Media Ethics
The ethics of reporting on sensitive
documents and classified
information
Journalism 430/Communication Law
California State University, Long Beach
Gwen Shaffer, PhD
“Ethics requires that intelligence fuse with
intuition, that the process be internalized,
and that decisions be made quickly and
naturally.”
- Rushworth Kidder, founder
Institute for Global Ethics
Journalists face ethical dilemmas daily
 All journalists have is their integrity and their
reputations.
 Our profession relies on audiences believing in
the truth and accuracy in our stories.
 Journalists can engage in behavior that is
perfectly legal, but that is distinct from the
question of whether the behavior is ethical.
Perception v. reality

Just 21 percent of Americans rated
journalists’ ethics as “high” or “very high” in a
2013 Gallup poll.
However, journalistic standards are higher than
ever.
 Bloggers are now watchdogs of the press. Most
news organizations adhere to a code of ethics that
restrict journalists from certain behavior.

Excerpts from the Journalists Creed (by former Missouri
School of Journalism Dean Walter Williams)
 I believe in the profession of journalism.
 I believe that the public journal is a public trust.
 I believe that clear thinking, clear statement,
accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good
journalism.
 I believe that suppression of the news, for any
consideration other than the welfare of society, is
indefensible.
Codes of ethics
 A set of standards adopted by a professional
organization or industry to guide its members.
Specific codes are held by:
 Professional associations like the American
Society of Newspaper Editors and the Society of
Professional Journalists.
 Media organizations like the Associated Press and
the Los Angeles News Group.
 Individual media outlets like the L.A.Times.
Three primary ethical philosophies
 Each answers the fundamental question, does
the end justify the means?
 No, yes, maybe…
 How one answers the question indicates
his/her ethical perspective.
Ethical philosophies
 If you answered NO
 You are an absolutist
 If you answered YES you are a relativist.
 If you answered MAYBE you subscribe to
situational ethics.
Absolutism—Ethics of duty
 The end never justifies the means.
 i.e. Lying is wrong.
 One’s duty is to do the right thing.
 Identify rules/principles and always follow
them.
Absolutism applied to journalism
 The duty of the journalist is to report the news.
 Main concern is whether an event is newsworthy.
 High value on justice and what is right.
 How information is obtained is important.
 Focused on message
 If journalists worried about possible
consequences of reporting something, they
would never report anything--Walter Cronkite
Categorical Imperative
 Developed by Immanuel Kant.
 18th Century German philosopher.
 “…human knowledge rely upon a priori
judgments.”
 Act on the maxim you wish to become
universal law.
Pragmatism
 Popularized by John Dewey.
 20th century educator and philosopher
 Human purposes are derived from wants
and needs.
 Judge actions by their results.
 Try to determine appropriate action by
anticipating probable outcome.
Ethical relativism
 Ethical standards depend on the individual,
the group, the culture, tradition, background
 American culture attempts to treat men and
women as equals, while people in other countries
may view gender differently.
 Argument against: Just because one class of
individuals does something, doesn't mean it's
right.
Relativism applied to journalism
 Purpose of reporting:
 To be a watchdog and monitor government.
 To keep the public informed.
 Looks at motivations of people involved.
 i.e. A reporter concealing her identity in order to
obtain information is justified, if the story benefits
the public.
Situation ethics
 Whether end justifies means depends on the
situation.
 i.e.: Deception is justifiable in particular
circumstances.
 Moral principles are relative to the situation.
 It is okay to break rules if the situation requires it.
DETERMINER: Antinomianism
 Every situation is unique and must be
assessed independently.
 No moral absolutes exist.
DETERMINER: Deontelics
 Developed by journalism scholar and ethicist
John Merrill.
 combined deontology & teleology
 To act responsibly.
 Some acts are by nature unethical and some may
vary.
 Truth is paramount and lying is almost always
unethical.
 Principles may need to be violated for greater
good.
DETERMINER: Veils of Ignorance
 Developed by political theorist John Rawl.
 Treat everyone the same
 Ignore biases of race, gender, age, etc.
 Purposefully conceal social or economic status
when looking at people
 Articles may treat celebrities or pubic officials
more harshly than private individuals.
 Splashing a headline on the front page when the
mayor’s daughter is arrested for drug possession.
DETERMINER: Golden Rule
 “Do unto others…”
 Biblical/religious precept
 Love they neighbor.
 Popularized by Joseph Fletcher
 Set aside ethical principles if needed to “love”
others
 Dilemma between value of individual versus
the community at large.
DETERMINER: Utilitarianism
 Popularized by John Stuart Mills
 19th Century British philosopher and political
economist (On Liberty)
 “Seek the greatest happiness for the greatest
number…”
 Places public good over private good.
 Possibly harmful to minorities and
individuals, who are sacrificed for the
majority.
Determiner: Golden mean
 Developed by Aristotle, a 322
BC Greek philosopher and
student of Plato.
 Rationale moral position that avoids extremes.
 Moderation and balance
 i.e. Journalistic practice of reporting tragic events
without offending victims or those involved.
Situational journalism
 Values reflect how journalists would want to be
treated.
 Reporting practices are determined by each
unique situation and known information.
 Do whatever is best for the public.
 Any exception should benefit the least advantaged.
