Modul Mata Kuliah Journalisme Online - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

None of this would have been possible had online journalism jettisoned the values of traditional
journalism and embraced a Drudge-like mindset of looser standards in which a reporter is obligated to
pass along any rumor or accusation that comes across his desk, without verifying its veracity.
If they're to remain relevant in our increasingly digital society, online news operations need to
experiment with new communication forms, to abandon the sheltered mindset of newsroom
professionals and embrace a culture of true interactivity, to break some rules and offer idiosyncratic,
fresh voices (especially young voices) to the public. But they must not abandon the standards of
fairness, balance and trustworthiness that have served us so well.
In the end, journalists — both print and online — must never forget that, ultimately, we're in the
business of truth-telling, that service to our community is an essential underpinning of our craft, that
our guiding principle should be less about getting the story first than getting it right, and that no amount
of advertising dollars will rescue a news site that abandons its credibility.
J.D. Lasica is senior columnist for the Online Journalism Review and served as editorial director of two
Internet startups.
Ethical Issues in Online Journalism
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=13007&sid=32
12:00 AM Feb. 10, 2000
Team Members: Jim Brown, John Garcia, Stephen Miller, Robin Palley
The following points derive from a discussion about what we ought to be doing in online journalism,
recognizing that everyday business pressures are often challenges to these principles. Nevertheless, the
principles are desirable goals for behavior.
General
Ethical standards for online journalism are no different than traditional journalism.
Data obtained through first amendment privilege (lower cost than offered to other businesses
or individuals) should not be resold at a profit.
Beware of novel attempts to influence content that are particular to the medium such as polling
that may be influenced by activity on listservs or people who enter chat rooms with the intent to
sell products.
Standards for the intersection of content and commerce are still evolving but the credibility of
content must not be compromised.
Organizational structure should not impede the process of doing good journalism. News staff
should report to news management.
Content
A sponsor should never control content.
There should be no influence of advertising on editorial content. Often, one person synthesizes
information from site metrics and feedback from users. That person often makes decisions
related to both business concerns and editorial content. Such persons must clearly understand
the inherent conflict of interest. Their role is clearly analogous to that of a publisher.
There should be textual and visual standards for differentiating content and advertisements.