Ethics: Because Printing a Photo of a Dead Body on the Front Page is Generally Frowned Upon.

The subject of ethics is one widely discussed by journalists and journalist students.  As well it should be; I think it could be argued that an  unethical journalist cannot be a good journalist.  What are ethics, though?  There is room for a whole lot of debate in this area.  I think that there are facets or principles of ethics wherein there can be room for interpretation.  There are many hard and fast rules for ethics in journalism, though.  Every newspaper has a code of ethics, such as the New York Times.  These codes can largely be found on this list of freaking everyone's code of ethics.

Everyone has their own idea of ethics.  Everyone has their own limit to how far they will go to cover a story.  I think one of the most interesting aspects of ethics in journalism is whether or not the benefit of the story counteracts the harm done.  The Society of Professional Journalists says that "Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect."  The Society goes on to explain several rules such as treating children with compassion, providing fair coverage of trials, being discreet about names of victims of sex crimes, etc.  There is some amount of specificity, clearly, but the above statement and even some of the rules can be somewhat vague.  In the end, as journalists we have to decide ourselves what is and isn't ethical.

I really think that an ethical journalist is a trustworthy journalist.  As journalists, we need to be sensitive and compassionate as well as honest and willing to investigate.  That is part of our chosen profession.  I think that anyone who disregards ethics in reporting clearly does not understand the field of journalism and what it means to be a reporter in this field.