Journalism Ethics Research Articles

Journalism Ethics for the Algorithmic Era

In an era characterized by the widespread use of algorithmic systems and platforms in news production and distribution practices, the ethical practices of journalists face significant challenges. Drawing on Floridi’s onlife framework, this study aims to shed light on journalist-machine interactions and explores new ways to rearchitect journalism ethical standards through an integrative, object-oriented approach. In-depth interviews with local news workers throughout the U.S. reveal a range of issues related to decontextualization in algorithmic platform design, the hidden price of platform partnerships, and the growing reliance on automated tools that foreshadow ethical issues to come. These algorithmically-induced challenges appear to be particularly pronounced in local newsrooms, highlighting the disproportionate impact of algorithmic systems on under-served media sectors. Discussions are made around the constant push-and-pull over editorial power dynamics apparent in local news workers’ use of algorithmic systems. A distributed responsibility model is proposed as a practical way to hold multiple actors, including both humans and algorithms, accountable for journalism’s ethical standards in the algorithmic era.

Covering Terror at the 1972 Summer Olympics: ABC Sports and the Evolution of Live Broadcast News

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.Additional informationNotes on contributorsRaymond McCaffreyRaymond McCaffrey is an associate professor and the director of the Center for Ethics in Journalism at the University of Arkansas. McCaffrey earned his Ph.D. in journalism studies from the University of Maryland after working for more than twenty-five years as a journalist, including eight years as a staff writer and editor at the Washington Post.

Social Media, the changing Newsroom and Electoral Politics in Zimbabwe

The rise of social media in Zimbabwe has instigated changes in journalism practice, politics and political communication. This paper examines the nexus between social media, journalism practice and politics in Zimbabwe, focusing on the 2018 general elections. The study is informed by the realisation that past studies on how social media interacts with society have tended to focus on a single dimension. Such single dimensions have included social media and newsroom changes, social media and journalism ethics, together with social media and political communication (Mabweazara 2014). No study, however, has attempted to show the connections between all these dimensions, which is a gap that is observable in social media studies. Using interviews with mainstream journalists in Zimbabwe and content analysis of political social media posts, the study shows that newsroom changes are tied to changes in political communication. The results also show that newsroom changes in Zimbabwe cannot be disconnected from political dynamics because journalism practice itself, even before the rise of social media, is shaped and structured by political dynamics so much that contrary to Marxian theorisation, in Zimbabwe, it is the political-consciousness base that determines the economic and other facets of the superstructure.

Media Discourse, Legal, and Ethical Issues Arising from the Zuma Saga and Nkandlagate

Allegations of corruption and rape against President Jacob Zuma constituted among the most covered stories in South Africa and beyond. Widely dubbed “the Zuma saga” by the media, the twin stories began with allegations of corruption in the arms deal. While the corruption case still gripped the public, another damning allegation (rape) surfaced and fermented the story to levels surpassed by no other story at the time. Zuma was subsequently acquitted of the rape charge, but the charge of corruption continued relentlessly until the eve of the 2009 elections, in which he was elected as president. But just as the South African public thought the dust was settling, Zuma was hit by another damning allegation of inappropriately spending R250 million on upgrading Nkandla, his private residence. This article is three-pronged. First, it examines the key issues that accounted for the media frenzy sparked by both the Nkandla debacle and the Zuma saga. Second, it unravels critical ethical questions and legal issues implicit in the aforementioned cases. Third, because Zuma’s acquittal raised questions regarding the independence of the judiciary, the article also assesses the condition of judicial independence in South Africa. Theoretically, the article is informed by the sociology of journalism ethics and the notions of ethical leadership and judicial independence.

Looking through Lost Illusions at Austrian European identity and communication theory of identity

The study explores Austrian European identity through a communication theory of identity (CTI) by using the film Lost Illusions as a stimulus (2021). Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted in the Austrian capital Vienna to elicit female viewers’ perceptions of European identity to contribute to the development of the communal frame of CTI. The topicality of the film triggered some themes around a shared European past, norms, values, materialism and journalism ethics. Within this collective European identity based on ‘unity in diversity’, viewers’ ingroup closer to the left wing was constructed, influenced, validated and their national outgroup as an imaginary right wing was denied in the group membership.

