Although there are certain legal restraints on publicizing private information, most decisions are made on the basis of ethics rather than law.
A three-step template, weighing the value of the information to the public against the degree of harm to the subject, can aid decision-making in privacy cases.
Reporting situations in which privacy is central to decision-making.
Case Study: Tracing the Source of Web Comments
Case Study: Identifying a 13-Year-Old Rape Victim
18 Making Decisions About Offensive Content
The conflict between reflecting reality and respecting the audience
Journalists often have to decide whether to publish or broadcast content that could offend a significant element of the audience.
Offensive content falls into three categories: perceived insensitivity, offensive words, and offensive images.
A two-step process can help you make decisions, weighing the content’s news value against how offensive it is.
Although the internet empowers the audience to be heard, news organizations are struggling to find ways to curb incivility, and some are discontinuing online comments.
Case Study: A Vulgar List in the News
Case Study: A Killer Records a Video of His Murders
19 Deception: A Risky, Controversial Tool
When values collide: Lying while seeking the truth
To decide whether to use a deceptive reporting practice, you first must acknowledge the deceit and not rationalize it.
Before engaging in undercover reporting - pretending to be someone else you must meet exacting standards.
There are other situations, short of undercover, in which journalists could deceive or could be perceived as deceiving.
There is a consensus in the profession that a journalist should never deceive the audience or the journalists colleagues.
Point of View: The Truth About Deception (Brooke Kroeger)
Case Study: Rumsfeld’s Q&A With the Troops
Case Study: Spying on the Mayor in a Chat Room
20 Ethics Issues in Visual and Audio Journalism
Seeking truth with the camera or microphone while minimizing harm
The public, aware how easy digital manipulation can be, must be able to trust the truthfulness of the news media’s photography and audio reports.
News organizations have adopted standards to ensure the integrity of their photography and audio reports.
The success of podcasts has created a new opportunity for audio journalism where ethics standards are still being formulated.
Recognizing that some news photography can offend the audience, journalists weigh its news value against the likely offense.
A number of news organizations are reducing their use of police arrest portraits because of fairness concerns.
The use of aerial drones for news photography is increasing, and ethics guidelines are being put in place to protect privacy and safety.
Case Study: The Falling Man, World Trade Center, 2001
Case Study: Photographing a Man Pushed to His Death
21 Stolen Words and Invented Facts
Dishonesty can kill a career in journalism
Plagiarism and fabrication are morally wrong. Plagiarism is stealing the creative work of another. Fabrication is making things up and presenting them as fact.
The offenses of plagiarism and fabrication destroy journalism’s credibility and cost offenders their jobs and their careers.
Committing illegal acts is unacceptable in the pursuit of news.
Following sound work practices can help you avoid any hint of impropriety.
Newsroom leaders have a duty to establish clear rules about journalistic misconduct and to enforce them.
22 The Business of Producing Journalism
Seeking financial stability in a turbulent era of transition
Technological and economic transition has caused tensions in today’s news media.
More people are getting their news digitally, but online sites are struggling to find stable sources of revenue.
Although advertisers have historically paid for news coverage, consumers are now being asked to pay for digital subscriptions.
Native advertising has found a home on news websites, where stringent rules are needed to protect integrity of news content.
The business and news executives of media companies frequently have a strained relationship, mainly because their cultures are so different.
Case Study: Sharing Ad Profits, Creating a Crisis
Thoughts to Take With You
Glossary
Index
Foreword
By Philip B. Corbett
The writer is associate managing editor for standards of The New York Times.
It feels like ancient history, but it wasn’t so long ago that our whole job in the newsroom of The New York Times was to put out the print paper once a day. It seemed hard at the time – unforgiving deadlines, lots of stress and pounding on keyboards. Now, looking back, I wonder what we actually did all day. One print edition every 24 hours? Sounds pretty cushy.
Everything’s different now, for The Times and every other news organization. A daily print paper, yes, many newsrooms still do that. But now we also have minute-by-minute digital deadlines, 24 hours a day. Constant social media posting on an ever-expanding range of platforms. Video. Audio. Interactive graphics. Live chats. Newsletters. Every day, it seems, brings a new journalistic tool, and every innovation brings new questions about journalistic standards and ethics.
What’s appropriate for a journalist to post on Twitter, and what’s off limits? Are there different standards for corrections on breaking-news alerts? What are the anonymity rules for podcast interviews? Do reporters always have to identify themselves on Facebook? Are tools like facial-recognition technology fair game for journalists? Does Google change how we think about archived stories?
It can feel deeply disorienting. But even as the journalistic ground shifts under our feet, it’s crucial to remember this: The most important parts of our work are not changing at all.
Get the facts right. Be fair and empathetic. Guard your independence. When it’s time to hit “publish,” tell your readers, viewers and listeners the truth, as best you can.
This book explores those fundamental principles and how to apply them, whether in traditional stories or new formats. You’ll wrestle with how to balance a subject’s right to privacy with a reader’s right to know. You’ll think hard about whether your personal views might skew your reporting, and how to cultivate sources while guarding your independence. You’ll consider whether your empathy as a person ever conflicts with your obligations as a journalist.