jouR201 week 3 discussions

Respond: Week 3, Topic 1 - Defining "Facts" (Req'd)

We have talked about what makes news "news" and what makes a journalist a “journalist.” For this discussion, you will explore what makes information “fact.”

Remember the Manti Te’o mess? As believable as his story seemed, none of it was true. Digital technologies have revolutionized the collection and dissemination of information, making it difficult to separate fact from fiction. The problem reflects what the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison says are tensions between traditional journalism, which values accuracy, pre-publication verification, impartiality, fairness, balance, and gate-keeping and online journalism, which emphasizes immediacy, transparency, partiality, non-professional journalists and post-publication correction. Media Ethics magazine sees that tension as manifesting itself in:

Plagiarism has become an often-accepted practice and international cultural norm due at least in part to the ease and temptation of copying online sources.

Digitally altering images or video is common in advertising and sometimes in news.
Using anonymous sources is frequently an accepted practice in journalism.
Omnidirectional imaging and drones are more than science fiction.
WikiLeaks and the transparency of public records have changed how the public understands government, the military and big business around the world.
Artificial intelligence and computerized newswriting are commercial realities.
Social media, webcams and other online intrusions on privacy are part of every citizen’s daily life.
Conducting interviews via technological intermediaries, such e-mail, has become common.

Many journalists and news organizations turn to the Society of Professional Journalists’ ethics code as their arbiter in thorny situations. Other organizations, such as the Reuters, Associated Press and The New York Times, have developed their own in-house guidelines. For example, in the opening pages of its guidelines on integrity, the New York Times says:

At a time of growing and even justified public suspicion about the impartiality, accuracy and integrity of some journalists and some journalism, it is imperative that The Times and its staff maintain the highest possible standards to insure that we do nothing that might erode readers’ faith and confidence in our news columns. This means that staff members should be vigilant in avoiding any activity that might pose an actual or apparent conflict of interest and thus threaten the newspaper’s ethical standing. And it also means that the journalism we practice daily must be beyond reproach.

Meanwhile, the latest Associated Press Style

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