The presentation of South African politicians in The Times newspaper column “On the Contrary”: 2012-2017

This paper examined South African politicians' (re)presentation in Tony Leon’s regular column, On the contrary, which appeared in The Times newspaper from 2012 to 2017. This period in South African politics is made interesting by the fact that it coincides with the time when there was mounting pressure for the then president, Jacob Zuma, of the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), to step down, especially between 7 January 2015 and 21 March 2017. Tony Leon, who also once served as a councilor for the Democratic Party (DA), one of the major opposition parties in South Africa is the columnist who at the time authors the on the contrary column. This creates interesting research on how the columnist and the newspaper are able or not to maintain ethical journalism. In conducting the study, this article employs the framing theory and critical discourse analysis (CDA) as research tools to assess the columnists’ objectivity and bias in his depiction of the then president and several prominent politicians during the examined period. Data analysis constitutes six newspaper articles which were purposively selected to obtain a representative sample. The results indicated that these articles were well-researched in respect of the information they presented. At the same time, biased tendencies were noted in favor of the political party aligned to the columnist.

Ethics as the backbone of the professional identity of Belgian journalism interns

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the perceptions of professional ethics expressed by Belgian – both Francophone and Flemish – journalism students after their first internships. 13 focus groups including 59 students from 7 universities were organized. These young journalists detailed how ethics play a central role in the development of their professional identity, during their first professional experience. Results show that both Flemish and French-speaking journalists share a relative homogenous vision of journalistic ethics. Eventually, this article offers the foundations for further research dedicated to the professional identity of young professional Belgian journalists, beyond any stereotypes or allegedly linguistic characteristics.

On citizens' right to information: Justification and analysis of the democratic right to be well informed

On citizens' right to information: Justification and analysis of the democratic right to be well informed

Wave after wave: unboxing 40 years of auditing ethics research

Purpose To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that aims to present a comprehensive view of the auditing ethics literature by unboxing 40 years of efforts in the field. Design/methodology/approach This study combined bibliometric, social network and content analysis by analyzing 114 articles published in accounting and top business ethics journals on the Web of Science database from 1980 to 2021. Findings The results show a rising interest in this topic and reveal auditors’ ethical decision-making and moral reasoning as the most discussed topics in the literature. The work also clusters the literature according to keywords and scopes, identifying literature gaps and suggesting new avenues for future research. Practical implications The research results assist provide an overarching image of the auditing ethics field. In addition, these results draw possible future avenues to bridge the void in the current auditing ethics literature by presenting indispensable directions for potential research. For example, future research could pay more attention to whistleblowing, fraud, personal auditor characteristics, auditor ethical sensitivity, auditor ethical conflict, ethical climate and underreporting of time. Moreover, the rapidly changing business environment necessitates the auditing ethics research to move to more practical implications to mitigate previous mistakes and avoid any future risks. Originality/value All crises are an ideal breeding ground to motivate fraud and audit failures. In fact, auditing ethics research has been subordinated to the different economic crises. However, despite increasing awareness of the topic’s relevance, no comprehensive study focuses on auditing ethics literature. Now, the devastating effects of the COVID-19 crisis are producing a new wave of financial distresses and avoiding former mistakes is timelier than ever. With this novel and integrated approach, this work goes one step forward, developing a comprehensive picture of the auditing ethics literature.

Modalitas dan Etika Berita Video 360 Pada YouTube CNN Indonesia

The implementation of immersive journalism as part of digital journalism is now starting to penetrate YouTube. CNN Indonesia is a media company that uses 360 degree video technology to present news. The use of virtual reality technology raises ethical questions that require consideration by news producers to maintain journalistic standards. This study aims to understand the modality and ethics of immersive journalism implemented in CNN Indonesia's 360 degree video content on YouTube through quantitative content analysis. The concept of modality, ethics of immersive journalism, and the theory of media richness are used as analytical tools to understand modality and immersion presented in CNN Indonesia's 360 video. The results of the study show that CNN Indonesia's 360-degree video content follows the ethics of sensitive content, on the other hand, the modalities used are still limited.

