{"id":465,"date":"2015-06-06T17:04:21","date_gmt":"2015-06-06T17:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/?page_id=465"},"modified":"2025-12-22T14:56:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T14:56:21","slug":"pro-ethics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/ethics\/pro-ethics\/","title":{"rendered":"PROFESSIONAL CODES OF ETHICS"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_3601\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NashvilleAd.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3601\" class=\"wp-image-3601 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NashvilleAd-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NashvilleAd-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NashvilleAd-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NashvilleAd-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NashvilleAd.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3601\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">In June, 2020, a fringe religious group placed a full page advertisement in the Nashville TN daily newspaper<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2020\/jun\/21\/tennessee-newspaper-ad-islam-muslims-nashville\"> claiming that on July 18, &#8220;Islam is going to detonate a nuclear device&#8221; in the city.<\/a>\u00a0 The ad was a breach of professional ethics\u00a0 and an attack on religion. It should have been immediately rejected by the advertising staff at the newspaper. (Details below)<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"style1\" align=\"left\"><strong>Nearly all professions\u00a0 have specific ethical codes<\/strong> based on long\u00a0 tradition. Probably the best known is the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hippocratic_Oath\">Hippocratic Oath<\/a> in which a physician vows \u201cto abstain from doing harm\u201d\u00a0 (often\u00a0 phrased as \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Primum_non_nocere\">first, do no harm<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, communications professionals have strong codes of ethics to help guide their work.\u00a0 These are based on moral principles such as honesty, doing no harm, helping people, acting in a fair way, upholding the truth,\u00a0 and honoring commitments.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #993300;\">JOURNALISM AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS REPORTING\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.spj.org\/ethicscode.asp\">Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>is the most widely used by journalists.\u00a0\u00a0In outline, the SPJ code says that the media should:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Seek the truth<\/li>\n<li>Act independently<\/li>\n<li>Be accountable and transparent.\u00a0Respond to critics honestly and respectfully.\u00a0 Make corrections when warranted. Admit mistakes.<\/li>\n<li>Minimize harm and have compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The items above are what we call &#8220;<strong>pre<\/strong>scriptive&#8221; (should do) items.\u00a0 There are also &#8220;<strong>pro<\/strong>scriptive&#8221; (no, don&#8217;t do this) items on the list below.\u00a0 These include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don&#8217;t lie,\u00a0 plagiarize or misrepresent your work.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t be afraid of criticism.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t accept gifts, free trips or preferential treatment.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t use undercover methods of gathering information unless traditional open methods will not yield information vital to the public.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"style1\"><strong>Journalists have a variety of ethical codes,<\/strong>\u00a0 but the SPJ code is the most universally accepted.\u00a0 Most news organizations have their own codes of ethics, and many academic and international organizations also have ethics codes. A short list would include:\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"style1\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/ethics.npr.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Public Radio <\/a>ethical standards<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytco.com\/who-we-are\/culture\/standards-and-ethics\/\">New York Times Standards and Ethics\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/ethics.journalism.wisc.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Center for Journalism Ethics<\/a>, U. Wisconsin<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com\/pilotonline.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/2\/45\/245c0f4b-3c4a-51de-aff6-24f3093b32f6\/5894e4c8ab62f.pdf.pdf\">Virginian Pilot<\/a> (previous) code of ethics<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/ethicaljournalisminitiative.org\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">International Federation of Journalists<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Most countries have ethical codes for journalists. Here are a few:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nuj.org.uk\/about-us\/rules-and-guidance\/code-of-conduct.html#:~:text=A%20journalist%3A,honestly%20conveyed%2C%20accurate%20and%20fair.\">National Union of Journalists<\/a> \/ UK<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.meaa.org\/meaa-media\/code-of-ethics\/\">MMEA \/ AJA &#8211; Australia\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/research.tuni.fi\/ethicnet\/country\/\">Codes of ethics (list)<\/a> University of Tampere, Finland<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><strong>Examples of professional ethics issues in journalism\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u00a0The Norfolk Virginian Pilot<\/strong> employed an editorial staff\u00a0 writer in the 2017-2021 period <a href=\"https:\/\/vpm.org\/news\/articles\/18780\/behind-unsigned-editorials-a-columnist-with-ties-to-dominion\">who also worked as a speech writer for Dominion,\u00a0 the region&#8217;s largest electrical utility<\/a>.