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Ethics-1 Weekly assignments Each of these topics is assigned to or requested by up to two students. The two students may take different aspects of each assignment, after meeting with each other and mutually deciding on which aspect to cover. Each student writes a five-page paper on the topic in general and his/her aspect in particular, based in part on the links below each topic. You should find other sources of information, especially published books. The links provided are merely to introduce you to the topic and get some ideas of what has been written about it. It is your responsibility to enlarge the subject by finding many new references.

The professor highly recommends that you physically visit the Alexander Library and go to the stacks where the Journal of Mass Media Ethics is located. You may also access articles via http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/ but you ought to cite from this publication at least once, using a full MLA style citation. You cannot use Wikipedia or similar websites that are not reputable. Sites must be university sites or sites that are clearly scholarly in nature.You can also cite credible media sites.

Then two to three weeks later, each of the two students will present an oral report on his/her aspect of the issue. You may use PowerPoint or similar programs, or you may hand out notes. Each student should have a one-page list of questions and salient notes about his/her aspect to be handed out to each member of the class at the beginning of the talk. Keep the oral presentation to 9-1/2 minutes, with five minutes for Q-and-A. You will be penalized if your talk runs under 7-1/2 minutes or goes over 9-1/2 minutes. Being able to meet this time constraint indicates that you not only know your subject but that you have practiced your talk to meet the time requirements. It is crucial that both students on each topic know the full topic, not just the "half" that they chose. That way, their papers and talks will show their well-rounded knowledge of the topic.

These links are purely to get you started. Each subheading has a link above it, and some of the descriptions have additional links within the description. Follow them all, and read them all. You should find plenty of other sources, including working journalists, whom you are to interview (at least two, preferably three) for your paper. You do not have to include their comments in your talk. Ask them what they would do in the situation you are examining. Please report all broken links to the instructor via email.

1. Ethics in journalism during wartime

Journalism in wartime
What should journalists know about how to deal with life-and-death problems as well as political interference during wartime? And how does photojournalism fit in during the digital age?
Practical problems
What did one journalist do when confronted with these issues?
Questions we need to ask
What are some questions we should ask ourselves?
Links, Vietnam and embedding
What does the Committee of Concerned Journalists think about the subject? And don't forget this lesson from Vietnam. What do some journalism thinkers feel abut the concept of embedding? Also, see why reporters have had to flee their country because of what they wrote.

3. What do John Stuart Mill and John Locke tell us about ethics?

John Stuart Mill background
This tells you a little about the philosopher's beliefs.
John Locke
This tells you the background and beliefs of Locke.
Another Locke link
More on Locke
Linking Locke to journalism
This writer shows how journalists can learn from Locke.
Making Mill relevant
This is a chapter from a book that analyzes Mill's ideas in journalistic terms.

5. Concepts of Postmodernism and Postpositivism

What is postmodernism?
You hear people mention it. Now find out what it is.
Link after link on postmodernism
This is a collection of links about postmodernism. You should follow many of the links and read the articles.
What is the relationship between postmodernism and postpositivism?
The two philosophies are actually quite different, but some believe they are complementary.
Relating it to journalism
If journalism is supposed to be positivist, why do we need to know about post-positivism, and how do they relate to telling the truth? Did the case of Chauncey Bailey prove one way or the other that news should be positivist or postpositivist?
The Enlightenment
Concerns itself with Descartes and the concept of modernism.
End of Days
It's a religious concept, but it bears importantly on journalism, and how to cover the religious right. Here is the Jewish point of view. And here is an article that relates end of days to journalism.

7. Fabricating news, plagiarizing, and lying

Faking photos
John Kerry got it in the face for this piece of fakery.
Jayson Blair
This is one story about Jayson Blair (his own, actually). You can find more from him here. Another one is here. Note that Blair, who scandalized the New York Times, is now working as something called a "life coach." Is that appropriate in your opinion? A key issue is how much responsibility did the New York Times bear?
Mike Barnicle
Here was a longtime columnist for the Boston Globe suddenly accused of faking the news. Follow all the links. At this link, you an find a more dispassionate description of Barnicle.
Janet Cooke
She wrote "Jimmy's World" and won a Pulitzer. Then this happened. Ms. Cook is such a famous fabricator (liar) that her "papers" are available online. Click on this link to discover that she has such a lousy name in journalism that papers written by others for submission as students' own work are called "Janet cooke papers.. Here is the background of the case, as seen from today's viewpoint.
Clifford Irving
First read the summary, then read about the movie (or see it if you can, maybe even show a clip). This pdf file puts Irving into a category of famous liars and hoaxes.
Famous plagiarists
This gives you a whole list of plagiarists and liars, and what they did to deserve membership on this list.

