Think It Through: the Clearer Thinking Podcast Episode 29: Ethics in Journalism: an Interview with Eunette Gentry
In this episode, April talks to Dr. Eunette Gentry about the public's lack of trust in the press and why we should have more faith in journalists and reporters. It's about codes of ethics, people!
Episode 29 Show Notes
This Gallup poll shows the low percentage of trust that the public has in the media: https://news.gallup.com/poll/394817/media-confidence-ratings-record-lows.aspx
Here's the article about the press as the "Fourth Estate:" https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-fourth-estate-3368058
Marianne Jennings' great article on journalistic ethics: https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/the-evolutionand-devolutionof-journalistic-ethics/
The First Amendment Encyclopedia's article on "yellow journalism:" https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1253/yellow-journalism
Aiden White's article on the origins of ethical journalism: https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/journalism-ethics
This fascinating webpage is the Public Affairs page of the US Diplomatic Mission to Germany, and goes into the history of media ethics in the US: https://usa.usembassy.de/media-ethics.htm#:~:text=%E2%80%A2%20Yahoo%20-%20Media%20Ethics%20and%20Accountability%20The,accelerating%20the%20U.S.%20exit%20from%20an%20unpopular%20war
The Associated Press Managing Editors Code of Ethics: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/j6075/edit/ethiccodes/APME.html#:~:text=Associated%20Press%20Managing%20Editors%20CODE%20OF%20ETHICS%20This,or%20who%20influence%2C%20news%20coverage%20and%20editorial%20policy.
The Society of Professional Journalist's Code of Ethics: https://www.spj.org/pdf/spj-code-of-ethics.pdf
Ethics codes from many journalistic sources can be found here: https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~rcollins/431ethics/codes.htm#:~:text=Professional%20Codes%20of%20Ethics%20American%20Society%20of%20Newspaper,and%20renamed%20%22Statement%20of%20Principles%22%20in%201975.%20PREAMBLE.
The Philippe Perebinossoff Ethics Rubric:
EVALUATE --The ethical situation needs to be examined in a number of different ways, not just from a single perspective.
TRUTH --Make sure you have a clear definition of the facts as well as a definition that can be agreed upon by others.
HARM--Consider what harm is likely to ensue from a given action. Real-world situations are involved, and media rumors can ruin lives.
INVESTIGATION--Investigation involves going beyond a cursory review, and digging deep to gather the necessary information.
CODE OF ETHICS--Codes provide valuable guidelines that can facilitate ethical decision making.
SITUATIONAL ETHICS--Approach issues on a case-by-case basis that allows you to adjust ethical beliefs t