\u00a0 The conflict of interest\u00a0 was known by the newspaper&#8217;s publishers.\u00a0 The writer penned editorials that mocked environmentalists for opposing big gas pipelines and for preferring renewable energy.\u00a0 The newspaper&#8217;s conflict\u00a0 raised questions\u00a0 about its ability to serve the public interest. The state chapter of the S<a href=\"https:\/\/spjva.com\/2021\/10\/04\/statement-about-editorial-writers-conflict-of-interest\/\">ociety of Professional Journalists<\/a> called it a <em>&#8220;conflict of interest and a breach of journalistic ethics.&#8221;<\/em> The statement added:\u00a0 <em>\u00a0&#8220;According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spj.org\/ethicscode.asp\">SPJ Code of Ethics<\/a>, journalists should avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Such conflicts undermine the trust and confidence that readers have not only in journalists but also in the news organizations they work for.&#8221;\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0This was a highly unusual instance of a direct and obvious conflict of interest; most such conflicts occur indirectly, through gifts or favors, or the employment of relatives, all of which are also considered unethical.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In 2021, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stltoday.com\/news\/local\/education\/missouri-teachers-social-security-numbers-at-risk-on-state-agencys-website\/article_f3339700-ece0-54a1-9a45-f300321b7c82.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=undefined_stltoday\">uncovered a mistake in a Missouri state department of education website<\/a>,\u00a0 where over 100,000 social security numbers and other types of personal information were embedded in easily accessible source code. The newspaper informed\u00a0 state officials and delayed publication until the vulnerable pages could be taken down. (This was definitely the ethical thing to do.)\u00a0 Although every web page has source code that is visible to web browsers, Missouri Governor Mike Parson said journalists were hackers and called for criminal prosecution. However, the fact that the newspaper alerted\u00a0 authorities to a problem before it was publicized shows its adherence to the SPJ Code&#8217;s admonition to &#8220;minimize harm.&#8221;\u00a0 Clearly, the Post-Dispatch behaved ethically, unlike the governor of the state.<br \/>\nSee also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/10\/14\/1046124278\/missouri-newspaper-security-flaws-hacking-investigation-gov-mike-parson\">this NPR article<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><b>Beirut barracks, 1983: <\/b>One of the least known and most significant instances of delaying publication to minimize harm involved the October 23, 1983, bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. Two months before the attack, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_Donvan\">John Donvan<\/a> of ABC News realized that the building was vulnerable and talked with the commander on site. Donvan agreed not to air the story until the security had been upgraded, but the process took several weeks, due to Pentagon red tape, and in the meantime, terrorists attacked the barracks, killing 241 marines.\u00a0 Bottom line:\u00a0 \u00a0ABC News was well-guided by ethical considerations in this case, despite the unfortunate outcome.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/07\/04\/nyregion\/subway-car-dead-7-train.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare\">Subway &#8220;surfing<\/a>&#8220;<\/strong>\u00a0 2025 &#8212; New York media and video sharing sites are wondering how best to deal with videos of the dangerous practice of subway surfing. This is when someone (usually a teenager) clings to the top of a subway car and rides it from station to station.\u00a0 Does news coverage encourage or discourage this practice?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Shoplifting principal<\/strong> &#8212; In the 1980s, a high school principal was caught shoplifting and arrested in a Michigan city.\u00a0 When called for comment, the principal said she was going to commit suicide.\u00a0 The editors of the newspaper called her therapist who said she was indeed at risk. What is the most ethical thing the editors could do?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"style1\" style=\"color: #993300;\"><strong>ADVERTISING ETHICS\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Advertising professionals are also ethically bound to tell the truth, substantiate claims, follow the law and loyally represent clients in the IAE and AAF ethical codes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Advertising and public relations ethics codes<\/strong> include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"style1\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aaf.org\/_pdf\/aaf%20website%20content\/513_ethics\/iae_principles_practices.pdf\">American Advertising Federation code of ethics<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.iaethics.org\/principles-and-practices\">Institute for Advertising Ethics\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Houston Chronicle overview of advertising ethics <a href=\"http:\/\/smallbusiness.chron.com\/list-ethical-legal-issues-advertising-11466.html\">advertising ethics<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>\u00a0From the AAF Code:\u00a0 \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Advertising, public relations, marketing communications, news, and editorial all share a common objective of truth and high ethical standards in serving the public.<\/li>\n<li>Advertising, public relations, and all marketing communications professionals have an obligation to exercise the highest personal ethics in the creation and dissemination of commercial information to consumers.