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Journalism Ethics: The Global Debate
withholding the identity of an accident
victim until next of kin has been
notified. But decide we must. And we
must do it in time to meet our
deadline.
8. Be able to explain your
decision.
This step is sometimes called the
“front page test.” If all our reasons for
making the decision in a certain way
were to be revealed on the front page
of the newspaper, would we make the
same decision? Is there anything
about our motives, our reasoning that
we would be embarrassed about if
they were revealed? This does not
mean that we necessarily burden our
readers with such explanations in
every case. It does mean that we
should ask ourselves whether public
disclosure would be a factor in how
we decide, and that we should decide
as if we were going to explain fully
what we did and why we did it. The
most responsible newspapers and
media organizations often do this as
more than an academic exercise.
They appoint a writer sometimes
given a special independent status as
“ombudsman” to write about the
media organization from the inside,
questioning, critiquing and explaining
issues of ethics and journalistic
standards.
An Ethical Checklist
Below you will find an ethical
“checklist” first published in the
popular book, Doing Ethics in
Journalism: A Handbook with Case
Studies, by Jay Black, Bob Steele and
Ralph Barney. The checklist—10
questions to ask yourself when
confronted with an ethical problem—
provides guidance to help you make
sound ethical choices. The checklist is
reprinted here with permission.
Ask Good Questions to
Make Good Ethical
Decisions
1. What do I know? What do I need
to know?
2. What is my journalistic purpose?
3. What are my ethical concerns?
4. What organizational policies and
professional guidelines should I
consider?
5. How can I include other people,
with different perspectives and
diverse ideas, in the decisionmaking
process?
6. Who are the stakeholders (that is,
those people who are affected by
my decision)? What are their
motivations? Which are
legitimate?
7. What if the roles were reversed?
How would I feel if I were in the
shoes of one of the stakeholders?
8. What are the possible
consequences of my actions?
Short term? Long term?
9. What are my alternatives to
maximize my truth-telling
responsibility and minimize harm?
10. Can I clearly and fully justify my
thinking and my decision? To my
colleagues? To the stakeholders?
To the public?
International Center for Journalists