the study begins to explore the question by analyzing the moral language in commentaries and letters to the editor within three Oregon newspapers. The study’s content analysis reveals that most arguments presented in the opinion section of the three papers are done so at either Kohlberg’s pre-conventional or conventional levels.
Ethics as a Cross-Cultural and Cross-Boundary Bridge: American and Israeli Journalists’ Views of Ethical Issues • Dan Berkowitz, Iowa; Yehiel Limor, Tel-Aviv University and Jane Singer, Iowa • This study explores how social dimensions of a reporter’s world shape ethical decisions through a survey of reporters in Israel and one state in the Midwestern U. S. We found that personal backgrounds and journalistic socialization were not closely related to ethical decisions, but the broader cultural dimension stood out. The context of specific ethical situations was also important, as was a reporter’s ethical orientation toward the public interest.
The Effects of Visuals on Ethical Reasoning: What’s a Photograph Worth to Journalists Making Moral Decisions? • Renita Coleman, Louisiana State University • Two experiments are used to explore the effects of photographs on ethical decision making in the journalism domain. Both studies found that photographs did have the ability to change participants’ ethical reasoning for the better. Also, both identified mental elaboration as significant in that process; thinking about the people affected by an ethical situation helped improve ethical reasoning. Involvement was also important; when participants were not very involved with the dilemmas, having photographs significantly improved their ethical reasoning.
The Promise and Peril of Anecdotes in News Coverage: An Ethical Analysis • David A. Craig, Oklahoma • This analytical essay assesses the use of anecdotes in news coverage on ethical grounds, pointing both to their promise and to their potential dangers. The argument draws on Craig’s framework for analyzing news coverage of ethics, on Christians et al.’s communitarian ethic, and on Gilligan’s relationship-oriented ethic. Examples from news stories illustrate the ethical complexity of anecdotes. The essay also suggests how journalists can choose anecdotes more critically and points to an adaptation of the anecdotal form that is ethically more supportable.
Covering Kids: Are Journalists Guilty of Exploiting Children? • Romayne Smith Fullerton, Western Ontario, Canada • Social researchers have a well-established body of literature and clear protocols that assist them in their interactions with children. Journalists do not. This paper applies some of the ethical considerations from social research to press practice. Using several recent Canadian cases involving coverage of children, I explore a wide range of ethical concerns that may confront a journalist interacting with and writing about minors. While the examples are drawn from the Canadian media scene, the observations are valid across North American newsrooms and the implications for this discussion are universal.
Ethics and Eloquence in Journalism: A Study of the Demands of Press Accountability • Theodore L. Glasser, Stanford University and James S. Ettema, Northwestern University • This study of ethics in journalism equates ethics with accountability. It argues that the problem of ethics in journalism is not the inability of journalists to know right from wrong but their inability to talk, reflexively and articulately, about it. Our “being ethical-means-being-accountable” theme draws from, but is not entirely wedded to, the model of discourse ethics developed in recent years by Jurgen Habermas.
A Masochist’s Teapot: Where to Put the Handle in Media Ethics • Thomas W. Hickey, South Florida • The task of defining ethics in mass communications can be aided by an interface with religion. The four guiding principles of the Society of Professional Journalists express ethical tension that can be viewed as a conflict between the metaphysical concepts of the one and the many. The doctrine of the Trinity resolves this conflict by uniting both concepts instead of pitting them as opposites. Following this model, a grid can be developed for plotting ethical journalism.
Stalker-razzi and Sump-pump Hoses: The Role of the Media in the Death of Princess Diana • Elizabeth Blanks Hindman, North Dakota State University • This case study examines mainstream newspaper editorials’ discussion of the role, responsibility and ethics of the media in the death of the Princess of Wales. Using attribution theory, it concludes that the newspapers dealt with criticism of the media in the case in several ways. First, they distanced themselves from the photographers who chased her car before it crashed; second, they blamed those outside the media, including Diana herself; and third, they acknowledged some responsibility.
Rwanda, News Media, And Genocide: Toward a Research Agenda for Reviewing the Ethics and Professional Standards of Journalists Covering Conflict • Kevin R. Kemper and Michael Jonathan Grinfeld, Missouri-Columbia • The ongoing United Nations war crimes tribunals for journalists accused of inciting genocide in Rwanda provide the backdrop for a discussion about reviewing the ethics and professional standards of journalists covering conflict. The authors argue that journalists and ethicists – regardless of epistemologies or methodologies – need to frame an ethical paradigm for journalists covering conflict. Possible concepts for study may include autonomy, objectivity, conflict theory, nationalism, intergenerational racism and ethnic hatred and technology, among others.
Generation Y’s Ethical Judgments of Sexual and Fear Appeals in Print Advertising • Jeffrey J. Maciejewski, Creighton University • This study reports the results of an empirical investigation into the ethical beliefs of Generation Y, in particular their moral assessments of sexual and fear appeals in print advertising. The study offers empirical support for the measuring of ethical ideologies, but found that such measures may have limited value in assessing levels of Machiavellianism among individuals. More importantly, the results from this study strongly suggest that the moral appraisals of Gen Y may be significantly differently than other individuals.
Radical Leadership and Debate in the Ethics of Naming Rape Victims • Richard J. Riski, Memphis • The status quo for a majority of newspapers is to not publish a rape victim’s name. Only a handful of publications defy this rule. Since the legal right to publish is established, the question for the media is how to create an ethical policy, or consistent practice, of deciding when — if at all — to name rape victims. This paper explores the ethical reasoning behind the six points of significant debate that separate those who do — and those who do not — publish victims’ names.
Entertaining Media Entertainment Ethics: Prospects for Development • Lawrence A. Wenner, Loyola Marymount University • This paper seeks to answer foundational questions about media entertainment ethics as distinguishable from the broader field of media ethics. The analysis explores the developmental predispositions of a journalism-centered media ethics. Reasons for the limited consideration of media entertainment in the context of media ethics are assessed. A review and critique of three significant works centered in media entertainment ethics aims to inform developmental foundations for a research agenda.
Nelson Mandela and South African Apartheid: The Media as Deconstructive Agent • Alisa White, Texas at Arlington and Vardaman White, Birmingham • The purpose of this paper is to describe deconstruction according to the goals and strategies of Jacques Derrida, examine his essay, “The Laws of Reflection: Nelson Mandela, in Admiration,” and examine the media’s role in the deconstruction process. Derrida seeks to separate the sign from the signified. For him, there is no inherent meaning within the language, rather, meaning emerges through the play of the words.
Media Ethics 2003 Abstracts
Media Ethics Division
Bad Apples or Rotten Culture: Media Discourse on the Corporate Scandals of 2001 and 2002 • David Craig, and Kristy Turner, Oklahoma • This paper evaluates 263 print media pieces and broadcast segments to assess how the discourse of 18 major news organizations addressed the ethical dimension of the scandals involving Enron and other companies. Ethical discussion emerged at several levels • individual, organizational, professional, and social • in a variety of formats including in-depth analytical reporting, commentary, and question and answer. Though much of the discourse was not in depth, the best examples point to ways that news organizations can effectively address business ethics.
Balancing News Reporting with National Security in an Age of Terrorism • David Cuillier, Washington State • In the shadow of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, this paper examines the ethics of reporting information in the media that could help citizens but also aid terrorists. Three cases are used to illustrate the ethical considerations journalists face to aggressively obtain and report the truth while minimizing the likelihood that the information could be used for future attacks.
Punctuation and Epistemic Honesty: Do Photos Need What Words Have? • Scott Fosdick and Shahira Fahmy, Missouri • This research begins a discussion of the ethics of sampling reality by drawing together parallel research on quotations and photography. Interviews with editors at leading magazines reveal internalized standards that draw nothing from formal codes of ethics. Editors do not support the adoption of “photation marks” to serve as the visual equivalent of the quotation mark. The authors argue that news practitioners should consider replacing Truth with Honesty as their guiding light when presenting samples of reality.
A Bellwether in Media Accountability: The Work of the New York World’s Bureau of Accuracy and Fair Play • Neil Nemeth, Purdue-Calumet • This paper provides the first detailed analysis of the New York World’s Bureau of Accuracy and Fair Play, which existed from 1913 until 1931. The bureau had been created in an effort to “promote accuracy and fair play, to correct carelessness and to stamp out fakes and fakers.” The paper argues that the bureau represents a bellwether in the efforts of media organizations to make themselves more accountable to readers, listeners and viewers.
Eight Arguments for the Importance of Philosophical Thinking in Journalism Ethics • Hendrik Overduin, McNeese State • This paper presents eight arguments to establish the importance of philosophical thinking in journalism ethics. The arguments address general issues as well as six philosophical problems unique to journalism. These are the paradox of news judgment, the choice among professional models, the imperative of professional autonomy, the need to reconcile professional values with scientific knowledge, the primacy of discursive reason in news judgment, and the communitarian challenge to traditional arguments for freedom of the press.