<\/li>\n<li>Advertisers should clearly distinguish advertising, public relations and corporate communications from news and editorial content and entertainment, both online and offline.<\/li>\n<li>Advertisers should clearly disclose all material conditions, such as payment or receipt of a free product, affecting endorsements in social and traditional channels, as well as the identity of endorsers, all in the interest of full disclosure and transparency.<\/li>\n<li>Advertisers should treat consumers fairly based on the nature of the audience to whom the ads are directed and the nature of the product or service advertised.<\/li>\n<li>Advertisers should never compromise consumers\u2019 personal privacy in marketing communications, and their choices as to whether to participate in providing their information should be transparent and easily made.<\/li>\n<li>Advertisers should follow federal, state and local advertising laws, and cooperate with industry self-regulatory programs for the resolution of advertising practices.<\/li>\n<li>Advertisers and their agencies, and online and offline media, should discuss privately potential ethical concerns, and members of the team creating ads should be given permission to express internally their ethical concerns.<\/li>\n<li>Trust between advertising and public relations business partners, including clients, and their agencies, media venders, and third party suppliers, should be built upon transparency and full disclosure of business ownership and arrangements, agency remuneration and rebates, and media incentives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><b>\u00a0Examples of professional ethics issues in advertising\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nashville Bomb<\/strong> &#8212; In June, 2020, a\u00a0 fringe group placed a full page advertisement in the Nashville TN daily newspaper<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2020\/jun\/21\/tennessee-newspaper-ad-islam-muslims-nashville\"> claiming that on July 18, &#8220;Islam is going to detonate a nuclear device&#8221; in the city.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Once the publisher and other managers of the newspaper were informed of the ad, it was immediately withdrawn, apologies were made and an investigation was started. \u201cClearly there was a breakdown in the normal processes, which call for careful scrutiny of our advertising content,\u201d said vice-president and editor\u00a0 Michael Anastasi. The ad was a breach of professional ethics in terms of its false claim (which was essentially a bomb threat) and its attack on Islam in the supposed name of Christianity. It should have been immediately rejected by the advertising staff at the newspaper.<\/li>\n<li><strong>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Killing_Us_Softly\">Killing us softly<\/a>&#8221;\u00a0<\/strong> (Women&#8217;s body image in advertising)\u00a0 &#8212; A 1979 documentary film by educator <a href=\"https:\/\/hsph.harvard.edu\/news\/advertisings-toxic-effect-on-eating-and-body-image\/\">Jean Kilbourne<\/a> \u00a0(and several subsequent updates) described the &#8220;soul destroying&#8221; effects of superficial, objectifying and unreal advertising images on women.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/hsph.harvard.edu\/news\/advertisings-toxic-effect-on-eating-and-body-image\/\">&#8220;Advertising&#8217;s toxic effect&#8230;&#8221;<\/a> is a Harvard School of Public Health research report.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ushmm.org\/antisemitism\/holocaust-denial-and-distortion\">Holocaust denial<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong> &#8212; Media organizations occasionally receive insertion orders for advertising that attempts to minimize or refute the facts of the Holocaust, which was the murder of approximately six million non-combatants in Nazi Germany during WWII.\u00a0 <em>Running this sort of advertising at face value is <span style=\"color: #993300;\">highly unethical.\u00a0<\/span><\/em> Rather than simply refusing the ad, an alternative ethical response would be to refuse to publish the ad with corrections from historians and testimony from survivors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"style1\" style=\"color: #993300;\"><strong>\u00a0PUBLIC RELATIONS\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">One of the cornerstones of public relations theory &#8212; the James Grunig two-way symmetrical flow theory of communication &#8212; comes out of a concern for ethics.\u00a0 \u00a0 In the Grunig model, the role of a public relations professional is not only to represent the company to the public but ALSO to represent the public to the company. As the <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.pagecentertraining.psu.edu\/public-relations-ethics\/core-ethical-principles\/lesson-2-sample-title\/ethics-the-public-relations-models-two-way-symmetrical-model\/\">Arthur W. Page center notes<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><em>The two-way symmetrical model of public relations is considered the most sophisticated and ethical practice of public relations. This model focuses on dialogue that creates and sustains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its key stakeholders.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.prsa.org\/ethics\/code-of-ethics\/\">Public Relations Society of America code of professional standards<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><b>\u00a0Examples of professional ethics issues in\u00a0 public relations\u00a0 \u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Imagine that you are consulting with Victoria&#8217;s Secret, a lingerie company with hundreds of stores and billions of dollars in sales. A\u00a0 \u00a0New York Times Feb. 2, 2020\u00a0 news article exposed the company&#8217;s serious issues: &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/01\/business\/victorias-secret-razek-harassment.html\">The Angels at Victoria&#8217;s Secret suffered a culture of misogyny<\/a>.