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From Janet
Cooke to Jayson Blair:
A Journey in Ethics in Journalism
Spring 2004 was a good time to study ethics in journalism.
Jayson Blair's book was out. Jack Kelley was imploding. Howell Raines
was explaining what went wrong at the New York Times. Michael
Jackson was all over TV. War coverage raised questions of taste and
perspective.
In this context, 23 journalism students at Miami University gathered
twice a week during the spring to explore ethics in journalism.
Over 15 weeks, students in their "senior capstone" class read
three helpful books: "Desperately Seeking Ethics," by Howard Good;
"The News About the News," by Leonard Downie Jr. and Robert G.
Kaiser; and, a newer must-read for all students of journalism, "The
Elements of Journalism," by Bill Kovach and Tom
Rosenstiel.
They also read dozens of news stories, some illustrating questionable
reporting, writing or broadcast decisions, some analyzing those
decisions. They were appalled that a journalist named Janet Cooke made
up an 8-year-old herion addict for Jimmy's World; they were convinced
Arthur Ashe and Richard Jewell were done wrong by the media; they were
not at all certain the Cincinnati Enquirer did right in
refuting the stories in its Chiquita series, despite the fact that the
lead reporter stole voice mail; they acquired deep understanding of
the implications of corporate ownership of media, of Sept. 11 as a
news event; of 24/7 news cycles; of covering sensitive topics such as
sexual assault; of the value and limitations of the First Amendment;
and more.
Over the semester, they used their learning to analyze, discuss and
write about the cases at hand. From their work came a series of short
papers and two significant ones -- the first, at mid-term, exploring
an ethical issue in journalism that we touched on in class; the
second, as a final project, an original case study compiled from
interviews with a working or former journalist. Those larger papers
are posted here, along with student biographies and resumes.
In the end, the class was able to produce a list identifying the major
ethical challenges of the day for journalism and a second list
suggesting possible solutions to some of those challenges. Those are
posted under the "Class Conclusions" link.
The 23 students of ENG 421: Ethics in Journalism also left campus with
a keen sense of what's right and what's wrong about journalism today
and, I hope, a strong dedication to fight for the right. It was a
privilege to take that journey of learning with them during their last
semester at Miami.
Patricia Gallagher Newberry
visiting journalism faculty
Ethics in
Journalism instructor |
Ethics In
Journalism