Perry Meets Freire: Moral Development’s ‘Leap of Faith’ in the Classroom • Maggie Patterson and Matthew Gropp, Duquesne • The ways teachers can help students through ethical development are explored by drawing upon William G. Perry’s Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years (1970) and, to a lesser extent, Mary F. Belenky, et al.’s Women’s Ways of Knowing (1986). The paper argues that the middle stage of moral development, called Realizing of Relativism, is a critical turning point at which students can turn back, freeze in place, or move on to an eventual commitment to ideas and values.
A Gang of Pecksniffs Grows Up: The Evolution of Journalism Ethics Discourse in The Journalist and Editor and Publisher • Patrick Plaisance, Colorado State • This content analysis explores how journalism’s first trade publications reflected discussion of ethical issues before and during the Progressive Era. While issues of normative behavior for reporters and editors were thought to have developed from earlier efforts to professionalize the field, this study suggests that the two areas, while intertwined, developed along different trajectories.
Questions of Judgment in the Newsroom: A Journalistic Instrumental Value Theory •Patrick Plaisance, Colorado State • Current media theorizing remains preoccupied with building competing normative philosophical frameworks yet does not often focus on the construction and operation of human value systems • which arguably are the engines that drive most ethical deliberations. This study uses social psychology research on value systems to construct a profile of journalistic values using a modified version of the Rokeach Value Survey. A nationwide probability-sample survey of 600 newspaper journalists produced a response rate of 59 percent (N=355).
The Randal Case: An Analysis of the Legal and Ethical Arguments Regarding Journalists Testifying in a War Crime Tribunal • Bastiaan Vanacker, Minnesota • No abstract available.
An Examination of Diversity Issues at Southeastern Journalism Conference Newspapers • Kathleen Wickham, Mississippi • College newspapers are the incubators for young journalists as they develop writing styles, become part of the journalism culture, test ethical problems and determine the news they want to cover. To produce a fair and balanced representation of a diverse population a newsroom must include professionals with varying backgrounds and experience. This study examines a common breeding ground for professional journalists—the college newsroom.
Conflicted Interests, Contested Terrain: Journalism Ethics Codes Then and Now • Lee Wilkins and Bonnie Brennen, Missouri • By analyzing ethics codes, a professional statement of what constitutes good work, this essay links codes to a theory of culture and history. It considers two early journalism ethics codes and assesses the latest New York Times ethics code in light of philosophical theory. The paper suggests that professional tensions outlined in Good Work are reified in the Times code • and that history and culture may be less supportive of a positive outcome of this struggle over values than the insights of psychology might suggest.
Opposing Influences: Reporters’ Perceptions of Structural Constraints • Young Jun Son, Kookmin University-Korea • Political journalists identified a wide variety of structural variables that influenced their ability to select and frame news stories in the coverage of the 2000 Bush-Gore campaign. Newsroom power arrangements were perceived as more influential in selecting and framing stories than media practices. While reporters viewed the influence of editors and wire services on their autonomy in a positive light, they held negative views of the influence of horizontal colleagues and priorities of other media.
<< 2003 Abstracts
Media Ethics 2004 Abstracts
Media Ethics Division
Sensationalism in America’s Television Newsrooms and the Ethics of Media Supervisors: A Secondary Analysis • Aimee Barros, Northern Illinois University • Television news is often accused of being sensational and using tabloid-style reporting techniques, many of which are ethically questionable. If these accusations have some truth, where does the practice on unethical reporting begin; with the reporters themselves, or with their newsroom supervisors? This study, which is a reanalysis of the data set compiled by Weaver and Wilhoit for their 1996 book The American Journalist in the 1990s, compares the ethical perceptions often different reporting practices between TV newsroom managers and their staff members, between TV newsroom managers and other news managers, and lastly, between TV newsroom supervisors in three different organization sizes.
How Moral and Cognitive Psychology Can Enhance The Teaching and Practice of Public Relations Ethics • Mathew A. Cabot, California State University, Long Beach • Public relations ethics has traditionally been viewed through one lens: moral philosophy. The goal has been, and continues to be, to find a principle or theory to serve as the foundation upon which an ethics code or curriculum could be built. Using the Defining Issues Test, the most commonly used measurement of moral development and moral psychology, this paper explores how moral and cognitive psychology can enhance the teaching and practice of public relations ethics.
Communitarianism and Dr. Phil: The Individualistic Ethos of “Self-Help” Television • Eric Jones, Claflin University • A communitarian critique of Dr. Phil’s self-help talk-show was developed by drawing on the communitarian/liberalism debate. It was expected that Dr. Phil’s counseling sessions would encourage individual responsibility over community responsibility. A textual analysis was used to examine how individualism appeared through his rhetorical devices. The author found seven cases of individualistic rhetoric and two cases of communitarian rhetoric. The author concluded that a communitarian balance was needed between self-help advice and community-help advice.
The Last Line of Defense in Matters of Ethics? Copy editors’ ethics role conceptions • Susan Keith, Rutgers University • Can newspaper copy editors, long known as the last line of defense against errors, be final guardians of journalistic ethics? Data from 470 copy desk workers at 100 newspapers indicate that most think their jobs should have an ethics-watchdog component but often do not — apparently because of constraints in their newsrooms on who can raise what question. This conflict between ideal and real ethics roles was associated with lower job satisfaction.
Do’s And Don’ts For Moonlighting Journalists — An International Comparison • Yehiel Limor, Tel-Aviv University; and Itai Himelboim, University of Minnesota • According to the journalistic norms prevailing in most countries and often stipulated explicitly in codes of ethics, journalists must avoid situations that engender a conflict of interests, whether actual or merely perceived. How, then, do codes of ethics relate to the idea of additional jobs and/or occupations, both paid and volunteer, for journalists? The present study is an international comparative study examining 242 codes of ethics applied by the media in 94 countries. Codes of ethics are perceived as the “conscience” of journalism (Allison, 1986) and therefore constitute a useful means of assessing the dos and don’ts applying to media personnel.
The Media Ethics Necessity • Jean Burleson Mackay, University of Alabama • This study used moral development research to study how journalism students would react to ethical situations in their profession. The overriding question was whether students who had taken a media ethics course would use a higher level of ethical reasoning than students who had not. Students who have studied media ethics did perform better on this study. This paper discusses the need for media ethics courses and how they can teach students reasoning skills.
Plato’s Worst Nightmare: Impact of the ‘New Orality’ on Media Literacy and Ethos • Charles Marsh, University of Kansas • Deduced from the Socratic dialogues, Plato’s worst nightmare would be an uninterruptible, multisensory medium, which, by definition, would entrance audiences. Aristotle believed that such a medium could allow a powerfully persuasive ethos freed from the speaker’s preexisting character. Citing the research of McLuhan and orality/literacy scholars, this paper contends that modem converged mass media could become Plato’s worst nightmare, leading to a redefinition of media literacy and a reemergence of ethos as a media construct.
Reaching Beyond the Academy: Introducing Elementary School Students to Media Literacy and Critical Thinking • Angela Paradise and Andrea Bergstrom, University of Massachusetts • This paper explores the impact of a five-week media literacy curriculum offered to three classes of second grade students (n=51) during March-April 2003. The curriculum included lesson plans pertaining to news, media violence, advertising, gender stereotypes in fairytales, and media production. Analyses of students’ weekly journal entries and videotaped verbal responses to the curriculum are discussed. The findings suggest that individuals as young as seven-years-old, when exposed to media literacy, can take a more critical stance toward media.
What Jayson Blair and Janet Cooke say about the Press and the Erosion of Public Trust • Maggie Jones Patterson, Duquesne University and Steve Urbanski, Duquesne University• The authors of this paper examine key decision-making points in both the 1980-81 Janet Cooke fabrication case at the Washington Post and the deceptions of Jayson Blair at the New York Times that stretch from 1999 to 2003. These decisions are weighed against the commonly understood mission of journalism in general and the specifically stated missions at the Washington Post and New York Times. The paper’s working thesis is that if newspapers do not consistently measure their decisions and actions against their mission as a public trust, their commitment to truth can become shrouded by the less noble motives of ambition and the thrill of a scoop.
Misplaced confidence? The validity of a media ethics course • Lee Anne Peck, University of Northern Colorado • Findings show students in a respected journalism program are beginning the mandatory media ethics course with misplaced confidence about their abilities to identify professional ethical dilemmas. The findings also show that students often have misplaced confidence in their abilities to take a stand when an ethical dilemma involves their own work; however, students who indicated they were receiving or had received professional training outside of the classroom were better able to correctly answer case-study questions.
