Ethics AdviceLine

90 Days, 90 Voices is a nonprofit news outlet aiming to transform immigration reporting by telling better and more ethical stories. It guidelines call for asking a source how to tell their story, protecting their identity and creating a safe space for the interview.   Visit the Ethics AdviceLine […]

Historian explains journalism: Ron Chernow gives White House correspondents a history lesson, writes Michael M. Grynbaum, on why journalism is important. “Freedom of the press is always a timely subject and this seems like the perfect moment to go back to basics,” Chernow wrote in a statement. Chernow avoided offensive […]

Ethical media election coverage: “The ethics question at the heart of election coverage is this: What approaches best serve the public interest?” writes Isaac Alter. Covering it like a horse race trivializes elections, he says. Write about the candidates themselves; don’t overplay opinion polls.     Visit the Ethics […]

Ethics of purging archives: An editor once asked the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists if there are any ethical requirements to honor requests to delete stories. An AdviceLine ethicist decided a newspaper should not help people remove information from the historical record. And it’s expensive to do that.   Visit […]

Collaboration journalism: Local media in the U.K., Italy and Finland turn to teamwork to confront declining revenues and shrinking staffs, writes Christine Schmidt. It’s “true-blue teamwork using the skills, abilities, tech, and yeah, money pooled between entities to ideally do journalism with a much more powerful punch,” she writes.   […]

Media climate coverage deemed lacking: Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope charge media with ignoring it. “This journalistic failure has given rise to a calamitous public ignorance, which in turn has enabled politicians and corporations to avoid action,” they write. They call for “Paul Revere” responsibilities to awaken, inform and rouse […]

Wall Street Journal tames online commentary: Select articles will be open for audience posts, writes Louise Story, to encourage “thoughtful discourse.” Aims to focus on “original comments,” not on boisterous “repliers” who don’t read the articles.   Visit the Ethics AdviceLine blog for more.

Key demographic trends: Hispanics are expected to be the largest racial or ethnic minority in the next election, write Anthony Cilluffo and D’Vera Cohn, according to the Pew Research Center. This was one of six demographic trends that included findings on American adult generations, unmarried parents, immigration and household income. […]

Tips for resisting fake news: “The way our memory works means it might be impossible to resist fake news completely,” writes Julian Matthews. Think like a scientist: Ask what type of content it is, where it is published and who benefits.   Visit the Ethics AdviceLine blog for more.

Student reporters covering shootings: The threat of an active shooter on campus confronts student journalists with a perfect storm, writes Maitreyi Anantharaman. There isn’t time to be scared. The erosion of local newsrooms forces college publications to step in as papers of record, she writes.   Visit the Ethics […]