Misinformation, disinformation, and extremism online have intensified, and the public, news industry, and technology sector continue to grapple with how to resolve these problems. The Journalism and Media Ethics program is developing a range of initiatives that advance the following three aims:
- Giving journalists the crucial background and framework needed for ethical journalism.
- Giving the public a voice in shaping and understanding journalism.
- Using ethical principles to frame the design and delivery of news, social media, and search products.
The Latest from Journalism & Media Ethics
The #Coronavirus Exposes an Unhealthy Commonality Between Breaking News and Social Media
Both traditional journalism and social media are unwilling to reconsider their newsworthiness exemptions for politicians. This is particularly problematic in the midst of a global public health crisis because it drives unethical behavior in society.
The Value of Slow Journalism During a Rapidly-Developing Story of Pandemic
Drawing the Distinction Between Explanatory Journalism and Expedient News
The general public requires both slow journalism and frequent and timely updates, providing them with both information and serving their need for guidance on how to process and interpret what this information means.
5 Suggestions for Covering the Coronavirus
How to tell stories of the coronavirus without apocalypse narratives.
Ethics Center Forms New Journalism and Media Ethics Council
Council will address pressing ethical issues in journalism today.
Why Are Politicians Lying & What is Advertising Doing in Politics?
Two alternative questions to “Should Facebook allow politicians to lie in ads?”
About the Journalism and Media Ethics program
The end of traditional "gatekeeping" has signaled a seismic shift in how narratives are framed, developed, distributed, socialized, and discussed. For some communities, this is troubling because it threatens a longstanding social order. For others, particularly those who have been ignored or sidelined by traditional gatekeepers, this is a tremendous moment of opportunity for greater inclusion. At the same time, journalism's financial sustainability continues to be in doubt.
Too often, the hardest and interdisciplinary problems with ethical implications are being identified only after editorial, business, and technology decisions have been incorporated into products and narratives. The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics is uniquely well-positioned to provide ethical frameworks to help stakeholders proactively identify and analyze normative questions from the early stages to later in delivery cycles, while at the same time enriching the ongoing debates in these spheres.
We are excited to supply a more comprehensive approach to applied journalism and media ethics. We are dedicated to helping media producers, journalists, product designers, members of the public, and critics develop ways to address pressing -- and persistent -- ethical dilemmas that continue to have wide-reaching consequences for us all.