The exception or the rule? How journalists view the prevalence and acceptability of problematic practices • Scott Reinardy and Stephanie Craft, University of Missouri • A survey (N = 876) of newspaper journalists examined the perceived prevalence of questionable practices among journalists and how acceptable journalists consider those practices to be in news work. The relationships among years of experience in journalism, the use of ethics codes, discussion of ethics, and concern for accuracy also were examined. Findings indicate that journalists perceive their newsroom colleagues to be performing well. There is no general consensus on the acceptability of problematic practices.
Dance With the Devil: Did CNN Trade Truth For Access? • Laura Resnick, Ohio University • CNN’s chief news executive, Eason Jordan, revealed in April 2003 that while maintaining a bureau in Baghdad under Saddam Hussein’s regime, CNN had not reported on a number of atrocities there. Many journalists subsequently accused CNN of having abandoned both its credibility and its integrity, while others said the choices were not that simple. Was CNN ethically protecting its employees and sources, or did it sacrifice ethics in pursuit of prestige and ratings?
“I noticed more violence:” The effects of a media literacy program on knowledge and attitudes about media violence • Erica Scharrer, University of Massachusetts • This study outlines the effects of participation in a media literacy program on the topic of media violence for 93 sixth-grade students. Statistical comparisons between pre- and post-program responses and between those participating and those in a control group show some increases in the comprehension of key concepts used in the study of media violence and critical thinking about the topic. Open-ended responses also demonstrate enhanced sophistication in analyzing media violence after participating in program.
Newsroom Ethics: Peeling the Onion • Dan Shaver, University of Central Florida • This study involves testing a survey methodology to measure (1) congruence between personal values of newsroom employees and their perceptions of the newsroom’s ethical norms and (2) the applicability of an organizational culture model to newsroom ethical value structures. The limited scope of the study means findings must be viewed as tentative, but they support the effectiveness of the methodology and model and raise questions regarding the forces affecting ethical cultures in newsrooms.
Ethics of Newspapers in Prison Communities: Imprisoned by Their Economic Role? • Michael L. Thurwanger, Bradley University; and Walter B. Jaehnig, University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale • The study examines the prison construction boom in a large Midwestern state and the ethical performance of the press in 24 communities selected as new prison sites since 1977. It asks whether the community press provided an independent channel of communication, fostering open discussion. Quantitative and qualitative evidence shows the community press siding with the local growth coalition while marginalizing opposition. Rather than facilitating public examination of penal policies, the press responds to its own economic interests.
Finding Global Values in Journalism Ethics: A Comparative Analysis of Five News Councils’ Rulings • Bastiaan Vanacker, University of Minnesota • This paper tries to find common journalism ethical values across cultures by analyzing the decisions of five news councils in five different countries. News council decisions on conflict of interest, use of anonymous sources, accuracy, distinguishing editorial from hard news, and reporting on the basis of rumors were discussed. The findings were that despite a superficial agreement on the principles governing these issues, there are some considerable differences in the way they are interpreted.
Journalists’ moral development: Thinking through both rights and care in a professional setting • Lee Wilkins, University of Missouri • This paper examines journalists’ reasoning about moral questions through analysis of qualitative responses to the Defining Issues Test, a paper-and-pencil instrument used to measure moral development which focuses on rights and responsibilities. Participant responses indicate an ability to move between the ethics of rights, the psychological /philosophical basis of stage theory, and an ethics of care as outlined by Carol Gillian and feminist philosophy. Emotion and empathy appear to provide some impetus to moral thought.
Media Ethics 2006 Abstracts
Media Ethics Division
The Virtuous Advocate versus The Pathological Partisan: A Model of Opposing Archetypes of Public Relations and Advertising Practitioners (A Virtue Ethics Approach to Applied Ethics for Public Relations and Advertising Practitioners) • Sherry Baker, Brigham Young University • Drawing upon contemporary virtue ethics theory (including care, dependency, humility, humane concern, v-rules, and narrative unity) a graphic model of diametrically opposed archetypes of public relations and advertising practitioners is developed. Profiles of the Virtuous Advocate (representing advocacy virtues) and the Pathological Partisan (representing opposing vices) are introduced. One becomes a Virtuous Advocate or Pathological Partisan by habitually enacting the virtues or vices in the context of practices. Includes suggestions for further virtue ethics research.
A Theory of Journalism • Sandra L. Borden, Western Michigan University • This paper attempts to define journalism by sketching a theory that links the purpose and product of journalism in a meaningful way. Relying on a communitarian account of participatory citizenship and Code’s (1987) notion of epistemic responsibility, this theory proposes that journalism’s purpose is to help citizens know well in the public sphere.
Separating rumors from news but not entirely from journalism • Karen Boyajy and Lee Wilkins, University of Missouri • This study is the first to examine how journalists evaluate rumors. Respondents connected investigating and reporting on rumors with issues of craft—particularly standards of verification—and with truth telling. However, rumors about celebrities were ranked first in terms of stories that need investigation, surpassing topics such as the private lives of public figures and bomb threats. Respondents generally supported debunking rumors but not educating audiences as important journalistic roles.
Propaganda Analysis: A Case Study Of The U.S. Department Of Education’s Minority Outreach Campaign Promoting The No Child Left Behind Act • Bonnie Ann Cain, Oklahoma State University • This study provides a comprehensive examination of the Department of Education’s controversial promotion of No Child Left Behind by employing Jowett and O’Donnell’s 10-point propaganda framework. Arguments that the campaign is propaganda are supported by the campaign’s fit with expectations of propaganda. This case study provides a backdrop for discussion of PR’s role in promoting policy and emerging guidelines for future government PR contracts.
Walking the (Border) Line: Press Coverage of Activist Groups on the Arizona/Mexico Border • Cari Lee Skogberg Eastman, University of Colorado • A battle over migration is brewing in the Arizona desert as advocates of opposing approaches to border policy reform vie for media publicity of their ideals. Through content analysis and correspondence with journalists, this study examines the representation of three activist groups in Arizona’s two largest newspapers, and argues that a civic journalism – through its deep involvement with the community – naturally includes a wider, more equitable representation of voices than traditional utilitarian newsroom approaches.
Political Consulting: The Rise of Professionalism, The Question of Ethics • Michelle Honald, University of Oregon • Content analysis concerning the nature of ethical discussion in political consulting was conducted on a total of 1066 articles from two scholarly journals and one professional trade publication during the period 1995-2005. Of the 1006 articles, 32 mentioned ethics in some substantive way. The articles were further divided into four categories: normative appeals; mention of a code of ethics; discussion of meta-ethical issues; and relation of ethics to academic theory.
Anonymous sources and readership credibility: A qualitative investigation of the barriers to newspaper believability • Tom Hrach and Stephen Siff, Ohio University • Media professionals have reacted to recent declines in media credibility by calling for a reduction of the number of anonymous sources used in news articles. Despite journalists’ belief that anonymous sources present a credibility problem, nonjournalists in focus groups said anonymous sources were only one issue affecting media credibility. More important barriers to credibility included inadequate branding, sourcing and quality of information.
The Green River Confession: News Treatment of Victims and Co-victims • Sue Lockett John, University of Washington • The November, 2003, confessions of Northwest serial killer Gary Ridgway focused intensive media attention on the deaths of more than 48 female victims many years before. In such situations, journalists’ deadline-driven demands to inform the public can conflict with survivors’ needs to avoid re-victimization though loss of privacy, painful word associations, and other triggers of post-traumatic stress.
To Publish or Not to Publish: The Muhammad Cartoon Dilemma • Jenn Burleson Mackay, The University of Alabama • Newspapers inspired Middle Eastern violence and controversy after they published political cartoons depicting Islam’s Muhammad. This paper considers how newspaper editors could have used several ethical models to decide whether they should publish the cartoons. Several ethical models are discussed and applied to the cartoon dilemma. The paper concludes with a comparison of how the models arrive at different decisions that allow the journalist to be ethical regardless of whether he publishes the cartoons.
Transparency: An Assessment of the Kantian Roots of a Key Element in Media Ethics Practice • Patrick Lee Plaisance, Colorado State University • This study argues that the notion of transparency requires reconsideration as an essence of ethical agency. It provides a brief explication of the concept of transparency, rooted in the “principle of human dignity” of Immanuel Kant, and suggests that it has been inadequately appreciated by media ethics scholars and instructors more focused on relatively simplistic applications of his categorical imperative.
Dimensions of Journalistic Messenger Transparency • Chris Roberts, University of South Carolina • While other disciplines have operationalized the term “transparency,” journalism scholars have not explicated dimensions of transparency. This paper suggests that media scholars should use David Berlo’s “source-message-channel-receiver” communication model to discuss a continuum of journalistic transparency attributes. It uses that model to explicate nine dimensions of journalism messenger transparency, notes transparency’s connections to Rawls’ “Veil of Ignorance,” and suggests further research is needed to explore the assumed relationship between transparency and credibility.
