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Journalism Ethics and Media Responsibility by Ruben Rabinsky, Ph.D. ClassroomActivities Lesson Plan Activity #1 Lesson Plan Activity #2 Lesson Plan Activity #3 Lesson Plan Activity #4 Lesson Plan Activity #5 LESSON (1) : What is Journalism? What role does this profession have in our (free) society, and what are some basic moral issues that arise in journalism? The first goal of this module is to explain what is 'journalism', and how it differs from - and is similar to - other related but distinct professions, such as teaching (education), history, and science. To reach this goal: 1. Ask students what are some possible similarities and/or differences between journalism and the other 3 professions listed above. A suggested answer is as follows: SIMILARITIES: Journalism, history, and science are interested in discovering truths about the world. Also, they each aim to be objective (impartial observers and recorders of the truth). DIFFERENCES: Science is essentially concerned with describing but also predicting nature (journalism is not interested in prediction, but it does concern itself with description too). History is essentially concerned with creating records of the past (even with events that occurred thousands of years ago), whereas journalism is interested with recent or contemporary events ("breaking news"). 1. Building on the similarities between Journalism and History, this first lesson should also try to make students aware that journalism plays a vital role in the creation of historical records of the present for the use of *future* *generations: in other words, today's news reports become part of a fabric which conveys a mosaic of what the world is like in "today's generation", which will become the "history" of tomorrow's future generations. Therefore, if news reports today do not describe the world as it "really is", then future generations will draw upon a distorted view of reality as it was here and now. This has important implications for political and social issues and the political role that the media and journalism in particular play in the preservation and promotion of a Free Society, students will be encouraged to be aware of the ethical duty to create truthful (truthful), accurate, and objective news reports - not just for the sake of today's Free Society, but for the sake of future generations who will be relying on today's news reports for an understanding and interpretation of the past, in order to deal with their own present and futures. * * LESSON (2) : An awareness of the importance of (good) Journalism in a free society (the concept of 'good' journalism will be explained in this lesson). This lesson attempts to convey the value and role of accurate, objective (good) journalism in maintaining and promoting a Free Society. Concept of "objectivity": discuss the idea that objectivity is a matter of degree such as how news reports (writing, in general) can be more or less objective, depending on how factual the report is, how accurate and impartial the report is, and whether the report tends to "mirror" the way the world is independently of the reporter's feelings and subjective biases. While some students may say that this is impossible -=- that objectivity cannot be attained, you may reply by explaining that things like the weather report or stock market reports are fairly objective (where is the biases in these reports?). Activities: 1. Show the class various clips or segments of the film, "*All the President's Men", in order to show how the decision to vote for a President can depend on the information reported by journalists. 2. Select various news reports from reputable (objective, accurate) newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal* and The New York Times, and compare and contrast these objective reports with 'reports' or stories from "sensationalistic" magazines such as The National Enquirer, to draw the contrast between 'reliable news reporting" and "sensationalistic info-tainment'. As the students: which type of news report best informs citizens, and why? What are the main differences between 1 type of news report (the objective ones) and the 'sensationalistic' ones? Why is this difference important for the task of promoting journalism? Are sensationalistic reports even classifiable as 'journalism'? Or are they entertainment? Is there anything unethical about creating & disseminating 'sensationalism' in the news? Extension Activities By having students look through various newspapers, magazines, journals, etc. (on-line or print versions) and find examples of 'objective' news reporting versus examples of 'sensationalistic' journalism, they can then: Take turns sharing and discussing your examples of news reports, both with the class as a whole, and (alternatively) in small groups. Discuss why you think some reports are objective (and how / whether this enhances the quality of the report); and why some reports are 'sensationalistic' After reading the essay, "Can Reporters Handle the Truth", by philosopher David Kelley, try to reconstruct or paraphrase the main points (reasons, premises) of Kelley's argument, and to state what is Kelley's main conclusions. Finally, critically evaluate Kelley's argument: is it a good or sound argument? Or does he commit a fallacy (error in reasoning)? Discuss whether you agree or disagree with Kelley's argument and his conclusions; gives reasons for your view. *** * * LESSON (3) : 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) To the teacher: Discovering and reporting the news is not always easy -- it can be very difficult, just as making a scientific discovery can be difficult. Therefore, in order to succeed in the task of being a 'good' journalist, one needs to cultivate special traits of character, including perseverance, conscientiousness and dedication to one's task; loyalty to the truth (honesty); rationality** (a commitment to the truth, to the facts, to reality itself). To convey these values, the following projects and ACTIVITIES may be used: Continue showing excerpts from the film, "All the Presidents Men" -- in particular, the scenes in which Bob Woodward (played by Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (played by Dustin Hoffman) are at work in the process of doing investigative journalism (spending hours at the Library of Congress looking for facts, and as they spend a lot of time and energy interviewing as many witnesses and sources as possible -- all for the task of creating a truthful (truthful), objective (impartial, fair) description of the facts and the story they're covering (in this case, the Watergate scandal in which members of the Republican party broke into the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex and stole documents and information, which led to an in-depth investigation that ultimately culminated in then-president Nixon's resignation from office). Have students go on-line to journalist Carl Bernstein's website (at www.carlbernstein.com) and have them explore the nature of a serious investigative journalist's work. In particular, as students to go to Bernstein's on-line collection of essays, and to read in particular the essay "*The Idiot Culture", in which Bernstein condemns and criticizes the "sensationalistic" nature of news reporting today, and makes a good case for a return to more professional