Journalism Ethics Training
About this Lesson
Assistant Professor,
Journalism Studies,
Missouri School of Journalism,
University of Missouri
Journalists make important decisions every day of their professional careers. How do they make those decisions? How should they make those decisions? These are the things that ethics is concerned with – how we make choices when faced with an ethical dilemma. This module explores some of the issues relevant to journalism ethics, and outlines a nine-step process for journalistic decision-making.
What you will learn
After completing this unit, you should have a basic understanding of:
- What a “true” ethical dilemma is
- The difference between ethics and law
- Different approaches to ethical decision-making
- How to make journalistic decisions about ethics based on consideration of duties
How the lesson works
First of all, this is an asynchronous lesson unit, which means no live events are scheduled for this lesson. You can complete learning activities at your own pace whenever is convenient for you. Despite the asynchronous nature, the learning tasks are organized to help you succeed.
To be successful in this unit, please complete the following tasks:
• Watch the lecture.
• Take the quiz to test your own understanding. This will help you to strengthen the concepts you just learned.
• Optional: Due to the amount of content to be covered in a single unit, we encourage you read these additional resources. Some of the quiz questions might come from the readings in Additional Resources section.
Watch the Lecture
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Take the Quiz
Direction: Some of the questions might from the readings in Additional Resources below
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Lesson Resources
Lecture Script: Download it here
Printable Quiz: Journalism Ethics
ASNE Classroom Resources
Additional Resources
Kristen Hare, Poynter: “ONA debuts a Build Your Own Ethics Code platform”
Online News Association (ONA), “Build Your Own Ethics Code” project
Society of Professional Journalists: “SPJ Code of Ethics”
Society of Professional Journalists: “Other Codes of Ethics”
National Scholastic Press Association: “Model Code of Ethics for High School Journalists”
Randy Swinkle, ASNE’s Youth Journalism Initiative: “Sticky Ethics Scenarios Journalists Face”
Maggie Cogar: “Teaching Journalism Ethics: A Resource for Scholastic Media Advisers”
John Bowen, Quill & Scroll: “Online Ethics Guidelines for Student Media”
Dani Kass, Student Press Law Center: “Protections Inconsistent for Student Journalists Who Withhold Names of Sources”
Allison Gens, Media Ethics and Society: “Avoiding Conflicts of Interest as a Student Journalist”
John Long, National Press Photographers Association: “Potter Box Teaches Loyalty”
Kelly McBride and Tom Rosenstiel, Poynter: “Truth & Trust in Media Ethics”
Ethics case studies resources for teaching ethics through case studies are available through:
- SPJ Ethics Case Studies
- The Case Consortium at Columbia University
- Sheila Coronel, Steve Coll, & Derek Kravitz, Rolling Stone: “Rolling Stone and UVA: The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Report” The Columbia University report on Rolling Stone’s campus sexual assault story.