“Secret” Casualties: Images of Injury and Death in the Iraq War Across Media Platforms • B. William Silcock and Carol B. Schwalbe, Arizona State University and Susan Keith, Rutgers University • This study examined more than 2,500 images from U.S. television news, newspapers, news magazines, and online news sites during the first five weeks of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in and found that only 10 percent showed injury or death. The paper analyzes which media platforms were most willing to show casualties.
Confidence in the Press, Attitudes about Press Freedom, and the Third Person Effect: A Preliminary Exploration using Secondary Survey Data • Derigan A. Silver, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Third-person effect—the hypothesis that people overestimate the influence that communications have on the attitudes of others—suggests the possibility that individuals will want to censor the press if they view its messages as having a negative impact on others or if they view media coverage of their group or cause as being biased.
Loath to admit: pressures on ethical disclosure of news release sources • Peter Simmons, Charles Sturt University, AUSTRALIA • Non-disclosure of third-party news sources deceives the public and is ethically objectionable. The S.967 Pre-packaged News Stories Bill endorsed the principle of self-regulation by US journalists when disclosing the source of government news releases. The PRSA and RTNDA advocate disclosure of source to the public, but their members perceive advantages in non-disclosure. PR values the credibility of implied news organization endorsement. Journalists resist being seen to be using PR as a source for their news.
Truth and Transparency: Bloggers’ Challenge to Professional Autonomy in Defining and Enacting Two Journalistic Norms • Jane B. Singer, University of Iowa • Commitments to truth and to “transparency” or public accountability are two central normative aspects of professional journalism. This paper considers ways in which both are challenged and complemented by other communicators, particularly bloggers. It proposes that while all professions claim autonomy over articulation and enactment of their own norms, the Internet environment is one in which definitions of professional constructs are open to reinterpretation and in which oversight of professional behavior is shared.
Construction of the Truth and Destruction of A Million Little Pieces: Framing in the Editorial Response to the James Frey Case • Nicole Elise Smith, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • The notion of truth is central to our modern principles of objective journalism. A recent case has called into question the value that we, societally speaking, place on the truth. This study seeks to understand how editorial writers reacted to and subsequently framed the notion of “truth” within the context of the James Frey case. The qualitative, framing analysis examines editorials with the purpose of providing an understanding of the news frame surrounding the “truth.”
Stakeholder Theory and Media Management: An Ethical Framework for News Company Executives • Reuben J. Stern, University of Missouri • Contrary to stockholder theories that place the interests of profit-seeking owners above all else, stakeholder theorists argue that corporate executives have moral and ethical obligations to consider equally the interests of a wide range of stakeholders affected by the actions of a corporation. This paper argues that the stakeholder approach is particularly appropriate for the governance of news media companies. The paper then outlines an ethical framework to guide news company executives.
The TARES Test as an Ethical Analysis Tool: Assessing the Ethicality of Direct Response Television Programs • Ken Waters and Jamie Melton, Pepperdine University • In recent years, scholars have proposed several “tests” for determining the ethicality of persuasive mediated messages. Baker & Martinson (2001) suggest a five-part test called the TARES test. Eight one-hour special reports prepared by international aid organization World Vision were studied. The researchers note that the TARES test can be used to assess the ethicality of persuasive messages, but dialogue with the messages’ creators is necessary to achieve a useful assessment for pedagogical purposes.
Media Literacy as Trust Builder: How media education can foster critical and sympathetic news audiences • Wendy N. Wyatt, University of St. Thomas • One root of journalism’s credibility crisis can be found in the media illiteracy of its audiences. Therefore, part of the solution rests in educating audiences about the work journalists do. This calls for adjustments to conventional wisdom about media literacy. In addition to providing adversarial tools to critique the press, media literacy should also provide sympathetic tools to understand it. Efforts at foundational media literacy are steps toward reestablishing trust between the media and citizens.
Media Ethics 2011 Abstracts
Open Competition
Role perceptions and ethical orientations: An analysis of individual-level influences on ethical aggressiveness of journalists • Sheetal Agarwal • Using the 2007 American Journalist panel survey this study examines how role perceptions influence journalists’ ethical aggressiveness. Factor analyses and scale reliability tests find that the long-standing “ethical aggressiveness” index and the “disseminator” role may need re-evaluation. Using regression analysis and a newly constructed ethical orientation scale I find that journalists with affinity to adversarial and interpreter functions have higher levels of ethical aggressiveness. However, populist mobilizers are less likely to justify ethically questionable practices.
“A Watchdog of Democracy”: State of Media Ethics in Bangladesh • Md. Abu Naser, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; Debashis Aikat • By situating journalism ethics within a larger intellectual context of global communication and social change, this study explores and documents the state of media ethics and journalistic standards in Bangladesh, the theoretical and conceptual development of Bangladeshi media ethics in its many forms. Drawing upon recent studies, meta-analyses of ethical issues and reviews of ethical lapses in Bangladeshi journalism, this study covers three aspects. First, it explicates the media practices and journalism ethics theories as they relate to Bangladeshi media. Second, it provides a thorough assessment of journalism ethics through a comprehensive review of a Jatri (2009) survey of Bangladeshi journalists. Third, it identifies theoretically-grounded approaches to unethical practices in Bangladeshi journalism by exploring a seven-point categorized listing of various instances of ethical lapses in Bangladeshi journalism. In conclusion, this study also identifies the need for a comprehensive code of ethics for Bangladeshi media. In its mission to advance its watchdog role, the Bangladeshi code of ethics should draw upon the evolution of its media ethics as a 20th century phenomenon and seek a sustaining significance in the 21st century digital age that is transforming Bangladesh’s contribution to global communication and social change.
The Ethics of Pinkwashing: Applying Baker and Martinson’s TARES Test to Breast Cancer Cause-Related Marketing Campaigns • Kati Berg, Marquette University; Shannon Walsh • From cars and cosmetics to fast food and toasters, everything seems to be turning up pink lately. But not all pink products benefit breast cancer equally. Some companies take advantage of consumers’ concern about breast cancer and in reality profit from marketing pink products while donating little or nothing to the cause. It’s a process known as pinkwashing. As cause-related marketing (CRM) efforts for breast cancer have risen dramatically in the last decade so has media criticism and consumer backlash. Yet, the ethics of pinkwashing have not yet been examined from a theoretical perspective. Thus, this paper critically analyzes the ethics of such campaigns by applying Baker and Martinson’s (2001) TARES test for ethical persuasion to two CRM campaigns: Mike’s Hard Pink Lemonade and KitchenAid Cook for the Cure. Specifically, we argue that consumers are particularly vulnerable because the persuasive communication used in these CRM campaigns fail to meet the five principles of the TARES test: truthfulness, authenticity, respect, equity, and social responsibility.
Unnamed Sources: A utilitarian exploration of their justification and guidelines for limited use • Matt Duffy, Zayed University; Carrie Freeman, Georgia State University • This article critically examines the practice of unnamed sourcing in journalism. A literature review highlights arguments in favor of and against their use. Then, the authors examine some common examples of anonymous sourcing using the lens of utilitarianism, the ethical model commonly used to justify the practice. We find that few uses of unnamed sourcing can be justified when weighed against diminished credibility and threats to fair, transparent reporting. The authors then suggest specific guidelines for journalists that, if followed, would curb many of the pedestrian uses of unnamed sourcing but still allow for the practice in specific circumstances.
Media Responsibility in a Public Health Crisis: An Analysis of News Coverage of H1N1 “Swine Flu” in One Community • Elizabeth Hindman, Washington State University; Ryan Thomas, Washington State University • This qualitative analysis of news reports regarding the H1N1 virus’ impact on a particular community provides insight into the responsibilities of the media within the realm of health communication. Generally, news media did a poor job presenting accurate, timely and useful information, both to local residents who needed specific information, and to the broader public, which needed a context to interpret events on the forefront of what could have been a national health care disaster.
Journalism’s “Crazy Old Aunt”: Helen Thomas and Paradigm Repair • Elizabeth Hindman, Washington State University; Ryan Thomas, Washington State University • Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas abruptly retired in summer 2010 after she gave unscripted remarks widely perceived to be anti-Semitic. This case study applies paradigm repair and attribution theories to explore how mainstream journalists repaired the damage to their profession’s reputation. It concludes, among other things, that they suggested her remarks were caused by senility and that she failed in her obligation to objectivity.
Ethical Pitfalls of Data Digging in Journalism • Jan Leach, Kent State University; Jeremy Gilbert, Medill, Northwestern University • Journalists have been mining publicly available data for decades, but significant changes in presentation means that data journalism is common and this increased use raises new ethical issues. This paper examines the potential for harm when journalists use data mining in reporting. Ethics questions surface about truthfulness, interpretation and potential privacy issues. Authors interview five journalists who frequently use data for journalistic purposes and discuss how they evaluate potential harm when working with data sets.
