Morals and the Media : Ethics in Canadian Journalism

Table of Contents

• Contents 8
• Preface 10
• Acknowledgments 12
• Introduction 13
• Part 1: The Framework 16
• 1 Values and Evaluation 18
• What influences newsroom decisions? 19
• the family newspaper 20
• giving audiences what they want 21
• free enterprise vs. journalism 22
• codes of ethics 24
• Kohlberg’s moral ladder 26
• Kohlberg’s reward and punishment 28
• red light vs. green light ethics 29
• tough calls 29
• 2 The Nature of News 30
• Good vs. bad news 32
• all the news that fits 33
• the personality of papers 33
• credibility: hard won, easily lost 34
• bitch, bitch, bitch: news consumers’ prime complaints 35
• accuracy 35
• fairness 36
• loaded language 36
• irony 37
• privacy 38
• sensationalism 38
• arrogance and lack of independence 41
• management interference 42
• tough calls 43
• 3 The Role of the Media 45
• Reporters report? 46
• social responsibility 48
• the media and the status quo 50
• objectivity and truth 51
• is truth accuracy and accuracy truth? 52
• objectivity and balance 53
• objectivity and motivation 54
• objectivity and the five Ws 57
• objectivity vs. detachment and independence 58
• the journalist as advocate 58
• tough calls 58
• 4 Freedom of the Press 60
• The Charter of Rights and Freedoms 60
• freedom brings responsibility 60
• tough calls 63
• Part 2: The Pressures 64
• 5 The Media and Money 66
• Advertisers’ clout 66
• advertorial 67
• chequebook journalism 71
• brass cheques 74
• boilerplate 75
• junket journalism 77
• paying for coverage 79
• there’s no such thing as a free lunch 79
• tough calls 81
• 6 Conflict of Interest 82
• When is a freelancer free? 82
• private wives, private lives? 84
• public service, private conflict 88
• being seen to be clean 90
• in dispute: the union 91
• using the media for personal gain 91
• tough calls 92
• 7 Pack Journalism and Celebrity Journalism 93
• Pack editing 97
• the journalist as star 98
• tough calls 100
• 8 Manipulating the Media 101
• Overt manipulation: the law as a weapon 101
• the vulnerability of broadcasters 102
• the ubiquitous press release 103
• the media event: making it easy 104
• the news conference 107
• the boys and girls on the bus 107
• scrums: who wins? 108
• budget lock-ups 109
• no time for new news? 109
• sources fight back 110
• covert methods 111
• biting the hand that feeds 113
• tough calls 114
• 9 Naming Names and Revealing Sources 115
• Covering courts 115
• when courts demand sources 118
• when courts demand notes and tapes 122
• should journalists protect their friends? 124
• tough calls 124
• 10 To Press or to Suppress? 125
• Going off the record 125
• anonymous sources run riot 127
• breaking the promise 128
• leaving things out 129
• tough calls 136
• 11 Playing Fast and Loose with the Truth 137
• Hoaxes on the media 137
• hoaxes by the media 140
• first you don’t see it, then you do 142
• special techniques 145
• subterfuge: reporter as sleuth 145
• getting it taped 148
• stolen words: innocent accident or capital crime? 149
• after errors: who’s sorry now? 151
• tough calls 152
• Part 3: The Pitfalls, Potholes, and Impediments 154
• 12 Fair Game: The Media and Privacy 156
• Scenes of grief 158
• public people and private lives 162
• are relatives fair game? 165
• are ordinary citizens fair game? 166
• should we never forget? 167
• a dirty job: does somebody have to do it? 168
• covering suicides 170
• tough calls 170
• 13 Blood and Guts: The Media and Violence 172
• Some cases 176
• the many forms of violence 179
• when words suffice 183
• tough calls 185
• 14 The Naughty Bits: The Media and Sex 187
• Nudity in the news 187
• people as sex objects 189
• sexist language 192
• erotica in the community 193
• ads that provoke 194
• words alone 195
• reporting vulgarity 196
• tough calls 197
• 15 Hide the Paper: The Media and Language 198
• Print vs. broadcast 199
• which words offend? 200
• printing the unprintable 201
• taking the name in vain 203
• AIDS: communicating the unmentionable 203
• drawing the line 204
• tough calls 208
• 16 Different Media: Different Problems 209
• News agencies 209
• print media 210
• ethics on the airwaves 216
• ethics on the Internet 223
• tough calls 225
• Part 4: Renewal 226
• 17 Righting Writing Wrongs 228
• Ways the public can seek redress 230
• ways the media can reach out 235
• civic journalism 239
• appeals to press councils 243
• appeals to ombudspersons 246
• tough calls 247
• 18 Codes of Conduct 248
• Codes don’t make you good 248
• the role and sources of codes 249
• a code for all 250
• the case against codes 251
• sticks and carrots 252
• what sort of discipline? 254
• who and what should a code cover? 256
• tough calls 258
• Conclusion 260
• Appendices 268
• Notes 276
• Select Bibliography 310
• Credits 316
• Index 318
• A 318
• B 318
• C 318
• D 319
• E 319
• F 319
• G 319
• H 319
• I 319
• J 320
• K 320
• L 320
• M 320
• N 320
• O 320
• P 320
• R 321
• S 321
• T 321
• U 321
• V 321
• W 321
• Y 321
• Z 321