Ethical Need for a Fertility Decision-Aid for Transgender Adults of Reproductive Age

Ethical Need for a Fertility Decision-Aid for Transgender Adults of Reproductive Age

Student Activism vs. Student Journalism: Racial Justice, Free Speech, and Journalism Ethics in College Newspapers

ABSTRACT Using two recent controversies involving campus social justice protests and student news organizations, this study uses an interdisciplinary lens to examine free expression and normative journalism ethics discourse. It explores themes related to First Amendment rights and values, journalism ethics, and racial justice, asking which are evident and absent in opinion journalism focused on the cases. It examines universities’ dual missions of supporting free expression and advancing the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Ethical journalism vs digital journalism

En el periodismo la ética también es fundamental para que el ciudadano reciba una información de calidad para poder vivir en una democracia libre. Las funciones del periodismo son diversas, informar, investigar, analizar, crear vínculos sociales, además de la gran labor social que representa: descubrir o denunciar aquello oculto o la información que necesitan los ciudadanos para escoger a un gobierno adecuado. En base a ello, el presente estudio explora a través de una revisión bibliográfica elconcepto de periodismo digital, al mismo tiempo que abordar distintos aspectos delestado actual de la profesión periodística.

African Archaeological Journals and Social Issues 2014–2021

The two waves of reflexivity in archaeology are the identity politics of archaeologists and stakeholder politics. These social issues are considered in this article through the perspective of three African archaeological journals produced from 2014 to 2021. Identity politics is examined through a quantitative analysis of authorship, book reviewing, and the countries covered. I conclude that parity of gender authorship—assuming 61% male and 39% female archaeologists—has been achieved by the African Archaeological Review, Journal of African Archaeology, and Azania. In book reviewing, this is less so. The geographical coverage across the three journals shows lacunae. Stakeholder politics is most visible in book reviews and special issues. Journal ethics and goals and the final topics of open access and other ways of broadening the pool of authors, reviewers, and accessibility are offered.

Pemaknaan Etika Jurnalisme Warga oleh Jurnalis Warga Tempo Witness di Wilayah Jawa Tengah

Awareness of the importance of conveying phenomena that are around us is in line with proficiency in utilizing information technology to shape citizens like journalists. The ease with which citizens become like journalists awakens the intention of citizens to uphold the truth by becoming citizen journalists. However, various implementations of citizen journalism ethics that are difficult to implement are actually a challenge in itself. It even creates a temptation to apply citizen journalism ethics. These challenges and temptations diverted their original intention as citizen journalists. They do not comply with the code of ethics that applies when carrying out journalistic activities. This research aims to explore the interpretation of citizen journalism ethics by citizen journalists of Tempo Witness in the Central Java region, which is the region with the highest intensity of sending news reports. Qualitative approaches, phenomenological methods, and symbolic interaction theory serve to explore the motives, experiences, and agreements of citizen journalists in implementing citizen journalism ethics. The results showed that the three informants interpreted the ethical aspects of citizen journalism morality well, they maintained good manners and maintained the quality of news reports. However, two out of three informants did not apply citizen journalism ethics by accepting gifts from the sources, in the form of money and goods.

Журналистің кәсіби этикасы және ұлттық менталитет

The professional ethics of journalists stands out as a pressing issue in contemporary public opinion. This article delves into the impact of the national mentality on journalists’ ethical norms and positions, as endorsed by global journalistic associations. “Journalistic ethics is a pivotal aspect of a journalist’s work. The in-depth reading, comprehensive understanding, and exploration of this represent one of the significant challenges in Kazakh journalism. This complex issue, often overlooked, remains insufficiently acknowledged in both scholarly and professional domains,” the study thoroughly examines within the context of the national mentality. The research provides a scholarly understanding of the continuity of traditions, customs, life positions, and perspectives of the Kazakh people in today’s national journalism. The investigation scrutinizes the extent to which national manners shape journalistic ethics. Many media outlets have exceeded boundaries to boost viewership or readership, exaggerating with high ratings and disseminating misinformation, thereby shaping a contemporary model of journalistic culture. The authors highlight the challenging conditions for information dissemination influenced by such factors. In the final conclusion, the study establishes that scrutinizing ethical principles in the media aids in predicting developmental processes in the state and society, facilitating the formulation of strategies to transform social communication and media culture into a beneficial channel for society.