Agapeistic Ethics and News Coverage of Secular/Religious Conflict • Rick Moore, Boise State University • Agapeistic ethics has received a small amount of attention from scholars interested in how it might be applied to the journalistic profession. This investigation continues that discussion but specifically in regard to how journalists might cover stories that entail religious dimensions. In analyzing the particular case of reporting on legal disputes related to teaching of intelligent design in schools, the paper hopes to shed light on the unique contributions agape can make to media ethics.
Social Responsibility and Tomorrow’s Gatekeepers: How Student Journalists Prioritize News Topics • Sara Netzley, Bradley University • This study examines whether student journalists prioritize news topics that serve social concerns or economic concerns. A nationwide survey asked student journalists to identify which topics they personally preferred as well as which topics they believed were most important for the media to cover. The data suggest that tomorrow’s journalists may have embraced a new theory of the press: the dual responsibility model, in which social and fiscal responsibilities are equally weighed when making editorial decisions. These findings have key implications for the gatekeeping decisions the journalists will make on the job and the type of agenda they might set for the public.
Naming Names: Crime Coverage Rituals in North America, Sweden, and the Neterhlands • Maggie Jones Patterson, Duquesne University; Romayne Smith Fullerton, University of Western Ontario • When a Dutch man killed seven people and injured ten more in an attempt to assassinate the Queen Beatrix, the Dutch Press Agency ANP did not use his name in their stories. This paper examines the ethical practices of journalists in the Netherlands and Sweden, specifically in regard to withholding the names of those accused or convicted of crime, in order to tease out the cultural values these practices reflect. National news stories of great public interest were used as starting points in interviews with Swedish and Dutch journalists and academics. By analyzing these interviews, national codes of ethics, and specific news coverage, the paper examines the reasons behind this respect for criminals’ privacy. The paper argues that the European practices reflect a greater ethic of care than those found in North American journalism. However, these practices are under threat both from the internationalization of news on the Internet and a backlash against immigration in Sweden and the Netherlands.
Ethics and Wartime Self-Censorship: Precedents for a Utilitarian Model in the Digital Age • Michael Sweeney, Ohio University • This paper argues that official government and military censorship have become impossible in the digital age. It offers the World War II model of effective self-censorship by the press, including legal and ethical issues constraining publication decisions, as an example of how cooperation and trust can make the alternative of self-censorship possible. It also addresses the complications posed by the relatively new phenomenon of citizen journalists and the challenges they pose to would-be censors. Finally, it frames the discussion of self-censorship in wartime using a utilitarian model of journalism ethics.
Walter Lippmann’s ethical challenge to the individual • Steve Urbanski, West Virginia University • This paper analyzes in hermeneutic fashion random concepts of the individual from three of philosopher Walter Lippmann’s major works, Liberty and The News, Public Opinion and The Phantom Public. The paper addresses the following: By considering Lippmann’s multi-leveled representation of the individual, 21st century media professionals can become empowered to avoid emotivism and strive toward a more narrative-based form of ethics. The paper compares and contrasts Lippmann’s representation of the individual with John Dewey’s Great Community and Daniel Boorstin’s notion of the pseudo-event.
Teaching Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development Through the Movie NETWORK • John Williams, Principia College • Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of six stages of moral development has been significant to thinking about moral education for half a century and is viewed by many as the definitive description of moral development. Moral development theories describe moral maturity and the steps or stages that one follows to reach this maturity. Contemporary films and literature have been used as mechanisms for stimulating moral development in students. It would make sense that contemporary film could be used to introduce and teaching Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. This paper is a description and assessment of the use of the feature film Network as a vehicle for engaging undergraduate mass communication students with Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. The activity allows students to engage with the theory, attempt to apply it to a fictional situation, offer critiques to the theory, and suggest alternative perspectives.
Identifying Ethical Challenges and Solutions in the Online Coverage of Recruiting High School Athletes • Molly Yanity, Ohio University • The coverage of the recruitment of high school athletes has exploded into a multimillion-dollar industry. That demand has led to a wave of ethical challenges for the web-based publications providing the coverage. This study will reveal ethical challenges in the coverage and solutions for the publications. This multi-method study should help web-based publications draft of a code of ethics. Media covering high school recruiting can use those guidelines to gain and maintain credibility, uphold a high level of ethics, and protect themselves from rules instituted by outside interests.
Carol Burnett Award
Unprofessional, ineffective, and weak: A textual analysis of the portrayal of female journalists on Sports Night • Chad Painter, University of Missouri; Patrick Ferrucci, U of Missouri • This study investigates the portrayal of five female journalists on the Aaron Sorkin television show Sports Night. The women were depicted as acting unprofessionally, displaying motherly qualities, choosing their personal lives over work, being deferential to men for ethical decisions, and showing a lack of sports knowledge compared to the male characters. The researchers use social responsibility theory to suggest why these portrayals were ethically problematic.
Ethical Attitudes of Male and Female Students Concerning Academics and Journalism • Bill Hornaday, Indiana University • Survey data on plagiarism and fabrication – and perceptions about both among journalism students [n=6873] – indicate females harbor more concern about such activity than males. The findings are consistent for academic settings involving student journalists and scenarios involving professional journalists. Regardless of gender, students were more concerned about fabrication and believed professional breaches merit more concern than academic ones. This study draws from an ongoing, longitudinal project launched in 2004 at a large Midwestern university.
Correcting the record: The impact of the digital news age on press accountability • Nicole Joseph, Northwestern University • This study examines changing news practices to determine if, and how, they have been accompanied by changes in journalists’ abilities to enact traditional ethical standards in the newsroom. To illustrate these changes, I explore the use of news corrections as a means for maintaining journalistic accountability in the digital news age. The findings suggest that key attributes of the contemporary news environment can help journalists in their quests for accountability.
Conflicting Agendas: Economics and Social Responsibility in the Press • Jason Laenen, Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU • Many scholars have argued the economic responsibilities of the American (capitalist) press ultimately undermine its social responsibilities. Little attention has been paid, however, to how the press has successfully neglected these duties–while maintaining its special “inviolable” rights provided by the Constitution. This article argues the press has used the tenets of the dominant economic models (liberalism, Keynesianism, and neoliberalism) in three periods of American history to influence and justify its behavior. Implications are discussed.
Is Ideological Coverage On Cable Television an Ethical Journalistic Practice? Duty, Responsibility, and Consequence • Aimee Meader, University of Texas at Austin • Ideological coverage is a journalistic practice that abandons objective ideals in favor of opinionated analysis. Although editorialism has always been evident in American journalism, this practice is becoming more frequent among cable broadcasters as the industry responds to growing economic pressures. This essay examines ideological coverage to determine whether it meets journalistic duties, such as veracity, and if it can facilitate a deliberative democracy. Additionally, the essay outlines guidelines that allow for ethical, ideological reporting.
The real skinny on food in the media: Ethical shortfalls of covering and marketing food to an ever expanding nation • Temple Northup, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Meghan Sherrill, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill • Consumers deciding what food to purchase are faced with thousands of options at the typical grocery store. In order to help make decisions, the media can be used as a source of information: from advertisers, marketers, and journalists. Through a series of cases studies, this paper critically analyzes the role of the media in misinforming the public about the healthfulness of certain food, thereby playing a contributing role in the growing obesity epidemic.
“Can We Be Funny?”: The Social Responsibility of Political Humor • Jason Peifer, Saint Louis University • Probing the vague boundaries and constraints commonly placed on humor, this essay considers the responsibilities and duties that can guide political humor. Working within a deontological paradigm, this essay establishes the relevance of ethics within society’s political humor and considers the importance of ethical humor. Moreover, this study points to Christians and Nordenstreng’s model of global social responsibility theory as providing a promising framework for orienting ethical political humor.
The Ethics of the ESRB: Social Responsibility Theory and Video Games • Severin Poirot, University of Oklahoma • The video game industry is a multimillion-dollar industry, which reaches millions of customers a day. While there is a variety of research available on the subject, there is little dealing with the ethics of video game content. Using the social responsibility theory of the press, this paper conducts an ethical analysis of the video game industry. Specifically the history and purpose of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a self-imposed video game rating system, is discussed. Using the principles of the theory the ESRB appears to meet the requirements of social responsibility. Future research is suggested to further explore the ethical implications of video game content.
Neuroethics, Moral Development and Media: An Emotional War Over Reason • Rhema Zlaten • Neurobiology provides a unique perspective to the moral development process of media professionals and challenges current prevalent theories of ethical evolution. Neurological firings initiate an ethical response, which is then carried out and fostered by character development and experience. Several fields, namely psychology and sociology, have utilized this brain data to consider a full range of human behaviors from the inside out. There is a shortage of similar applications to the media and communication fields, and the viewpoint of neuroscience creates a theoretical challenge to the cognitive level theories that drive current media research, particularly to the areas of moral development and normative theory.