Ethical challenges facing journalists
Ethical limits on free speech
 Publishing information may be legal, while still
being unethical
 Libel and indecency
 Accuracy
 Fairness
 Confidentiality
Ethical dilemmas facing media
 Sensationalism
 Overplaying issues and situations
 Focusing on most salacious points
 Commercialism
 Prioritizing profits over reporting the news
 Focus on dramatic
 Sacrificing news value for ratings
 Press release journalism
 Allowing PR professionals to influence stories
Conflict of interest by accepting
gifts or money from sources
 Accepting gifts or meals (of any monetary
value) from sources.
 Junkets: free trips/travel with the expectation
reporters will write about the experience.
 Society of Professional Journalists’ policy
 Nothing of value shall be accepted
 But…who determines whether an item or
act has value?
Accepting gifts from sources (cont.)
 Accepting “outside” payment from a source
 Doing promotional work for “sources”
 The San Jose Mercury News prohibits
reporters from owning stock in local
companies.
 Hundreds of tech companies are based in the
Silicon Valley (i.e. Apple, Cisco, Netflix, eBay,
Facebook, Adobe, Google, Yahoo!)
 Should reporters cover a story involving a business
or company in which they have a financial stake?
Checkbook journalism
 Paying sources for an interview, photos, video, etc.
 Tabloid journalism and shows like TMZ routinely
practice this.
 Do media outlets have a responsibility to reveal
payment to the audience?
Personal relationships
 Relying on friends as sources.
 Reporting or suppressing news after being
influenced by a friend or relative.
Covering stories associated with one’s own life
 Reporters must disclose memberships,
investments, affiliations, etc.
 News organizations typically prohibit reporters
from participating in politics (i.e. attending a
protest, campaigning for a candidate).
 Reporting on issues or events that overlap with a
journalist’s personal life weaken the journalist’s
credibility. Even if no bias exists, the perception of
bias does exist.
Invasion of privacy
 Intruding on a person’s private affairs or
disclosing private information about a person.
 The conflict involves the public’s right to know
versus the story subject’s right to privacy.
 Neither are Constitutional guarantees.
 Newsworthiness can conflict with a person’s
right to privacy.
Naming survivors of sexual assault
 Nearly all newsrooms have official policies
barring the publication or broadcast of sexual
assault victims names.
 But two Supreme Court decisions make it
nearly impossible for a plaintiff to win a suit
against the media for doing so.
 Do you believe publishing the name of a sexual
assault survivor re-victimizes that person?
Naming juvenile offenders
 Newsrooms typically have policies barring this
information from being published or
broadcast.
 The rationale is that young people make mistakes
and should have an opportunity to turn-around
their lives.
Witholding information from the public
 Not publishing known information
 By choice (perhaps because of personal values or
beliefs.
 By request (i.e. police investigating a crime, to
protect a source).
Plagiarism
 Using another’s work without attribution.
 Lifting content from a newspaper or other
publication, and presenting it as own original
reporting.
 Fabricating quotes or other information.
Deception
Using deceptive reporting techniques, including:
 Lying to a source.
 Misrepresenting yourself.
 i.e. Dateline producers in the Food Lion case
 Using hidden devices for recording video or
audio.
 Stealing documents.
Solving ethical dilmmas
Potter box
FACTS
LOYALTIES
VALUES
PRINCIPLES
Understanding the facts
 Discuss all the facts of the case with those
involved in making the decision.
 What are the facts?
Outlining values
 What is valued by those making the decisions?
 How does this impact the ethical decision?
 When an idea or principle is valued, it means
one is willing to give up something for it.
The Bok Model
1) Consult your own conscience – about the “rightness” of an
action.
How do you feel about the action?
2) Seek expert advice – for alternatives to the act creating the
ethical problem.
Is there another way to achieve the same goal that will not
raise ethical issues?
3) Conduct a public discussion – with the parties involved in
the dispute. If they cannot be gathered, conduct the
discussion hypothetically.
How will others respond to the proposed act?
9 checkpoints for ethical decisionmaking (Kidder)
1) Recognize that there is a moral issue – What
is the true ethical dilemma?
2) Determine the actor – Whose moral or ethical
issue is it?
3) Gather the relevant facts – What are the
important facts for the ethical dilemma?
4) Test for right versus wrong issues – Is there a
clearly right or wrong answer?
9 checkpoints (cont.)
5) Test for right versus right paradigms – What
sort of dilemma is this?
(truth vs. loyalty, self vs. community, short-term
vs. long-term or justice vs. mercy)
6) Apply the resolution principles – What are
some of the possible resolutions to the
dilemma?
(Use Aristotle’s Golden Mean, Kant’s Categorical
Imperative and Utilitarianism to reason)
9 checkpoints (cont.)
7) Investigate the “trilemma” options – Is there a
third way through this dilemma?
8) Make the decision – After applying
checkpoints #1-7, what is the best possible
resolution?
9) Revisit and reflect on the decision – After the
decision was made and the consequences
have occurred, ask was this the best decision?
References
Christians, C., Fackler, M., Richardson, K., Kreshel, P., & Woods, R. (2015). Media ethics and moral
reasoning (9th edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Hinman, L. (2014). Ethical theories: A very brief overview.
http://ethics.sandiego.edu/presentations/AppliedEthics/Theory/Overview.pdf
Libin, S. (November 25, 2014). Leading beyond “both sides.” Poynter Institute.
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/leadership-management/30467/leading-beyond-both-sides/
The Nine Checkpoints:
Kidder, R. (1995). How good people make tough choices. New York: Morrow.
The Potter Box & The Bok Model –
Wilkins, L., & Patterson, P. (2008). Media ethics: Issues and cases. (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher
Education.
Rich, C. (2013). Writing and reporting news: A coaching method. Chapter 15, Media Ethics.