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Online Journalism Ethics: Traditions and Transitions
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Comments/Reviews
Description: Online media present both old and new ethical issues for journalists who must make decisions in an interactive, instantaneous environment short on normative standards or guidelines. This user-friendly text guides prospective and professional journalists through ethical questions encountered only online.
Including real-life examples and perspectives from online journalists in every chapter, the book examines the issues of gathering information, reporting, interviewing, and writing for mainstream news organizations on the Web. It considers the ethical implications of linking, interactivity, verification, transparency, and Web advertising, as well as the effects of convergence on newsrooms. It also addresses the question of who is a journalist and what is journalism in an age when anyone can be a publisher. Each chapter includes a complex case study that promotes critical thinking and classroom discussion about how to apply the ethical issues covered.
Selected Contents:
Introduction: The Practice and Promise of Journalistic Ethics in a Digital World
1. Traditions, Conventions, and Ethics
History of Journalism Conventions and Principles
Independence, the Inverted Pyramid, and Objectivity
Technology, Interactivity, and the New Media
Case Study: Political Blog
Notes
2. Newsrooms Go Online
A Brief History
Online Journalism and Its Audience Today
Who Is a Journalist?
The Online Journalist as Gatekeeper
Case Study: News Director as Gatekeeper
Notes
3. Gathering and Sharing Information
Accuracy and Verification
Source Transparency as a New Ethic
Case Study: Transparency and Verification
Notes
4. Ethics and the Law
Privacy and Deception: Can You Hide Your Prying Eyes?
Local Statutes, Global Medium
Shield Laws: Who Is a Journalist?
Case Study: Deception Justified?
Notes
5. Blogs and Other "Participatory Journalists"
Are Bloggers Journalists?
Bloggers and Journalistic Principles
Bloggers' Ethics
Watchdogs on the Watchdogs
Journalists Who Blog
Case Study: Newspaper's Blog
Notes
6. Beyond Blogs: Other Interactive News Forms
User-Generated Content
News Organizations' Citizen Media Initiatives
Polling and the Web
Interactive Dialogue Through E-mail
Case Study: A Citizen's Initiative
Notes
7. Commercial Issues and Content Linking
Church-State Separation of Advertising and News
Linking and Implied Endorsement of Linked-to Content
Case Study: Linking to YouTube.com
Notes
8. Cross-Platform Journalism, Partnering, and Cross-Ownership
Public Service
Culture Clashes
Branding and Cross-Promotion
Employer Ethics
Conclusion
Case Study: The TV Critic in a Partnered Newsroom
Notes
Appendices
A. Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists
B. Founding Priciples of the Online News Association
C. Key Concepts from The Elements of Journalism
Index
About the Authors
Comment(s): "We live in a world of participatory media, a world in which we expect to be not only consumers but producers of mediated messages. That world begs new ethical questions and presents new kinds of professional dilemmas that challenge our definitions of objectivity, authorship, authority and yes, even journalism itself. Friend and Singer provide a comprehensive roadmap to that new world of journalistic practice, one that will serve as a compelling and effective guide for students and working journalists alike." -- Dr. Dianne Lynch, Dean, Park School of Communications, Ithaca College
Review(s): For the 21st century journalist, with a virtual world at their fingertips, and the ability to publish globally, instantly, across legal and cultural boundaries, and to audiences of both 'digital natives' and 'digital immigrants,' it's easy to make an error of judgement that will cost you. Ethical issues have become central, and this book is an essential starting point for considering them. Paul Bradshaw, Online Journalism Blog
Online Journalism Ethics provides a good read for professionals, researchers who want an overview of media's ongoing transformation, and professors. It also would serve well as a supplement to media ethics readings in a broader perspective. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
Friend and Singer provide a useful roundup to summarize the growing number of issues related to the evolving ethical theories and practices of online journalism. The strength of the book lies in its subtitle -- 'transitions' -- as the writers describe journalism's struggles to adopt its traditional rules in a communication channel that revels in having no rules. ... Newcomers and journalism students will find Online Journalism Ethics a strong start in summarizing the key issues and pointing out the traditional trailheads that can prove useful for online trailblazers. The Convergence Newsletter
[The book] provides a much-needed critical investigation of the intricacies of media ethics in the new interactive information space. The book's focus on the specific challenges of the online medium and on defining the online journalist is one of its strengths. The authors propose convincingly that the crucial distinctions between journalists and the rest of the Internet population is their ethical stance and their duty to provide reliable information to foster democratic discourse and an informed citizenry. ...
Each of the eight chapters includes an instructive case study with questions that help the reader apply ideas to concrete ethical dilemmas. The book's accompanying exhibits, breakout boxes with expert statements, explanations, and interviews with practitioners are an additional strength. ... This book is a thought-provoking and valuable tool for teaching online journalism ethics. It gives a comprehensive overview of the many ethical challenges of Web journalism. Journal of Mass Media Ethics
    
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