Ethical challenges as common as the common cold

Ethical dilemmas grab onto the pantleg of a humble journalist just like a child wanting to be held. Yes, they are always there. No, they do not care what you are doing. Yes, they want you to pay attention to them. No, they will not go away if you ignore them.

That's only gonna make them louder.

Understanding ethics in theory is one thing, but in the field, at the desk, it's quite another. Just to "seek truth and report it," which is where the Society of Professional Journalists recommends you begin,  raises all kinds of issues. Like, who's truth? And, report it...how?

And, if you don't know what I mean about "who's truth," just start asking questions. What is the "truth" of red to someone who is color blind?

Mix this with the second major principle on the SPJ's list, which is to  "minimize harm", and you really have to start thinking. What if it's true, but it's going to be harmful to someone? What if that person's harm is balanced by a service being brought to many, aka: "the greater good?"

                                                                                                                jmichaelrios


Guardian journalist David Banks told a great story back in October about the ethical dilemmas he faced some 20 years ago when asked to find and approach the family of a killed soldier before they even knew the soldier was dead. 

"The dilemmas came thick and fast - accept the job or not, given the family had not been officially informed? Once I had found them, should I contact the Foreign Office first, or knock on the door? And if you do go ahead and knock, what on earth do you say to a family in those circumstances?"

Banks told the story to his readers in a great way, too. He posted the story assignment and subsequent sequence of events in real time on his blog and Twitter, and challenged readers to follow along and talk about what they would have done in his shoes. It makes for a great read.

Of course, there are many more real-life stories of ethical dilemmas out there. Indiana University has a fascinating collection of ethics case studies here.

The SPJ's code of ethics, as mentioned above, has been the industry standard for many years. But as the new, digital landscape created the need for a new, or expanded, code of ethics? Stephen J.A. Ward thinks so. Here he is, writing at the University of Wisconsin's Center for Journalism Ethics.

Faculty at Santa Clara University also feel that some new ethics codes are necessary for the modern media world.

The codes of ethics of many big media organizations and associations are collected by the Pew Research Journalism Project here.

Finally, for anyone interested in following ethics in and within the news industry, iMedia has some entertaining coverage.