9. Freud vs Jung

Compare the two
Compare the two and draw some conclusions regarding journalism. First try looking at how they both saw dreams. Then read some analysis.
Mythology and the Unbomber
Start with a comparison of how Jung and Freud saw mythology, and how it relates to journalism. See what the Unabomber, who saw himself as the perfect scientist, thought of the two
Archetypes and motifs
This PDF traces the origins of Jung's beliefs in archetypes. This article brings together the concepts of archetypes and relates them to ethics, the purpose of this course.
How should journalists react?
This gives a good summary from Rutgers of Jung's life and beliefs. Draw some conclusions about how journalists should consider individual events in their decisions on how to deal with ethics. This short article may help you.

11. Big business in journalism

Murdoch, the Times, and everything else
Begin with Rupert Murdoch. Next, look at a what the New York Times is doing to stay even. Does cable news govern the rest of journalism? While you're at it, find out which of these companies own the media world. You may find very few companies own very many media.
Internet news and big business
Is the "enemy" not the way news is distributed but how news in an internet age is gathered? In any case, big business is considered a major threat to journalism. So is Public Relations (PR). See why.
Don't read; listen on your MP3 player
Listen to this MP3 to see what one man's view is about business in journalism. And here is an interesting interview about the future of newspapers.
What's happening around the world
Russia has learned that controlling the media is the best policy.
Circulation wars
Is "flat" the new "up"? Read this to find out. Read this analysis of how magazines and newspapers compete with the internet. (Consider the source).

13. Legal issues related to journalism

Watching the law
Subpoenas can be a headache. In general legal issues are something all journalists need to know.
New York Times vs. Sullivan
This is the famous New York Times vs. Sullivan case. It defined journalism for many years. Download the various opinions on the case from this site. Here's a little background. And this pdf article brings you up-to-date 40 years after the case was decided.
Legal Background
Start with the First Amendment. Then read this media-related case and be prepared to discuss it. Move on to free speech and terrorism. Read about stereotypes in the media and legal terminology.
Current legal issues
Start reading some of the current journalism legal cases. Then, go to this site and read some of the cases listed along the right-hand side of the page. Don't forget web issues. (You'll have to click on the various links to read all that is there). Finally, this page is a story about an online legal media guide. Click on the link and go to the various states (try New Jersey for one) to read about current legal issues and the media.

15. Accountability

News councils a good idea?
Your book talks about news councils. What is the in-the-field experience? Don't forget the rules of news councils. Go through the Minnesota news council's records for more in-depth information.
News council redux
This link explores one person's experiences. Here is a more general report.
Poor reporting can cost lives.
Major newspapers seem to be taking blame for Iraq. Should they? Click on this links to learn more about how journalists can be reckless. And this one to see how journalists can get it all wrong. The Associated Press came out for "accountability journalism." Is it a good idea?
Primer on accountability
This will give you background on accountability. And this will criticize it.
Bad reporter, no quotes for you
How bad are reporters in campaigns? And what aare the ground rules. Read this article to see what reporters should be doing, but aren't. (Make sure you click to read the whole document). Should news judgments be made on the basis of most popular stories?

17. Is it possible for journalists to be compassionate?

Tips on compassion
This author says it's more than "being nice." Here are some examples of lack of compassion. What did the greats say about compassion?
Compassion in all its forms
Read some of this book online to find out if there is such a things as compassion fatigue. Then learn how it relates to citizen journalism. This guy calls it a meta-skill.
Compassion as it works in the real world
More here about compassion fatigue. And here are some definitions you should explain to the class. And what is the politics of compassion?
Real cases
This is from a journalism student. This says that compassion is similar to outrage. here is the viewpoint of a Washington Post reporter. Where is the line separating compassion from loss of integrity?

19. How the press handles presidential scandal

"Follow me," he said. Oops.
Gary Hart was very unfazed about suspicions he was having an affair during the lead-up to the 1988 presidential campaign. Here is a backgrounder on the controversy. Here is what happened to Donna Rice. Here is an interview with the man himself. And finally, another, deeper backgrounder.
JFK's pretty mob girl
It's kind of strange to start with the death of the lover, but this article give you a good idea of who Judith Exner was. Here is a list of some of her boyfriends. Read this deep backgrounder from a Google group. If you feel like picking up her autobiography, try this link. This is a weird story that links JFK's administration to Nazis, but it has good information about the affair.
What's "giving a Lewinsky"?
This one starts with a play-by-play. Of course, Monica Lewinsky was the key person in the impeachment of Bill Clinton. (Follow the links in that article) Read Clinton's testimony. Listen to Clinton defending himself. Read what one author wrote about the affair -- and the media.
How come it took the National Enquirer to break the John Edwards story?
This is a collection of links about the affair. Read a blog about it. What does a student newspaper think abut it? Here is the newspaper that broke the story. How come no one else picked it up until very late? Here's one answer.

