Articles by admin

Ethical aggregation tips: Kelly McBride tells how to aggregate ethically: Transparent attribution, add value, percentages matter and create a mutually beneficial arrangement.   Visit the Ethics AdviceLine blog for more.

Retiring superannuated: Merrill Perlman traces the origins and uses of the word “superannuated,” and decides it should be used seldom. Keeping the usage to once in an “annum” or so would be super, he  writes.   Visit the Ethics AdviceLine blog for more.

Imagining journalism’s audience: The digital age did not sharpen newsroom perceptions of their target audiences, writes James G. Robinson. “The central irony of the newsroom is that while many journalists’ decisions are made with readers in mind, the audiences for their work often remain unfocused, imagined abstractions, built on long-held […]

Using the right word: A memo from the NPR standards editor says sexual abuse victims under 18 should be called girls and boys, not women and men, reports iMediaEthics. Clarifications same when NPR listeners were upset about the language used in reporting on Jeffrey Epstein and R. Kelly.   […]

Audience engagement: Chip Scanlan writes about the power of talking to people in person, “a step that might once have seemed banal, but now seems almost radical.” “There’s no substitute, as any experienced journalist knows, for face-to-face encounters,” he writes. “Though phone or email interviews may sometimes be efficient or […]

Binging on advice: Slate has four advice columns for parenting, general questions, sex and pets, writes Laura Hazard Owen. “Once you start reading Slate’s advice columns, it’s hard to stop,” she writes. “Unlike in newspapers of old, where you had to wait for the next week’s column to come out, […]

Paying for hyperlocal journalism: Christine Schmidt describes attempts to connect people with the community and engaging with them. “The ultimate goal is, well, seeing if it can sustain the salary of a hyperlocal journalist,” she writes. Visit the Ethics AdviceLine blog for more.

Combatting disinformation: How do journalists report on disinformation “without pouring gasoline on the fire?” asks Mathew Ingram. Fact-checking efforts can have a boomerang effect and actually entrench a false belief in some cases, he writes.   Visit the Ethics AdviceLine blog for more.

Tech companies hide behind backgrounders: Silicon Valley tech companies control information using “on backgrounder” briefings, writes Brian Merchant. “This is a toxic arrangement,” he writes. “The tactic shields tech companies from accountability,” free of risk.   Visit the Ethics AdviceLine blog for more.

Keeping ticked-off subscribers: There are ways to keep angry newspaper subscribers, writes Laura Hazard Owen. Try renewal discounts, extending or upgrading existing subscriptions and reminding customers of the “full” subscription price.   Visit the Ethics AdviceLine blog for more.