Ethics and Journalism

1. Ethics and Journalism November 10, 2008

2. Election Night Coverage • What did you watch/read view? • Who did the best? • What did you want to change?

3. Ethical Issues of Campaign? • Exit polls? • Calling the election? • Sarah Palin coverage?

4. Syllabus Changes • Monday, Nov. 17 Privacy II: Working with law enforcement Rosemary Daly • Monday November 24 Citizen Journalists Josh Benton

5. Your Next Paper: Due Nov. 22 What is due: A memo 800 words long What you will need: Editor’s assignment memo, Ethics code posted on web What I’m looking for: A thoughtful response to an editor’s proposal. What issues does this idea raise? What potential problems? What does the paper’s ethics code suggest is the right or wrong way to handle the problem. What do other papers do?

6. How Do We Grade • Content: Have you answered the big questions? Is it interesting and important? • Form: Have you explained your ideas in a way that is coherent to your editor, colleagues and readers? • Accuracy: Is your grammar and spelling correct? Are your sentences complete?

7. Blogging? • Content: Is it interesting? Relevant to our blog's focus? Timely, current? • Quality and relevance of the link(s) you included in the post (don't post excessive numbers of links, or you will lose points) • Mechanics (grammar, spelling, punctuation and AP style) • Rambling, redundant writing is not going to appeal to any audience. Get to the point.

8. “Ethics in the Virtual Swamp? “Reinforcing Journalism Ethics Across the Technical Divide?” “Out of Our Control?”

9. CyberJournalist’s Blogger Guidelines Bloggers should be honest and fair in gathering, reporting and interpreting information. • Never plagiarize. • Make certain that Weblog entries, quotations, headlines, photos and all other content do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context. • Never distort the content of photos without disclosing what has been changed. Image enhancement is only acceptable for for technical clarity. Label montages and photo illustrations. • Never publish information they know is inaccurate -- and if publishing questionable information, make it clear it's in doubt. • Distinguish between advocacy, commentary and factual information. Distinguish factual information and commentary from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two. • Identify and link to sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources' reliability.

10. OJR’s Ethical Guidelines • No plagiarism • Disclose, disclose, disclose Check it out, then tell the truth • Be honest • Don’t take money or gifts

11. Trouble Areas • Linking • Delineating fact and opinion • Plagiarism/The right to copy? • Comments/Collaboration • Corrections • The fallacy of speed • The economics of traffic

12. To Link or Not to Link? • Is the content relevant to someone reading the article? • Does it include content that could potentially fall within the real of libel or slander? • Does it fall outside the standards of your site? Should you notify readers of profanity, nudity etc? • Do you explain how much confidence you have?

13. Collaborative ReportingSaving Journalism So It Can Save the World “The key to continuing journalism — to maintaining a democratic republic, no less — is learning how to work with and for the audience. How to take their contributions and incorporate them into reporting. How to use them as fact checkers and idea generators. How to cope with cut-to-the-bone newsroom staffing by inviting the community to help you (journalists) do what’s right, do what must be done to ensure that the public has the information it needs.”

14. Deluge Shuts Down Post Blog Ombudsman's Column Had Sparked Profane Responses

15. U-Turn on H Street If you were eight blocks past uncertainty, three steps from neglect, five houses down from hope, and you just saw a white man with ear buds rollerblading past a crack house without looking up, would you know what street you were on in the City? By DeNeen L. BrownWashington Post Staff Writer • A white woman and a little white girl are walking west on H Street Northeast, the 1300 block. Behind them, three black men are walking, not far behind, but close enough to invade their space, as if there is such a thing as personal space on a public sidewalk in the middle of a sunny Saturday afternoon. • Three invisible men, residents who lived in the meantime, the in-between years when this street was desolate, neglected by the city, when some white people would not be caught walking in this block of H Street.

17. Does anonymity in the web threaten journalism?

18. Fact and Opinion • Should journalists blog? • What should be the tone? • How “personal” can a journalist’s blog be? • Can reporters go back and forth from commentator to even-handed journalists?

19. Corrections • How far will we go to “correct” material? • Append correction? • Remove from website? What journalistic purpose is served by keeping the article in the archive? • Options: Retain content, delete all or part, re-report the story, provide opportunity for person to respond within the story?