This handout was developed as part of an API Tailored Programs seminar funded by a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.
Our Readers Are Watching, Houston Chronicle, August, 2006
To learn more, contact API's Director of Tailored Programs, Steve Buttry, sbuttry@americanpressinstitute.org

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Ethical (and unethical) decisions have consequences

Journalism ethics is not simply some sort of journo-theological musing about right and wrong. In a Harris Poll released in August 2006, Americans said they trusted journalists to tell the truth less than they trust the president and just barely more than they trust members of Congress. Only 39 percent of those polled said they trusted journalists to tell the truth. Scrupulously ethical behavior is essential to rebuild readers’ trust. Unethical behavior has lots of negative consequences:

Consequences for the journalist: Serious ethical breaches, such as plagiarism, fabrication, graft or digital alteration of photo content, generally result in firing from most news organizations. While some of these offenses used to be handled quietly, news organizations now confess their sins publicly, identifying the sinner. Count on your offense being on Romenesko by the end of the day for all prospective employers to read. If your ethical lapse isn’t a firing offense, you still can count on an uncomfortable stretch as you explain your decision, receive a lesser punishment and spend months, if not years, trying to regain respect. Don’t count on a third strike, even for minor offenses.

Consequences for colleagues: Unethical behavior by individual journalists causes embarrassment for other journalists, who need to reassure sources that they wouldn’t do that and they can be trusted.

Consequences for the organization: Long after readers have forgotten the name of an offending journalist, they will remember that their local paper made up a story or doctored a photo. For most readers, credibility rests with the news outlet, not the individual journalist. One journalist’s dishonest action harms the newspaper and web site immeasurably.

Consequences for readers: Readers use newspapers to help make decisions. Fraudulent journalism can cause readers to make misinformed decisions. Exposure of fraudulent journalism erodes trust so readers are unduly skeptical of honest journalism. Trust takes far longer to restore than to destroy.

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