21. The Culture Wars

What is it and why is it everywhere?
So why do people who put up sites about the Culture Wars say things like it's so hard to define or it's easy to define politically but not dispassionately? It is almost always related to something. For instance, try the 2008 presidential election. Sarah Palin made a career out of it.
Around the corner; around the world
People get so mad about the culture wars. What are they saying? For instance, Bill O'Reilly.
Religion to Twitter
The Mormons have a major place in the culture wars, especially when it comes to tracing family trees. People use the term to mean a whole bunch of new things.
Should we move on?
How have the culture wars affected investigative journalism? A blogger thinks the culture wars are embedded into, of all things, Wal-Mart. Finally, here's a good analysis.

23. Is supporting open government an ethical issue?

Does government have the same ethics?
Where is the line between governing and communicating? How does Twitter fit in?
Technology and ethics
Does technology change the rules about open government?
N.J.'s Sunshine Law
What does this scholar at Rutgers-Newark think ought to be done to reform New Jersey's Sunshine Law? Read all of it.
Obama's open government policy
This directive from Barack Obama lays down a policy different from President Bush's policy about open government. Compare the two. Is Obama's policy very much different from Bush's?

25. News Councils

Where it all started
What are these things called news councils? Can you be arrested and thrown in jail for writing something someone doesn't like? Or are they more benign than that? Read this site thoroughly; it is Ground Zero of news councils. Why did the journalists of Minnesota think news councils were necessary, and why did they close their doors? Were they ineffective or was it just because of lack of cash?
Univ. of Minnesota view
This is a rather interesting analysis of news councils and how they worked.
Washington News Council
This one is still functioning. What can you discover from this site that is different from the Minnesota news council?
American Journalism Review
This article analyzes news councils and draws some conclusions about their relevancy.
Facebook page
Here is the Facebook page of the Minnesota News Council. What can you glean from the postings?

27. Comparing Codes of Ethics

LA Times
This PDF of the LA Times' code of ethics was recently rewritten. What is new in it, what is different from SPJ's Code of Ethics, and other media?
New York Times
This is perhaps the heaviest code of journalism ethics in the world -- heavy in pages. Go through it to find parts that might surprise the average journalism student.
Radio Television Digital News Association
How do radio, TV, and online ethics differ from print, and, most import, why?
Univ. of Southern California
This scholarly analysis discusses trends in ethics, and how they affect the working journalist. Develop points you can impart to your fellow students.
University of Indiana
This description of journalism ethics helps us to frame where we stand as neophyte journalists about to enter the field.

29. Alien and Sedition Acts

Read the laws
These two acts are part of a group of laws that allowed the government to toss out of the country aliens almost at will -- and to punish journalists for criticizing the government.
Yale Law School interpretation
This site puts the two laws into the context of many years of laws that led up to the Alien and Sedition Acts.
John Adams' bio
Read about Adams' life, and how these two laws fit in to his concept of democracy.
U.S. Patriot Act
Passed under George W. Bush after 9/11, this law has been highly criticized as a latter-day Alien And Sedition Act. Why? Compare the two. Find out if there are aspects of the original laws that can be found in the 21st century version.
Analysis
This is from a writer from the University of Nebraska who analyzes the Patriot Act.
Cheat sheet -- sort of
This comparison of the two acts helps you to understand the relationship.

2. Getting funny at others' expense

Making fun of Mohammad
What happens when a cartoonist holds the founder of Islam to the same levels of criticism as any political or religious leader?
Making fun of Arabs in general
Some cartoonists treat Arabs and their religion in a humorous way.
Background of the controversy
This link gives a good fill-in and history of the issue.
What happens when it's Jews?
This link shows another side to this issue.
John Stewart, the Arabs and terrorism
What was it like before the Daily Show, and where is fake news headed? Is it possible that blogs will help the Arab world to enter the 21st century -- and should it? Has the war on terrorism blunted our sense of humor (this is a pdf)?

4. Ethical basis of the Potter Box, Kant and Rawls

What are some considerations of *when* we shoot and *what* we publish?
This is a short chapter from a book that examines some of the photojournalism issues.
What is the relationship between Kant and public journalism?
This compares Kant's philosophy with the more recent concept of using journalism as a community builder.
Kant in practical application
What are the real-life considerations we need to know to understand how Kant applies?
John Rawls' veil
Here is a lot more detail about Rawls' beliefs than is shown in our textbook.