Special Call: Methods for Media Ethics Research
Press Apologias: A New Paradigm for the New Transparency? • Sandra Borden, Western Michigan University • This paper examines the requirements for ethical press apologias, defined as attempts to defend credibility when accused of ethical failure. Facing changing transparency expectations, apologists may fail to fully respond to injured stakeholders. Criticisms of CBS News’ flawed report on President Bush’s National Guard service illustrated this problem. Hearit and Borden’s (2005) paradigm for ethical apologia is applied to “RatherGate” to see if and where the paradigmatic criteria fell short. A revised paradigm is proposed.
The Psychology of Plagiarism • Norman Lewis, University of Florida; Bu Zhong, Penn State University • Journalists and writers have often wondered if plagiarism, an ethical taboo, has a psychological element. Two studies to test that informal hypothesis revealed that plagiarists are remarkably similar to their non-copying peers in Big Five personality traits. However, the two groups differ in a scale that measures integrity on a continuum between principles and expediency. The results show that journalistic plagiarism has more in common with a “normal” accident than with a troubled mind.
Dissecting Press Ethics: A Methodological Evaluation of the Discipline • Jenn Burleson Mackay, Virginia Tech • This paper explores trends in journalistic ethics research. The researcher shows areas where additional research is warranted. Most scholars have relied on essays or surveys to study journalistic ethics. While researchers frequently have analyzed newspaper ethics, scholars have failed to thoroughly study broadcast journalism or new media ethics. Researchers have placed little emphasis on studying audience perceptions of journalistic ethics. The author suggests that triangulation would improve the literature in this discipline.
AEJMC Code of Ethics Research
Statement on Professionalism
(March 2021)
AEJMC members share a common responsibility for maintaining collegial relationships inspired by high standards for professional behavior. Civility in words and behaviors are rooted in AEJMC values of accountability, fidelity and truth telling, justice, and caring – which include but exceed politeness alone. All communications (written, spoken or physical acts) related to the research competition — including but not limited to the submission of papers, abstracts, nominations and proposals — should be respectful and civil. All associated with these processes should not succumb to potential negative effects linked to anonymity or social media online identity that may contribute to incivility and manifest in bullying, direct or indirect threats, or other destructive behaviors. Thus, disagreements should be handled in a civil manner. All efforts to resolve disputes related to the research competition should occur through the division, interest group, or commission to which the paper, abstract or proposal was submitted. Authors should exhaust all levels of the relevant group’s chain of command before bringing an issue to the Elected Standing Committee on Research (SCR). The SCR will be the ultimate arbiter of research competition decisions. While we respect freedom of speech, we also expect professionalism. Abusive, threatening or intimidating communications directed toward division, interest group or commission officers for issues related to the research competition may result in suspension or being barred from submitting to a division or to the annual AEJMC conference.
Statement Approved by the Standing Committee on Research, March 2021
Recommended Ethical Research Guidelines for AEJMC Members(1)
Unanimously Approved by the Standing Committee on Research, August 11, 2005
Preamble
Every aspect of research must be guided by ethical research standards. It is the responsibility of AEJMC members to follow ethical research standards when designing, conducting, analyzing, publishing, and supervising research studies. In the fields of journalism and mass communication, research studies may be conducted on humans or their artifacts. Research methodologies involving humans may include surveys, experiments, participant observation, depth interviews, or focus groups while research studies that focus on artifacts of humans might include methods such as content analysis, textual analysis, or unobtrusive observation.
If Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval is required for human subjects research, it is the responsibility of AEJMC members to follow the guidelines of their university’s IRB. It is important to emphasize, though, that these guidelines should not include the practice of journalism. Because the practice of journalism, due to its First Amendment protection and separate ethics codes, is different from the federal government’s definition of research involving human subjects2, IRB review of news gathering procedures should be inappropriate. It is important to keep in mind that IRB’s are primarily concerned with the treatment of human subjects, but human participants represent only one, albeit important, component of a research study. Once IRB approval is received, it does not absolve AEJMC members from following ethical standards for other aspects of research studies. Ethical standards apply to AEJMC members conducting or supervising research studies as well as journal editors, editorial boards, research chairs, and reviewers.
I. Plagiarism and conflict of interest violate ethical research standards.
AEJMC members must never plagiarize nor take credit for another individual’s work, whether published or not. AEJMC members must accurately and fully document sources for ideas, words, and pictures. Research studies must be designed free of conflict of interest; studies tailored to produce an outcome consistent with the interests of a funding sponsor, institution, or research agenda are in breach of ethical research standards.
II. Knowingly causing harm to research participants is unethical.
In addition to adhering to a university’s IRB requirements that protect human research participants, AEJMC members must treat all research participants with respect, fairness, and integrity, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender, religion, culture, or sexual orientation. Actions that may cause harm include but are not limited to: coercing participation in a research study; disclosing information that the researcher has promised will remain confidential; failing to secure informed consent from participants in experimental studies; failing to debrief participants at the conclusion of an experiment; failing to disclose in advance that participants will be observed or taped; failing to warn participants in advance that they will be queried about sexually explicit or illegal behavior.
III. Data collection, processing, and analysis must be undertaken with integrity.
AEJMC members must make every effort to safeguard the integrity of the research data from collection through analysis. It is unethical to fabricate data. Likewise, concealing data that do not support hypotheses, a research agenda, or a funding sponsor’s goals is unethical.
IV. Research studies must be reported accurately and objectively.
The research report must accurately represent the study’s purpose, procedures, and results. It is unethical to exclude information about research procedures that may influence the validity or interpretation of results. Procedures for selecting participants for a survey, experiment or focus group or media content for a content analysis must be explained fully. Sample size, response rate, question wording, inter-coder reliability, weighting, analyses of sub-samples, and recoding of data must be reported accurately and completely. Finally, slanting the writing of a research study to produce an outcome that is inconsistent with the results or to satisfy an outside sponsor or to make consistent with a research agenda, is unethical. If the author ever discovers an error in the study after the article is submitted, accepted, or published, the author must immediately inform the journal’s editor.
V. Authorship credit must be fair, accurate, and without conflict of interest.
An author is involved in conceiving, designing, conducting, and writing a research study. The first author usually has primary responsibility for most components of a study. Although co-authors contribute to a study, the co-author credit often means less involvement than the first author. In cases where the contribution of co-authors is truly equal, which author gets listed first can be determined alphabetically, randomly, or by some other method acceptable to the authors. When three or more authors contribute to a study, the order of authors’ names should be consistent with the level of involvement for each author, ranging from most to least involved.
Although the results of a Standing Committee on Research survey of AEJMC members suggested the membership is split on the ethics of faculty co-authorship of a student dissertation or thesis, the Standing Committee recognizes the potential for conflict of interest in publications produced from student work.3 Faculty should never pressure graduate students for co-author credit and graduate students should always acknowledge the contributions of faculty advisors to their scholarly publications.
VI. Submit original work for publication.
AEJMC members should only submit manuscripts representing original work and not work that has been published elsewhere or work that is a re-write of previously published articles. It is the responsibility of the author to inform editors when manuscripts are based on dissertations or theses.
Because multiple and simultaneous submission policies vary by disciplines, it is imperative that editors and research chairs publish submission guidelines. Disregarding editorial policies on multiple and simultaneous submissions is unethical.
VII. Ethical research principles should guide the supervision of students and mentoring of junior faculty.
AEJMC members are responsible for ensuring that the students they supervise and junior faculty they mentor follow ethical research standards. Furthermore, AEJMC members must be sensitive to the potential for conflicts of interests and breaches of ethical research standards when advising students and junior faculty on research matters. Faculty should not pressure students to select certain dissertation topics; students and junior faculty should not feel obligated to give undeserved co-author credit to faculty advisors or mentors. Demanding undeserved credit for work done by a student or junior faculty member is unethical.
VIII. Ethical research standards should guide the handling of manuscripts by editors, editorial boards, research chairs, and reviewers.