“Running in Both Directions”: The Reflective Character of Single-Image Narratives in Joe Sacco’s Graphic Journalism

This article examines single-image narrative forms, demonstrating how they inform and problematize Joe Sacco’s works of graphic journalism. I analyze three different single-image narratives, the splash page, the spread, and the bleed, originally found in superhero and adventure comics, and show how they function in Joe Sacco’s Safe Area Goražde, The Fixer, and Palestine. Single-image narrative forms problematize visual reporting as suspended between involvement and distance. I investigate how Joe Sacco, a graphic artist and a journalist in one person, manipulates images which were originally conceived as “attention grabbers” for the comics reader so that they become a commentary on the ethics of journalism

Ethical Issues in New Media Journalism: The Example of TRNC Political News

This study purposes to identify ethical violations and to offer solutions to prevent ethical violations on political news in the future on digital newspapers. In this context, the press scanning technique, one of the qualitative research methods, was preferred. Four digital newspapers operating in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) such as Kıbrıs Postası, Gıynık Gazetesi, Hakikat Gazetesi, and Özgür Gazete were included in the sample. Of the 4009 news published in the relevant newspapers between December 22, 2021, and January 22, 2022, 895 of the 1296 political news about the 2022 TRNC Parliamentary Early General Election, those that violated the principles of journalism were analyzed by content analysis. The findings of this study show ethical violations in the relevant categories: personal rights, public order, the reputation and privacy of the state, and moral values. Most of the ethical violations detected related to personal rights. In addition to qualitative analysis, quantitative statistical data were included, and the findings were supported. In this context, ethical violations were detected in 10% of the news reviewed. As a result, to solve the unethical digital journalism problem (to reduce the rate that cannot be underestimated and/or prevent the ethical violations in future), it is recommended to increase the frequency of vocational training activities for members of the press, to make legal regulations and to increase the controls and sanctions for digital broadcasting. This study contributes to the literature and practice in terms of communication and journalism ethics. Since the study focuses on the recent period, it offers novelty and originality in the context of including the current and specifically the analyses of the news. Keywords: political news, new media, restrictions on freedom of expression, ethical violations, TRNC. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.60.2

Regional media: lexico-stylistical analysis

The relevance of the study is determined by the fierce competition between traditional, especially print, media and new media, in connection with which it is necessary to determine the most popular format for presenting material to the audience. The purpose of the work is to analyze the lexical and stylistic features of the media in the Republic of Mordovia, to trace how this is related to the demand and popularity of publications among the audience. The goal determined the solution of the following interrelated tasks: (1) conduct an analysis of regional media, identify the most popular information resources; (2) analyze the lexical and stylistic features of the region's media texts; (3) determine how the richness or poverty of the lexical and stylistic palette affects the relevance of the media to the audience. The research methodology is based on the principles of systemic, structural and comparative analysis. The main method of analysis is content analysis. The analysis revealed the following: the lexical and stylistic diversity of regional media directly affects the relevance of the audience, increasing the indicators of engagement and citation. Regional media, focusing on informational genres and dry presentation of content, lose out to media using the full range of lexical and stylistic means, experimenting with genres, including journalistic, and multimedia formats. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain a balance between informing and lexical and stylistic "anarchy", which leads to the neglect of journalistic ethics. At the same time, the digital environment is not an obstacle to the use of more complex and larger media texts that have a high audience involvement.

The internet-meme and the ethics: A review of scientific research for 2018–2022

The article accumulates, systematizes and qualifies the most significant modern and relevant scientific works in the field of digital ethics and memetics over the past five years by means of a semisystematic analysis. This method allows us to consider various areas of research for a specified period and provide an overview of scientific sources on issues of digital ethics and memetics. The studies reviewed by the author were selected on scientific and technical bases as eLibrary, CyberLeninka and CORE according to the following keywords: Internet meme, memetics, digital ethics, ethics of a journalist, social networks. The author’s focus is on identifying gaps in research on both internet memes and digital ethics. The author aims to identify different aspects of the relationship between the Internet meme and the ethics of its creation and distribution, as well as to outline the prospects for further research of the problems raised. The presented article specifies the range of existing semantic gaps in scientific concepts and identifies the main lines of development of the problem. As a result of the study the author notes that the study of creolized texts comes down to three problematic issues: how they influence the user’s picture of the world, how they become popular and who creates them. At the same time, the ethical side of the issue is not touched upon by the authors in their works. Most scholarly articles on digital ethics and journalism ethics boil down to three areas: analysis of codes of ethics, analysis of user behavior on social networks and analysis of the spread of fake information online. Thus, the author concludes that digital ethics scholars almost never consider Internet memes as a subject of study, and vice versa, researchers of Internet memes rarely address ethical issues in their works.