6. Diversity and good taste

Report on minority hiring
This is a report on the newspaper industry's efforts to increase minorities in the newsroom. Notice on the left-hand side the state-by-state run-down of minority hiring by newspapers. Make sure you check the record of New Jersey's newspapers.
Racism background
This is a series of links that defines racism of all sorts. And this article gives a lot of background about racism.
What do we mean by "good taste"?
This article tries to give some examples of where journalists need to know what their audiences think of as good taste.
One real-life case
This tells about a question of good taste. You should find more cases to illustrate.
Russian ethics
How do journalism ethics in Russia differ from ethics in the U.S.?
Bias in the media, especially as it concerns drug use
You will find here some good ticking points about newsroom bias in general and drug-use bias specifically.

8. Reporters' sources

Judith Miller
Did she stand up for journalism, or was she a crummy tool of the Washington establishment? Here's her version of it. How did SPJ get in the middle of it?
Care and feeding of sources
What is the relationship between journalist and source? Here are some rules for the road. What is all this stuff about qualified privilege and here is a treasure chest of links on the topic.
Some fast rules
This will give you some tips on what to do.
Embedding reporters
Does embedding reporters in war mean secretly positioning them among the soldiers or literally "emBEDding" them so that they are figuratively sleeping with their sources?
Dealing with touchy sources
It is important to maintain distance between you and your source. And how do you deal with victims? Should we use gruesome pictures? Should we interview juveniles? Is it okay to break the law to get a story?

10. Sources

Sources examples
This is one site that presents a situation worth discussing. We also have issues relating to Barack Obama, as well as pregnant girls, and what it means to tell someone else's story.
Getting way too close
Is it possible that news story was actually written by the source itself? This critical article tells about "To Catch a Predator." How close is the course to the news organization?
Communities are just people
How connected are journalists to the communities they cover?
The First Amendment and the FCC's role
This pdf is a survey on the First Amendment. How do Americans feel about journalists' freedom? Also, read about how the FCC has controlled indecency and see if you agree with the agency.

12. Technology's effect on ethics

Journalism in the mirror
Is the fact that John McCain doesn't text-message disqualify him for president? Does reporting by a hand-held device improve your ethics? And will it make money?
Change in a strange world
Some journalists find technology opens new vistas. Change brings new challenges.
What the experts say
A recent symposium gave a good background report on what technology is doing to journalism. And experts are also looking into the next phase of journalism: location-based journalism. And don't forget that it will become harder and harder to see who exactly IS a journalist in the future. How does that affect our ethical judgments?
Will technology save us?
We depend on technology for an awful lot. Will it be able to maintain journalism as we know it? Some say yes, but others are pessimistic.

14. Celebrities and ethics

Covering celebrities is different.
This link opens a section of covering celebrities. Don't forget to read why we cover celebrities. This one is about paparazzi. It's long but very good. And this one is a radio script about the issue.
Some cases
Start with how Michael Jackson was treated. Are we supposed to "out" gay celebrities?
Celebrity news issues
Do we balance celebrity news with more serious news? Do you agree that the Associated Press should ramp up its celebrity coverage? What's the public say?
Silly and serious
This link lists 25 celebrity scandals. PIck two or three and tell whether you think journalism in general treated the celebrity ethically. But then read this more serious article.
Odds and ends -- but important ones
Start with this short article. Then read about this professor's point of view. what about celebrity CEO's? Somebody wrote a book on Kobe Bryant. What can you get from it? To find it, go to the Rutgers Library website, log in if you are off campus, and search Iris for Off the Record: a reporter unveils the celebrity worlds of Hollywood, hip hop, and sports by Allison Samuels. And what about OJ?

16. Issues about privacy

Basics
What is privacy? After reading that, follow these links to learn more about the law. Then go through this website to learn about current privacy issues.
Journalism tools
Start with the photographer's guide to privacy. The learn how to avoid privacy law suits. Then start reading about the issues.
Handbook and issues
This first link is from the Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press. It is an excellent handbook on journalism privacy. This link gives you some insight in electronic surveillance. This link is a series of blogs on the issue of privacy.
Is privacy compatible with journalism?
Begin with this white paper. Then take a look at this international point of view. Then answer this question: Does Google enable journalists to invade people's privacy? (Don't skip the links in the article that explain the full story). Finally, look through some of these links to see actual real-world cases.

