Journalism Ethics and Media Responsibility

by Ruben Rabinsky, Ph.D.

Objectives

After completion of this module students will be able to:

(1)   Summarize an awareness of the importance of (good) Journalism in a free society.

(2)  List the values that are necessary for producing good and ethical journalism (e.g., a commitment to discovering and reporting the truth (honesty); faithfulness to the facts (objectivity and rationality -- a commitment to unbiased, impartial, accurate description of reality); perseverance and dedication to one's task (loyalty to one's goals, dedication to one's task -- discovering the truth is not always easy);

(3)   Explain the ethics of reporting on significant or newsworthy issues of interest to preserve and promote a Free Society (to establish the relation or connection between having & preserving a Free Society and reporting on facts that are necessary to maintain an informed citizenry -- the media as "watchdog" and "Fourth Estate" in preserving a democracy); and

(4) Defend  the moral duty to think critically -- for both Journalists and consumers of the news (i.e., the general public), in assessing the quality (accuracy, objectivity) of news reports and editorials, from an epistemological and ethical point of view.