Ethics
The essential ethical issues that face all journalists who are attempting to inform the public debate.
Offence and journalism
Journalists must ensure that the material they use in coverage has a clear editorial purpose. Where that material is likely to offend, there need to be clear warnings of what is coming up.
Photojournalism and ethics
The following are commonly accepted ethical guidelines for photojournalists adopted by most mainstream media.
Why editorial ethics are important
The Media Helping Media ethics section is designed to help journalists navigate some of the challenges they might face as they go about their work.
Conflicts of interest
In journalism, public trust is essential for credibility. One of the most significant threats to that trust are the many possible conflicts of interest that might confront journalists.
Fairness in journalism
Fairness in journalism means exploring all sides of an issue and reporting the findings accurately.
Accuracy in journalism
A media organisation will be judged on the accuracy and reliability of its journalism, which must be well-sourced, supported by strong evidence, examined and tested, clear and unambiguous. Verified facts must form the basis of all news, not rumour or speculation.
Is your journalism ethical?
Reliable journalism is based on applying strict editorial ethics to all we do so that we can examine the issues that have the most impact on the lives of our audience.
Unconscious bias and journalism
Bias is a prejudice or favour for or against an individual or group. It is often an inaccurate and unfair judgement. We are all biased. It’s normal, although it is not desirable.
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Module: Ethical scenarios when covering news
This free six-week module is designed to help journalism students recognise and deal with some of the common ethical challenges involved in newsgathering.
Lesson: Integrity in journalism
This lesson plan teaches students the importance of maintaining integrity in all their dealing in order to investigate issues thoroughly and truthfully without being influenced by external pressures.
The project management process
In this example, we were asked at short notice to help produce a televised debate between political candidates before a general election. We had three-and-half weeks to make it happen.