Manuscripts must be handled with confidentiality and integrity during every phase of the editorial review process. Without exception, authors’ manuscripts must be evaluated objectively on the quality of work, not on personal preferences, hidden agendas, or politics. Additionally, AEJMC members who are editors and reviewers should follow American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines when handling manuscripts: “Editors and reviewers may not use the material from an unpublished manuscript to advance their own or others’ work without the author’s consent.”4
Notes
(1)The idea of writing Guidelines for Ethical Research for AEJMC members was conceived in Kansas City during the meeting of the Standing Committee on Research at the 2003 convention. After discussing the results of a 2003 ethical research survey of AEJMC members that found evidence of violations of research ethics, the research committee decided to develop ethical research principles that could be adopted by the organization as a whole. Members of the 2002-2003 Standing Committee on Research included: Linda Steiner (Chair), Alison Alexander, Tsan-Kuo Chang, Jack Dvorak, Michael Real, Mary Alice Shaver, Elizabeth Toth, Sandra Utt, and Paula Poindexter who conducted the ethical research survey and drafted the guidelines. The draft guidelines reflected Standing Committee on Research member concerns, results of the ethical research survey of AEJMC members, ethical standards emphasized in research textbooks, journals, and publications from the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the American Psychological Association (APA), and Institutional Review Board (IRB) requirements. The draft ethical research guidelines were first reviewed and discussed with the 2003-2004 research committee during the 2004 convention in Toronto. The 2004-2005 research committee further discussed revisions during the mid-winter meeting in San Antonio. The final version of “Recommended Ethical Research Guidelines for AEJMC Members” was unanimously approved by the 2004-2005 Standing Committee on Research which included the following members: Elizabeth Toth (Chair), Alison Alexander, Julie Andsager, David Domke, Carolyn Kitch, David Mindich, Michael Shapiro, Don Stacks, and Paula Poindexter who spearheaded the initiative to write ethical research guidelines for AEJMC members.
(2)Research means a systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. <http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.htm#46.102>
(3)Paula M. Poindexter, “Ethical Issues and Dirty Little Secrets in Journalism and Mass Communication Research.” Results of the AEJMC member survey presented at the Plenary Session on “Ethics in Research and Teaching,” AEJMC Annual Convention, Kansas City, MO, July 31, 2003.
(4)American Psychological Association, “Ethics of Scientific Publication” in Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (5th ed.) (Washington DC: American Psychological Association, 2001) p. 355
References
American Association for Public Opinion Research, Best Practices for Survey and Public Opinion Research and Survey Practices AAPOR Condemns. Ann Arbor, MI: American Association for Public Opinion Research, May 1997.
American Psychological Association, “Ethical Standards for the Reporting and Publishing of Scientific Information” in Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.) (Washington DC: American Psychological Association, 2001) 387-396
American Psychological Association, “Ethics of Scientific Publication” in Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (5th ed.) (Washington DC: American Psychological Association, 2001) 348-355.
Babbie, Earl, The Practice of Social Research, (7th ed.) (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company) 448-457.
The Belmont Report <http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/Belmont.html>retrieved 31 July 2004.
Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health Office for Protection from Research Risks, Code of Federal Regulations: Title 45 Public Welfare, Part 46, Protection of Human Subjects. <http://ohrp.osophs.dhhs.gov/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.html> retrieved 29 June 2004.
Historical Perspectives on Human Subject Research, UT Training Model, Part I <http://www.utexas.edu/research/rsc/training/3.html>retrieved 31 July 2004.
Poindexter, Paula M., “Ethical Issues and Dirty Little Secrets in Journalism and Mass Communication Research.” Results of the AEJMC member survey presented at the Plenary Session on “Ethics in Research and Teaching,” AEJMC Annual Convention, Kansas City, MO, July 31, 2003.
Poindexter, Paula M. and Maxwell E. McCombs, Research in Mass Communication: A Practical Guide (NY: Bedford/St. Martin’s), 364-368.
Schiff, Frederick and Michael Ryan, “Ethical Problems in Advising Theses and Dissertations,” Journalism & Mass Communication Educator 51 (spring 1996): 23-35.
Stempell III, Guido H. and Bruce H. Westley, eds., Research Methods in Mass Communication (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1981) 117-118, 255-257, 387-388.
Wimmer, Roger D. and Joseph R. Dominick, Mass Media Research: An Introduction, (4th ed.) (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company) 399-411.
AEJMC Code of Ethics Teaching
A Code of Ethics for Teaching Journalism and Mass Communication
(Submitted by the Standing Committee on Teaching Standards, AEJMC, Dec. 5, 2005)
Preamble
Journalism and mass communication educators, believing in the worth and dignity of each human being, recognize the supreme importance of the pursuit of truth, devotion to excellence and the nurture of democratic principles — especially the nurture of freedom of expression. They recognize the magnitude of the responsibility inherent in the teaching process.
(adapted from NEA Code of Ethics, 1975)
1. Respect for the Autonomy of Others.
Journalism and mass communication educators:
- respect individual learners, their development and their learning needs;
- value freedom of expression — and appropriate, respectful reactions to ideas and opinions expressed;
- acknowledge the rights of students, faculty and staff to make their own decisions as long as their decisions do not interfere with the welfare or rights of others;
- value academic freedom, of students as well as colleagues;
- foster student discovery, rather than indoctrination.
2. Minimizing Harm.
Journalism and mass communication educators:
- engage in relationships with students and colleagues that are not exploitative;
- seek consultation when ethical problems arise;
- attempt to mitigate any injurious effects of bias in their work;
- convey personal ideology or positions in respectful ways;
- do not mandate social or political behavior in their students;
- do not tolerate, even passively, unethical behavior on the part of colleagues or students.
3. Benefits to Students and Colleagues.
Journalism and mass communication educators:
- accept responsibility for their part in student welfare and development;
- deliver the services to which students are entitled (e.g. dependable performance in teaching, advising);
- whenever appropriate, acknowledge assistance from students or colleagues;
- recognize and attempt to fulfill their role as exemplars, both in scholarship and in ethical behavior.
4. Fairness and Equity.
Journalism and mass communication educators:
- treat others as they would wish to be treated under similar circumstances;
- maintain fair and judicious practices when evaluating students or colleagues;
- pursue sanctions for academic misconduct only after gathering thorough evidence.
- advocate and practice non-discrimination in all aspects of teaching.
5. Fidelity and Honesty.
Journalism and mass communication educators:
- exhibit truthfulness and keep promises in their dealings with students and colleagues;
- demand and foster honest academic conduct;
- label their own opinions as such and expect others to do the same;
- avoid conflicts of interest and other behavior that would reduce others’ trust in the faculty or academic profession;
- display openness in dealing with students, colleagues and the public;
- use procedures for informed consent whenever applicable.
6. Dignity.
Journalism and mass communication educators:
- accord dignity to students and colleagues;
- respect the confidential nature of the student-instructor relationship;
- respect diversity in all its forms.
7. Caring.
Journalism and mass communication educators:
- exercise institutional duties with care;
- extend compassion and sensitivity to the greatest extent possible toward students and colleagues.
8. Pursuit of Excellence.
Journalism and mass communication educators:
- maintain their own competence, in both their subject and in their pedagogy;
- engage in continued reflection and evaluation — and are committed to consequent improvement of their own practice;
- engage in continuous professional development by learning and adopting new instructional methods and strategies;
- are open to criticism and new ideas, from students and colleagues, yet do not succumb immediately to any suggestion;
- take pride in their work and encourage students and colleagues to do the same.
9. Commitment to the Learning Community.
Journalism and mass communication educators:
- are collegial with colleagues, staff and students;
- maintain an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning.
10. Opportunity.
Journalism and mass communication educators are committed to greater participation in higher education in journalism and mass communication, and especially committed to equality of educational opportunity.
AEJMC Code of Ethics PF&R
Recommended Ethical Professional Freedom & Responsibility Guidelines
Preamble
Professional freedom and responsibility encompasses research, teaching and service and is related to AEJMC members’ interaction with the media professions through preparation of students for media careers, research examining media roles and responsibilities, and service to the professions through engagement and training. Service in support of professional freedom and responsibility is an essential expectation of every member of AEJMC. Members should work in support of the principles of professional freedom and responsibility within this organization, at their home institutions, and in society at large.
I. Free expression should be nurtured and protected at all levels.
AEJMC members should promote and protect free expression, particularly freedom of speech and freedom of the press. AEJMC members should work to improve the understanding of free expression intellectually, historically and legally. They should also work to implement this freedom in the broadest sense: within the organization, on their campuses, in their communities, and nationally. Free expression is a fundamental right and responsibility; AEJMC members should serve as the voice and support of free expression on their campuses and in their communities whenever that right is threatened. AEJMC as an organization should establish and maintain a position as an advocate of free expression with regional and national authorities that seek to limit this right.
II. Ethical behavior should be supported and promoted at all times.
AEJMC members should seek the highest ethical standards possible through education, research and service. Ethical concerns include such topics as individual privacy, confidentiality, conflict of interest, sensationalism, truthtelling, deception and social justice. AEJMC members should also act ethically with regard to their dealings with students and colleagues, avoiding any appearance of impropriety or unfair treatment.
III. Media criticism and accountability should be fostered.
AEJMC members should conduct and/or encourage their students to conduct constructive evaluation of the professional marketplace. AEJMC members should work with practitioners and industry watchdog groups to inspire media analysis and foster media accountability. AEJMC members should act as media critics on their campuses and within their communities. AEJMC as an organization should promote the recognition and reward of effective media criticism, and should provide a voice in regional and national discussions of media accountability.