&#8221;\u00a0 The article notes that Victoria&#8217;s Secret has been sued and involved in harassment and abuse of models by male CEOs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">If the consultant&#8217;s response is simply to recommend a new slogan and a new branding campaign, the consultant has missed the point of the Grunig two-way symmetrical flow model.\u00a0 \u00a0The ethical response would be to include the models and ageny customers among the group of publics. It would also be to suggest real changes in the company&#8217;s structure and behavior. Changes would begin with a full independent\u00a0 investigation of\u00a0 the charges, restructuring the management and supporting appropriate charges against the old CEOs who abused the models.\u00a0 \u00a0(This is indeed what eventually\u00a0 occurred &#8212;\u00a0 The old CEOs were sacked and a class action lawsuit alleging that models suffered a\u00a0 &#8220;culture of sexual harassment and misogyny&#8221; was settled for $90 million on May 16, 2022).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\">2.\u00a0 Imagine you are consulting an international health organization about Nestle Corp. and its ongoing issues with irresponsible marketing of baby formula. (See <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikibooks.org\/wiki\/Professionalism\/The_Nestl%C3%A9_Infant_Formula_Scandal#Infant_Formula_Marketing_Today\">this article on Professionalism and ethics<\/a> for details). For decades, despite the establishment of international codes regulating infant formula marketing practices <a href=\"https:\/\/voxdev.org\/topic\/health-education\/deadly-toll-marketing-infant-formula-low-and-middle-income-countries\">and the mounting death toll<\/a>, Nestle refused to change.\u00a0 Would you suggest changing the advertising image? Or changing the company?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><strong><span class=\"style1\">INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY \/ WEB DESIGN<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Content ethics not that different from journalism, although the fact\/ opinion separation is often not as strong. This media may involve photography, journalism and advertising.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Special problems involve issues like setting cookies, collecting and selling data, nuisance issues like interstitial advertising, and questions about copyright.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">IT and Web codes include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"style1\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.icca.org\/ethics.asp\">Independent Computer Consultants Association Code of ethics<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eff.org\/CAF\/library\/ethics.asis\">American Society for Information Science<\/a> code of ethics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span class=\"style2\">Other media ethics links:<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"style1\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.oaaa.org\/Publicside\/CodesPractices\/IndustryPrinciples.htm\">Outdoor Advertising Association of America Codes and Practices<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbb.org\/advertising\/adcode.asp\">Better Business Bureau code of advertising<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/advertising.utexas.edu\/research\/law\/index.asp\">University of Texas Advertising Law and Ethics site<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rotary.org\/aboutrotary\/4way.html\">Rotary International Four-Way Test\u00a0<\/a> Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build good will and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?\u00a0 (<em>Question: Can journalists always act in ways that will be beneficial to ALL concerned and that will build good will and better friendships?)<br \/>\n<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Robert Cavalier\u2019s<a href=\"http:\/\/caae.phil.cmu.edu\/Cavalier\/80130\/\"> Online Guide to Ethics and Moral Philosophy<\/a><\/li>\n<li>The Internet <a href=\"http:\/\/www.utm.edu\/research\/iep\/\">Encyclopedia of Philosophy\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Practical advice\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>For the news media, ethics is not always cut and dried.What is legal is sometimes not what is ethical, and visa versa. Here are a few situations where media professionals need to be aware of potential harm.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Don&#8217;t publicly identify crime victims:\u00a0<\/strong> The names of witnesses to a crime, or victims of \u00a0a crime, will probably be found in public documents\u00a0 and it may be perfectly legal to disclose them before a trial. But this could be highly unethical, since it exposes the witness to intimidation (or worse) and the victims to additional suffering.\u00a0 Even when a public trial is held, journalists usually withhold the names &amp; identities of witnesses, juvenile offenders and sexual assault victims &#8212; even though they may be matters of public record and perfectly legal to publish (As noted in our Section 6 on <a href=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/pvt-facts\">Privacy law<\/a>\u00a0 and also in cases like Smith v Daily Mail, Cox v Cohn, and Howard v Des Moines Register).\n<ul>\n<li>Note: Given these ethical restrictions, it&#8217;s interesting to see how the press worked to confirm a very controversial July, 2022 case of a ten year old sexual assault victim who needed an abortion. Many people, including the attorney\u00a0 general of Ohio, thought the story was a hoax. Reporters for Ohio and Indiana newspapers scoured the criminal databases to find the perpetrator and confirmed the connection to the victim.