Should journalists ever conceal the identities of their sources? When, if ever, might it be okay for a journalist to use deception to pursue a story? When is it okay for a journalist to invade an individual’s privacy? Should a newspaper refrain from showing graphic images out of fear of upsetting its readers? Journalists across the country, at large and small news organizations, make tough decisions every day about what to cover and how to cover it. While the law tells them what they can and cannot do, it doesn’t tell them what they should and should not do. To provide guidance, they turn to well-established principles of journalism ethics. However, the process of ethical decision-making rarely involves easy answers. Approaches to ethical decision-making do not provide concrete answers but instead give journalists the necessary tools to be able to defend their conduct based on ethical principles.

After watching this video you should be able to:

• Identify some common ethical problems journalists face

• Explain what constitutes an “ethical dilemma”

• Explain major ethical decision-making approaches/strategies

• Apply ethical decision-making approaches/strategies to ethical dilemmas