Ethics
Impartiality and objectivity as bloodless norms is an absurd caricature, argues Stephen J.A. Ward in the latest issue of Media magazine, with an intro from editor David McKie
The current changes in journalism have brought many new ethical challenges, but they’re also changing the idea of ethics itself, according to Stephen J. A. Ward.
No one likes covering a suicide. The publicity may add pain at a time of grieving, and can, experts fear, push other suicidal people over the age. But for Stephen J. A. Ward, the question is how -- not whether -- painful facts should be reported.
In today's rapidly changing media environment, many journalism schools are getting creative when it comes to teaching journalism -- and no subject is more tricky than ethics. J-Source contributing editor Stephen J.A. Ward asks: Whither objectivity? This article originally appeared on PBS MediaShift.
Journalists who add their own fierce opinions to political discourse have every right to do so, writes Stephen J.A. Ward, but it's "deliberative" commentators who serve a democracy best.Last week, two prominent US columnists called for the death of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. This knee-jerk patriotism -- that loving your country means not embarrassing your government -- undermines the power of a free press, Stephen J.A. Ward writes. But for some journalists, "national security" trumps independent reporting.The question “Should the media cover a little-known pastor’s Koran-burning plan?” has been widely debated. Stephen J.A. Ward
asks a larger question: "How is news selected?" He offers guidelines to
help editors respond responsibly to a Terry Jones and a soon-to-follow
host of copycats. Whistleblowing can afflict the comfortable, but can also do more harm than good, Stephen Ward writes. When will sites like WikiLeaks produce a code of ethics?
Ward's Words
Journalism ethics column by Stephen J.A. Ward, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
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