18. Accepting freebies

Upside/downside
Who loses when writers get things for free (freebies)? Here's another example. This is an English article indicating what you can accept for free. Do you agree with it?
Specialties
Read the whole article on medical journalism and freebies -- who gets hurts? Then read how, in India, the rules are quite different. In which parts of journalism is it accepted?
Pro-freebie and anti-freebie
This blogger thinks freebies are okay for bloggers. This writer takes the opposite viewpoint. And sometimes freebies are even formalized.
World and local views
Indian journalists wrestle with this problem. Other Indian journalists deal with it here (watch out for pop-up windows on this site). Here, a lot of journalists give their position on freebies.

20. What are the ethics of sports?

Sports isn't just about sports
It's also about politics, money, and the way journalists treat the players, coaches, and athletic directors. Here is commentary on the Seattle Times series. This blog gets into the money involved. This page discusses some of the problems inherent in sports journalism.
It's not only a game.
Are sports journalists merely super fans who figured out a way to get into the game for free? And once they're in, should they be required to become walking billboards for the team?
What are the rules?
Take this real life situation. See if you can find any relationship in this article or in this one.
Everyone has an opinion.
Do sports reporters need some sort of written guidance beyond the standard ethics codes? This writer thinks so. Then read chapter 7 of this book which explain sports ethics as it relates to the Olympics.

22. How does sports compare to news?

Are the ethics the same?
When we compare news to sports, why don't we always get the same answers to ethical questions?
Sports law and ethics
This blogger reports on the latest sports ethical questions. Read the blog — and read the links.
Semen spraying incident
Would the story of a man who sprayed 5 women with his semen at a sporting event make the news as a regular news story if it happened elsewhere? Or is sports uniquely looking for such "hype"?
How are sports reporters supposed to act when personalities are ridiculous?
Is wearing the cap of an opposing team so important? How do sports reporters react to issues like that? Or should they?
Why is ethics so important in sports?
What does the NCAA leader think of the issue? Make sure you read all the links at the bottom.

24. Whistleblowing and journalism ethics

Primer on whistlebllowing
This gives you some of the definitions of whistleblowing.
Origins of whistleblowing
Confucious had something to say about whistleblowing. Why do some think its mere existence is a failure of the system?
Does the type of whistleblowing matter?
In this scholarly study, the researchers found different qualitative reactions to whistleblowing. In other words, some types of wrongdoing were more likely to be reported than others. Why?
The Food Lion case
This was a big case that snared ABC News. What were the issues? What are Food Lion's tactics?

26. Journalism Ethics Abroad

Roundup
What are some ethical problems that journalism faces in other countries. In this assignment, you would give examples of how American and foreign ethics differ, and why.
In Asia
This article by a University if Hawaii writer explains some of the differences in ethics in Asia.
South Africa
This article explains the changes going on in South Africa where the government is proposing sweeping changes that journalists believe will not work within their concepts of ethical writing.
Worldwide ethics
This site looks at ethics (and other issues) around the world. Make sure whichever links you use that you find information about journalism ethics on all temperate continents: Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa.
International Codes of Ethics
This is a comprehensive code of ethics. How does it differ from what we know in America?

28. 1984

First, read the book
You can read 1984 online for free. Simply click the link and start reading. It's a wonderful book in its own right. But look for references to how language can be a method of control.
Newspeak
Now, try to understand Newspeak, the language that Orwell created, always keeping in mind that Orwell meant it as a warning to the world. Have we begun to use Newspeak ourselves? How?
Try this list of examples
Make sure you understand how Newspeak works so you can explain it to the class.
Now read Orwell's discussion of politics and the English language
This is a famous essay by the great writer.
Bring it home
This article explains how Orwellian tendencies have already influenced our language. The key for you to explain is how your fellow classmates can avoid slipping into a form of writing that manipulates the reader on a level he/she doesn't comprehend.

30. Wikileaks

Is it as dangerous as journalists say?
When Wikileaks leaks information, can people be hurt?Is this ethical, or should the site let the chips fall?
The site itself
Go through the site, find articles, tell your fellow students what you see, draw conclusions. Is Wikileaks the embodiment of Freedom of the Press, or is it a tool for exercising freedom of the press?
Where is it going?
What will the future hold for Wikileaks?
Why do professors support it but journalists are leery?
Different groups see Wikileaks in different ways, academics and journalists, for example. Why?
There must be more to it...
Don't look only for the obvious. Why is Wikileaks so controversial? Is it just because they reveal stuff, or do people see harm where others see freedom of the press?

|About| |324 articles| |324 Work| |324 Links| |325 LInks| |IR Articles| |IR Links| |Ethics-I| |Ethics-2| |Extras| |DTP page| |Printing| |Office Hours| |Style| |SPJ| |Site Map| |Download| |9/11 Links|