Ethics AdviceLine

Engaging with readers: Mark Jacob explores forgotten ways to build relationships with readers and putting the users first. “For local media companies, it’s about re-learning something that they used to do before they changed their model when they went to digital,” like serving their community and building relationships with readers […]

Shaping word usage: National Association of Black Journalists asked the Associated Press to revise its stylebook on using the word “boy.” “This wasn’t the first time Stylebook editors had acted on recommendations from marginalized groups,” writes Natalie Yahr.   Visit the Ethics AdviceLine blog for more.

Robot journalism ethical checklist: As more media organizations deploy artificial intelligence, writes Tom Kent, “we need to keep a focus on the ethics and quality of robot news writing.” Kent’s checklist touches on the accuracy of underlying data, automation producing thousands of erroneous stories and pitfalls, like defending a robot-written […]

Media restraint praised: Almost every major news organization decided not to publish video of the mass shooting at two New Zealand mosques, write Erik Ortiz, Farnoush Amiri and Claire Atkinson. “Media and journalism ethics experts who follow mass shooting and terrorist attack coverage told NBC News that it had been […]

Correcting errors in the digital age: “One essential element of transparency is doing corrections right,” writes Dan Gillmor. In the digital age, “we can fix the error right in the news article (or video or audio) and append an explanation, thereby limiting the damage, because people new to the article […]

Occupational hazards of journalism: An Australian court rules that newspapers are liable for psychiatric injury to journalists covering traumatic events, write Matthew Ricketson and Alexandra Wake. Reporter sues for post traumatic syndrome injuries.   Visit the Ethics AdviceLine blog for more.

Town loses its heartbeat, its newspaper: One man tries to fill the void from the loss of the Daily Guide by posting on Facebook, write David Bauder and David A. Lieb. The loss reflects the impact repeated in more than 1,400- other cities and towns across the U.S. to lose […]

Lois Lane’s enduring conflict of interest: James Grebey writes about the ethical dilemmas of comic book heroes, including revelations of mental health therapy for trauma. The ethics of Lois keeping Superman’s identity secret is described as a subject of debate in journalism schools for 75 years. Visit the Ethics […]

Defining journalism and activism: “Journalism has long been committed to unbiased reporting and to shining a light on injustices in society,” writes Michael Blanding. The tension between these two mandates has become more apparent in the current polarized political moment, he says. Visit the Ethics AdviceLine blog for more.

Focusing on good news: The Philadelphia Inquirer takes an idea from the Minneapolis Star Tribune to print a good news section, writes Kristen Hare. “The work takes on tough topics, including justice, health, education and poverty, but with a solutions journalism approach,” she writes, also focusing on stories and people […]