The Ethical Journalist – Making Responsible Decisions in the Digital Age 2e

Gene Foreman spent more than half a century in journalism 41 years as a reporter and editor and nine years as a teacher in the College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University, USA. He climaxed his newsroom career with 25 years as managing editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, a period in which Inquirer staff members won 18 Pulitzer Prizes. Retiring in 1998, he joined the Penn State faculty. As the inaugural Larry and Ellen Foster Professor, he taught courses in journalism ethics and news editing. Since retiring from full-time teaching in 2006, he has continued as a visiting professor at Penn State. He coaches writing students and directs the Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers, which has attracted more than 40 Pulitzer winners. In 2003, Foreman received two awards for excellence in teaching in the College of Communications, the Deans' Award and the Alumni Society Award. In 2013, the Alumni Society gave him its first Douglas A. Anderson Contributor Award in recognition of his work on behalf of the College and its students. In retirement, Foreman has also served distinguished visiting professorships at the University of Arkansas and Washington and Lee University. He was president of the Associated Press Managing Editors in 1990 and board member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1992-95.

Foreword: Journalism Genes xvii Preface xix Acknowledgments xxi Part I: A Foundation for Making Ethical Decisions 1 1 Why Ethics Matters in Journalism 3 2 Ethics, the Bedrock of a Society 15 3 The News Media s Role in Society 23 4 For Journalists, a Clash of Moral Duties 39 5 The Public and the Media: Love and Hate 58 6 Applying Four Classic Theories of Ethics 78 7 Using a Code of Ethics as a Decision Tool 89 8 Making Moral Decisions You Can Defend 116 Part II: Exploring Themes of Ethics Issues in Journalism 131 9 Stolen Words, Invented Facts or Worse 133 10 Conflicts of Interest: Appearances Count 151 11 The Business of Producing Journalism 174 12 Getting the Story Right and Being Fair 194 13 Dealing with Sources of Information 223 14 Making News Decisions about Privacy 241 15 Making News Decisions about Taste 268 16 Deception, a Controversial Reporting Tool 284 17 Covering a Diverse, Multicultural Society 306 18 Ethics Issues Specific to Digital Journalism 329 19 Ethics Issues Specific to Visual Journalism 349 20 Some Thoughts to Take with You 374 Glossary 377 Index 382