BYO journalism ethics

In this ever-evolving digital age, there are few clear-cut rules

In the days before a badly written book about a guy named Grey became a global bestseller, I would often refer to the “shades of grey” in journalism ethics.

While one can’t go there these days without evoking smirks about the sexually explicit 50 Shades of Grey, the fact remains that many aspects of journalism ethics are not a black and white matter.

And certainly the most intriguing and challenging ethical dilemmas of journalism often involve those many shades of grey.

My job, indeed that of all journalists, would be so much easier if journalism standards and ethics were always a clear-cut matter of “Thou shalt do this, thou shalt not do that.” It is rarely that simple. The reality of the complexity of journalism ethics in our ever-evolving digital era is the guiding principle of an important new ethics initiative presented last week at the annual Online News Association conference held in Los Angeles and attended by more than 2,000 journalists from across North America.

The “Build Your Own Ethics Code” project, led by veteran journalist Thomas Kent, standards editor of The Associated Press, involved more than 20 journalists working together for more than two years and soliciting input from many more journalists throughout North America.

The initiative is rooted in the premise that beyond a few fundamental and unassailable principles, journalism ethics cannot be cast in stone and that policy and practice can — and does — vary across news organizations and among individual journalists.

That doesn’t mean anything goes. Or, that journalists should just make their own rules as they go along. After establishing four fixed points of journalism values, the “BYO” ethics project provides a digital tool that guides journalists to customize their own codes of conduct based on a range of “building blocks” to consider in ethical decision-making.

First, the important fixed points of journalism ethics. These are non-negotiable — indeed “black and white” fundamentals of all journalism, the core of every one of the dozens and dozens of journalism standards code I have looked at in recent years. These are: Tell the truth. Journalists are honest, accurate, truthful and fair. We give people opportunity to respond to critical allegations, correct our errors, clearly distinguish fact from opinion in all content and “do not distort or fabricate facts, imagery, sound or data.”

Avoid conflicts of interest. Journalists avoid any conflict of interest that undermines our ability to report fairly. And, the ethics guide states, “disclose to your audience any unavoidable conflicts or situational factors that may validly affect your judgment of our credibility.”

Community. Respect our audiences and those we report about. The guide states: “Consider how your work and its permanence may affect the subjects of your reporting, your community and, since the Internet knows no boundaries, the larger world.”

Professional conduct: Don’t plagiarize; keep your promises to sources, readers and your community.

Beyond those basics, the project encourages thought and discussion to determine where we stand as news organizations and as individual journalists on more than 40 specific issues including confidential sources, covering children and how we handle information gathered on social media.

“We started with the recognition that the journalism profession encompasses ever more people, philosophies and technologies,” Kent says. “There are many definitions these days of a ‘journalist,’ making it more important than ever for journalists to be clear about who they are and what they stand for.

“We believe the best hope for convincing all journalists to adopt and live by an ethics code is to give them ownership and flexibility in creating one.”

Steve Buttry, a Louisiana State University journalism professor and a well-travelled newsroom journalism trainer who was involved in the project from the outset, says the BYO code recognizes that journalists are rarely unanimous in our views on ethics policies and practice.

He sees great value in the debate and discussion this new tool enables.

“As I’ve said many times, good ethical decisions don’t come from good rules but from many good conversations about ethics,” Buttry wrote in a recent blog post about the online ethics project.

While this initiative is geared to journalists, I think it is instructive for our audiences as well. It is well worth checking out to learn more about the many shades of grey of journalism ethics. You can find it at ethics.journalists.org publiced@thestar.ca