\u00a0 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/media\/2022\/07\/28\/ohio-abortion-journalism\/\">Washington Post, July 27, 2022).\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> Note that the victim herself was never publicly identified.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pre-trial publicity: <\/strong>Police and prosecutors sometimes hope to influence potential jurors with pre-trial releases of damaging information. This is contrary to criminal justice ethics since the information may not be accepted by the court. For example, a coerced confession would not be admissible\u00a0 \u00a0Police and prosecutors also hope that the news media will help them spread their damaging information. It is unethical for editors and reporters to play along.\u00a0 In short, don&#8217;t attempt to report\u00a0 all the details of a criminal case before a trial; let the courts do their jobs, and then wait for pre-trial information to be processed by the courts. On the first day of a trial, ask in writing for the release of documents sealed by the court before the trial.\u00a0 (More on <a href=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/ethics\/pre-trial\/\">Pre-trial publicity here )<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Names withheld pending notification of relatives: <\/strong>The press should NEVER be the first to inform relatives about a death in the family.\u00a0 \u00a0This is difficult for professionals in criminal justice clergy to do properly; it is an impossible for the press. There is a strong practical reason for this this one to the police: Within the first\u00a0 hours of learning that a close relative has died, many people seriously consider suicide.\u00a0 The police usually ensure that people are informed\u00a0 in person, by clergy or police officers who stay until there is someone &#8211;\u00a0 another relative, another member of the clergy or at least a neighbor &#8211; who will stay with the bereaved during the first hours or days.\u00a0 People in the press are not trained for this job and they risk causing serious harm if they notify relatives of a death for the sake of a story.<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s even worse when the news media <em>publishes<\/em> information about deaths before the closest relatives have been informed. This is one of the ways that the news media loses community trust.\n<ul>\n<li>Sports writer Roland Lazenby was working with the Roanoke Times in the 1980s when an airplane crashed\u00a0 on a nearby mountain. He helped police carry the\u00a0 stretchers down the mountain and in the process learned the names of the accident victims.\u00a0 He filed an &#8220;advance&#8221; story with the names and with strong\u00a0 instructions to run the story in two days. However, an eager editor put the information into the newspaper that came out the next day. Understandably, relatives were shocked, police were angry, and ethical codes to minimize harm were broken. Reporters may need to withhold information from their own editors under these circumstances.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoid deception<\/strong> &#8212; In the past, journalists have gone \u00a0undercover to get a story that might otherwise not be accessible. \u00a0Famed journalist Nelly Bly went undercover in a New York asylum in 1888, for example. But this is a risky and potentially unethical approach that may lead to trespass charges, for example, in a 1992 \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcfp.org\/browse-media-law-resources\/news-media-law\/news-media-and-law-fall-1999\/food-lion-fraud-award-against\">ABC News undercover report from a grocery chain<\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0or \u00a0a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Michael_Gallagher_(journalist)#Chiquita_controversy\">voicemail hacking scandal at a Gannett newspaper<\/a>. \u00a0There are also pseudo journalists,\u00a0 such as political activist <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_O%27Keefe\">James O&#8217;Keefe<\/a>, who may use the idea of undercover journalism for purely political end<a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk\/has-james-okeefe-accidentally-stung-himself-again\">.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 According to the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics, reporters should &#8220;Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information unless traditional, open methods will not yield information vital to the public.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be careful with classified military and government information:<\/strong>\u00a0 It may be illegal to publish certain \u201cclassified\u201d (secret) information about a government agency, and yet there are cases where journalists go ahead and publish because they are following their ethical duty to serve as watchdogs on government. This was the point in the US v New York Times case over the Pentagon Papers history of Vietnam in 1971. \u00a0Publication can also lead to problems for the journalist, including jail time.<br \/>\nOn the other hand, classified military or intelligence information about the location and strength of troops, about weapons capabilities, about the identities of intelligence agents, about sources and methods of intelligence gathering are among items that may be\u00a0 unethical and illegal to publish or broadcast. These are deep waters and care is needed. \u00a0Journalists have a &#8220;special obligation to serve as watchdogs over public affairs and government,&#8221; according to the SPJ code. &#8220;Seek to ensure that the public\u2019s business is conducted in the open, and that public records are open to inspection.&#8221;\u00a0 But journalists also have an obligation to avoid endangering military and intelligence personnel.