Ethics for Journalists tackles many of the issues which journalists face in their everyday lives – from the media's supposed obsession with sex, sleaze and sensationalism, to issues of regulation and censorship. Its accessible style and question and answer approach highlights the relevance of ethical issues for everyone involved in journalism, both trainees and professionals, whether working in print, broadcast or new media.
Ethics for Journalists provides a comprehensive overview of ethical dilemmas and features interviews with a number of journalists, including the celebrated investigative reporter Phillip Knightley. Presenting a range of imaginative strategies for improving media standards and supported by a thorough bibliography and a wide ranging list of websites, Ethics for Journalists, second edition, considers many problematic subjects including:
- representations of gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, mental health and suicide
- ethics online – ‘citizen journalism’ and its challenges to ‘professionalism’
- controversial calls for a privacy law to restrain the power of the press
- journalistic techniques such as sourcing the news, doorstepping, deathknocks and the use of subterfuge
- the handling of confidential sources and the dilemmas of war and peace reporting.