IV. Racial, gender and cultural inclusiveness should be encouraged and recognized.
AEJMC members should work to make certain that racial, gender and cultural inclusiveness are included in curricula and focused on in institutional hiring decisions. The work of women and minorities should be represented in the curriculum; efforts should be made to include segments of the population historically excluded from public communication because of lack of opportunity. Within AEJMC, divisions and interest groups that show marked success in embracing racial, gender and cultural inclusiveness should be identified and, whenever possible, rewarded. AEJMC as an organization should collaborate with other media organizations that promote diversity and should provide a voice in regional and national discussions in this area.
V. Public service contributions should be expected of all AEJMC members.
AEJMC members have a mandate to serve society beyond their teaching and research. AEJMC members should offer services related to their appropriate professional fields, particularly activities that enhance understanding among media educators, professionals and the general public. AEJMC members should assist the organization, other media organizations, and media practitioners.
VI. AEJMC programs and faculty should make every effort to insure equal opportunity for students to enter student contests.
Preference and special coaching should not be offered to individuals singled out by faculty. The effort to win contests should not have undo influence over curriculum or the way in which student publications of broadcasts are staffed or structured.
AEJMC Code of Ethics
Preamble and the Core Values
AEJMC Code of Ethics
Overall Preamble: AEJMC members are educators, scholars, and advocates of free and responsible journalism and media, and free inquiry in pursuit of knowledge. We are committed to fulfilling our responsibilities with high standards of professional competence and integrity in the service of our discipline, peers, students, institutions, and society. We adhere to the following core values:
- ACCOUNTABILITY. AEJMC members act with openness and transparency in our scholarship, teaching, and service roles.
- FIDELITY AND TRUTH TELLING. AEJMC members value honesty, promise-keeping, and faithfulness to our discipline and stakeholders.
- JUSTICE. AEJMC members strive for fairness, impartiality, and distributive justice in our relationships with peers, students, and other stakeholders. We celebrate and promote diversity.
- CARING. AEJMC members act with respect, sensitivity, consideration of others, compassion, and mercy. We try to protect others from abuse and coercion.
In Research
Preamble: AEJMC members follow ethical research standards as researchers, in designing, conducting, analyzing research; when publishing research; as reviewers, referees, and editors; and as teachers, including when teaching methods and supervising studies. As researchers, AEJMC members are committed to:
Accountability. AEJMC members accurately and fully document sources for ideas, words, and pictures. We never plagiarize or take credit for another individual’s work, whether published or not, nor do we ever fabricate data. We safeguard the integrity of research data and report accurately and fully a study’s purpose, procedures, and results. Authors inform editors when manuscripts are based on dissertations or theses. Researchers who discover errors after an article is submitted, accepted, or published immediately inform the journal’s editor.
As editors, reviewers, referees, and research chairs, AEJMC members handle manuscripts with confidentiality and integrity during every phase of the review process. We evaluate manuscripts without reference to our personal preferences or political agendas. We do not use the material from unpublished manuscripts to advance our work; as editors, we ensure that authors whose work we are publishing conform to ethical standards Because multiple and simultaneous submission policies vary by disciplines, AEJMC editors and research chairs make submission guidelines public.
Fidelity and truth telling. AEJMC members submit to journals manuscripts representing original work, not work that has been published elsewhere. AEJMC members design our work to be free of conflict of interest, and we ensure that the conclusions of our work are consistent with the data we find. We inform subjects of our status as researchers. We do not tailor studies to produce outcomes consistent with interests of funding sponsors or institutions, nor do we conceal data or slant the writing of a study to satisfy an outside sponsor or funding agency.
Justice. AEJMC members acknowledge co-authorship credit fairly and accurately, such that the order of co-authors’ names is consistent with the level of involvement for each coauthor. When the contribution of co-authors is truly equal, we agree on and explain the order for listing co-authors.
Caring. AEJMC members protect research participants; treat all research participants with respect, fairness, and integrity, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender, religion, culture, or sexual orientation. We ensure that participants provide informed consent and that participation in research is not coerced; keep promises regarding confidential information.
In Teaching
Preamble: AEJMC members believe in the worth and dignity of each human being, recognize the supreme importance of the pursuit of truth, devotion to excellence and the nurture of democratic principles — especially the nurture of freedom of expression. We recognize the magnitude of the ethical responsibilities inherent in the teaching process. As teachers, AEJMC members are committed to:
Accountability. AEJMC members respect the autonomy of others, including of individual learners, their development and their learning needs. We acknowledge the rights of students, faculty, and staff to make their own decisions as long as their decisions do not interfere with the welfare or rights of others.
AEJMC members are accountable to students and colleagues, accepting responsibility for our part in student welfare and development. We deliver the services to which students are entitled (e.g. dependable performance in teaching, advising); whenever appropriate, we acknowledge assistance from students or colleagues. We recognize and attempt to fulfill our role as exemplars, both in scholarship and in ethical behavior, and ensure that ethical principles guide the supervision of students and mentoring of junior faculty. We do not tolerate, even passively, unethical behavior on the part of colleagues or students. Simultaneously, we are collegial with colleagues, staff, and students, and promote environments conducive to teaching and learning; we do not involve students in faculty conflicts.
Fidelity and truth telling. AEJMC members exhibit honesty and keep promises to students and colleagues. We demand and foster ethical academic conduct; avoid conflicts of interest and other behavior that would reduce others’ trust in the faculty or academic profession; display openness in dealing with students, colleagues, and the public. We use procedures for informed consent whenever applicable.
We value academic freedom and freedom of expression as well as appropriate, respectful reactions to ideas and opinions expressed by students as well as colleagues; we label our own opinions as such and expect others to do the same. We foster student discovery, rather than indoctrination.
Justice. AEJMC members are committed to fairness and equity. We treat others as we would wish to be treated under similar circumstances; maintain fair and judicious practices when evaluating students or colleagues; pursue sanctions for academic misconduct only after gathering thorough evidence; advocate and practice non-discrimination in all aspects of teaching. We accord dignity to students and colleagues; respect the confidential nature of the student-instructor relationship; respect diversity in all its forms. We are committed to extended participation in higher education in journalism and mass communication, and especially to equality of educational opportunity.
Caring. AEJMC members seek to minimize harm. We engage in relationships with students and colleagues that are not exploitative; do not coerce students to select our favored dissertation and thesis topics, or give undeserved co-author credit; seek consultation when ethical problems arise; and attempt to mitigate any injurious effects of bias in our work. We convey personal ideology or positions in respectful ways; and do not manipulate or coerce social or political behavior in our students. We exercise institutional duties with care, extending compassion and sensitivity to the greatest extent possible toward students and colleagues.
AEJMC members pursue excellence. We engage in continued reflection, evaluation, and improvement in both our subject and in pedagogy. We engage in continuous professional development by learning and adopting new instructional methods and strategies; are open to criticism and new ideas from students and colleagues; take pride in our work and encourage students and colleagues to do the same.
In Professional Freedom & Responsibility
Preamble: Professional freedom and responsibility encompasses research, teaching, and service. This is related to AEJMC members’ interaction with the media professions through preparation of students for media careers, research examining media roles and responsibilities, and service to the professions through engagement and training. Service in support of professional freedom and responsibility is an essential expectation of every AEJMC member. Members work in support of the principles of professional freedom and responsibility within this organization, at our home institutions, and in society at large. As ethical researchers, teachers, and citizens, AEJMC members are committed to:
Accountability. AEJMC members conduct (and encourage students to conduct) constructive evaluation of the professional marketplace. We work with practitioners and industry watchdog groups to inspire media analysis, to foster media accountability, and to promote attention to ethics in journalism and other forms of mass communication. We act as media critics on our campuses and within our communities.
Fidelity and truth telling. AEJMC members nurture, promote, and protect free expression, particularly freedom of speech and freedom of the press, at all levels and at all times. AEJMC members work to improve the understanding of free expression intellectually, historically, and legally. We also work to implement this freedom in the broadest sense: within organizations, on campuses, in our communities, and nationally and globally. Free expression is a fundamental right. When that right is threatened, we act on our ethical obligation to serve as the voice and support of free expression on our campuses and communities.
Justice. AEJMC members work to ensure that racial, gender, and cultural inclusiveness are included in curricula, considered during hiring decisions, and taken seriously by media organizations with which we collaborate. We encourage AEJMC divisions and interest groups to embrace racial, gender, and cultural inclusiveness and include populations historically excluded from public communication.
Caring. AEJMC members have a mandate to serve society beyond our teaching and research. We offer services related to our appropriate professional fields, particularly activities that enhance understanding among media educators, professionals, and the general public. We assist AEJMC, other media organizations, and media practitioners.