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ads and body image:<\/strong> Some kinds of advertising may be perfectly legal and yet push social boundaries and images into ethically unacceptable directions.\u00a0 The tendency to emphasize extremely thin and unhealthy body shapes for women is often considered unethical. Jean Kilbourne&#8217;s work with the\u00a0 &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Killing_Us_Softly\">Killing Us Softly<\/a>&#8221; documentary series has helped to bring this issue to light.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ads and truthfulness:<\/strong>\u00a0 It may be illegal or contrary to FTC or FCC regulations to fabricate information in advertising,\u00a0 yet social critics like\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.adbusters.org\/\">Adbusters<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/theyesmen.org\/\">Yes Men<\/a><\/strong> fabricate advertising for reasons they believe are highly ethical, such as poking fun at tobacco advertising or the lack of corporate accountability on environmental issues. In the end, what makes a parody ad acceptable is that the parody is revealed before damage is done.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Some companies engage in <strong>unethical business practices<\/strong>, and attempt to cover that up through public relations and advertising. \u00a0 For instance, tobacco, fossil fuels and indoor tanning industries have all attempted to minimize concerns about public health and environmental aspects of their businesses with highly deceptive advertising. \u00a0This is a difficult area of corporate speech that we will consider in the section on Advertising.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">These are just a few examples of the kinds of ethical complexities people in the media face.\u00a0 So it\u2019s important to understand ethical principles and professional ethical codes that might help deal with these issues.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>One last word\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Don&#8217;t be complicit. Think independently.\u00a0 \u00a0If an organization provides a template for a limited range of\u00a0 ethical responses or a narrow list of public(s) that should be considered, you may have to question the <em>a priori<\/em> assumptions and the fairness of the ethical evaluations process.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">As in the Victoria&#8217;s Secret case (above), ethical considerations should always rise above simple issues concerning company reputation. They should include concerns for possible harm to employees and the public, and also possible unethical or criminal behavior by corporate CEOs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Your ethical responsibility always extends beyond the boundaries that may have been set by your organization and should include broad social and news ecosystem considerations.<\/p>\n<h3>Reading<\/h3>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thetrustproject.org\/\">The Trust Project<\/a><\/strong> &#8212; Responding to a lack of trust in news organizations, the Trust Project was started in 2014 when Sally Lehrman began asking why technology couldn\u2019t support news trustworthiness and integrity instead of driving it down.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Media_ethics\">Media Ethics<\/a><\/strong> &#8212; Involves specific ethical principles and standards of <a title=\"Mass media\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mass_media\">media<\/a>, including\u00a0<a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Broadcast media\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Broadcast_media\">broadcast media<\/a>,\u00a0<a title=\"Film\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Film\">film<\/a>,\u00a0<a title=\"Theatre\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Theatre\">theatre<\/a>, the\u00a0<a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Arts\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arts\">arts<\/a>,\u00a0<a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Print media\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Print_media\">print media<\/a>\u00a0and the internet. The field covers many varied and highly controversial topics, ranging from\u00a0<a title=\"War correspondent\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/War_correspondent\">war journalism<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0<a title=\"Benetton Group\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Benetton_Group\">Benetton<\/a> ad campaigns. (Wikipedia)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spj.org\/ethics\/\"><strong>Society of Professional Journalists<\/strong><\/a> Code of Ethics &#8212; Maintaining high ethical standards is essential to the practice of journalism, particularly in a climate of eroding public trust in the American press and the pervasive spread of misinformation. The Society of Professional Journalists devotes considerable effort to advancing ethical journalism through a variety of resources, programs, training opportunities and our widely recognized Code of Ethics.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly all professions\u00a0 have specific ethical codes based on long\u00a0 tradition. Probably the best known is the Hippocratic Oath in which a physician vows \u201cto abstain from doing harm\u201d\u00a0 (often\u00a0 phrased as \u201cfirst, do no harm.\u201d) Similarly, communications professionals have &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/ethics\/pro-ethics\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":38,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-465","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6927,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/465\/revisions\/6927"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}