Ethics

Is chequebook journalism resurfacing? Check out CBC Ombudsman Kirk LaPointe's blog, themediamanager.com, which highlights two recent cases in the States. In one case, ABC paid a woman who received texts from congressman Anthony Weiner, and in another payments were made to a woman who had been held captive for 18 years in California. Both The New York Times and Poynter weighed in on the issue.

What happens when you put dozens of public editors from around the world into the same room? Plenty of fascinating discussion on ethics, lessons learned, and the changing media landscape. We joined the ombuds in Montreal and live-blogged the event.

For all the fuss over presidential re-dos and digital fakery, Anne McNeilly writes that the tougher questions around truth in photojournalism are sometimes also the subtlest. 

Where is the line between the personal and the professional when journalists interact with social media?  In its latest report, released April 12, the Canadian Association of Journalists' ethics advisory committee presents guidelines to help journalists think through their Facebook profiles, their "following" choices, and what to "like" and "not like" online. Reporters should build "a social media profile that is both personable and professional" by trying to stay impartial on public issues, being transparent about identity and intentions, and monitoring digital associates with care. The report, was authored by University of King's College professor Tim Currie (chair), media lawyer Burt Bruser and Windsor Star business/news editor Ellen van Wageningen.