standards of Investigative Journalism, which include accuracy and objectivity. Help students to understand that sensationalistic news reporting can create the sort of "dumbing down" of society (as described by Bernstein -- see above) and the negative consequences for a democratic free society (if citizens are uniformed and uneducated about significant socio-political events, then how can they meaningfully participate in a democracy -- and what becomes of the concept of a 'democracy' itself? Ask students to carefully watch the segments of the film, "All the Presidents Men', -- based on a true story - take notes of the main ethical issues that arise in the film. Then, write a brief essay in which you discuss 1 or more of the following: Throughout their investigative reporting, the journalists (Bernstein and Woodward) are engaged in careful research which requires a lot of perseverance -- especially as they go through a series of uncooperative, unhelpful, uninformative interviews with sources (many who deny any knowledge of the facts, or who rudely turn them away, and who mislead in various ways). Bernstein and Woodward's loyalty to "getting the facts right" -- to reporting the story "as it really happened" - is central to the ultimate success of their news coverage. QUESTION: Why and how do they refrain from reporting based on mere speculation, gossip, or "hunches" and "intuitions" about what they "feel" may be the truth? Why do they rely so much on the use REASON in order to create an argument in support of one theory as the best description of what really happened in the story? Is this use of logic really necessary or desirable in news reporting? Why or why not? Is it ethically right for Woodward and Bernstein to use an "anonymous source" such as "Deepthroat" (the person who gives them steady, reliable information or leads with which to develop their story, but who remains unnamed in the film and book)? Or should all* sources be named or identified - in order to be more accurate and truthful? Discuss some of the pro's and con's, from an ethical point of view, in keeping the identify of one's news sources private or anonymous. 3. Discuss whether the film, "All the President's Men", tends to support (or not) the main ideas developed by Kelley in his essay, regarding the nature of a free and objective news press and a Free Society. Give reasons for your view, using examples from the film. * * * Advanced Activity (Honors, AB, Gifted): (Lesson 1). 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" of a democracy) To achieve a clear and visual understanding of 'bias' and the related concept of 'propaganda', you may show students clips from the real documentary, "*OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism", in which countless examples and tactics of the Fox News enterprise are depicted and discussed, and which will convey an understanding and awareness of the ways in which the media can and does transmit biased and propaganda "news". QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION & DISCUSSION:* Does the Fox Network behave unethically by providing news reports that contain noticeable or significant 'bias' and propaganda? Should the Fox News Channel be censored or somehow "regulated" so that it does not broadcast so much bias? If so, what about the Fox's right to freedom of expression and editorial self-determination? Would censorship violate the Fox's natural right to free speech and to the exercise of their own editorial judgement? If so, is this wrong? Does the Fox Network (based on our class screening of "OUTFOXED") tend to support or undermine the foundations for a free society ? Discuss. Finally, explain to students the idea that the term 'newsworthy' is inherently "relative", in that what seems or is "newsworthy" to one person may not be newsworthy (or important) to another person. However, you should also convey that certain topics are inherently of value or significance to citizens of a Free Society, and that these topics are therefore "newsworthy" in a national sense -- and should be the focus of at least some journalistic coverage (in particular, through media which claim to provide a "balanced" and "objective" account of the news. Activities to promote this task include: 1. Have students individually make a list of topics which they think are 'newsworthy' in the sense that any well-informed, rational citizen should want (and would need) to know about these topics from an accurate, objective, well-informed news source (have students make a list of about 10 significant, or newsworthy, stories and topics or issues) 2. Then, have students make a list of topics which they find are "newsworthy" but only on a personal or individual level (e.g., news reports about their favorite celebrities, sports events, etc) 3. Finally, have students discuss and explain (either to the class as a whole, or in small groups) the difference between these two types of newsworthy stories, giving REASONS as to why 1 type of story should be of interest (or newsworthy) to everyone in society, and why the other type of report may (or should) be of interest to individuals only. 4. Also, have students discuss whether journalists (all? some?) have a moral duty to report on the "national-interest" newsworthy stories in their news reports, and why. If some students think there is no such moral duty, then ask them: what would happen to society of no journalists created and disseminated the national-interest type of news report? Could society remain free? If so, why or how? If not, why not? *** * * LESSON (2)** : the moral duty to think critically -- for both Journalists and consumers of the news. Convey to the students that Journalism (the "news enterprise") is, like any other profession, an activity which involves both producers or creators (the "journalists), and consumers (the news audience). Having established this dual aspect of Journalism, encourage students to see that while Journalists do have a moral duty to report the facts accurately and objectively (as established in the previous lessons) -- that the news audience or general public ALSO has a moral duty to THINK CRITICALLY and independently in sorting out the facts from biases, propaganda, or other misleading information. To realize this objective, the following tasks may be used: Make a list of the ways in which 'bias', 'propaganda' and other sources of deception or misleading information may appear in news reports, editorials, and other media products (TV news stories, on-line coverage, etc). The list may include such factors such as: "slanters", "hyperbole"; "appeal to non-experts"; hasty generalizations; etc. (A complete list of fallacies, slanters and other bias-creating language and devices are explored in *Critical Thinking, by Moore and Parker (see Bibliography*) and other critical reasoning texts. Have students search through newspapers, magazines, etc (online and print), and have them select news reports which contain at least 1 or more of the above-mentioned list of sources of bias, propaganda, etc Finally, have students discuss (to the class as a whole, or in small groups) which reports are biased and how the reader needs to think critically in identifying these sources of deception, bias, etc.

Journalism Ethics and Media Responsibility

by Ruben Rabinsky, Ph.D.

ClassroomActivities

Lesson Plan Activity #1

Lesson Plan Activity #2

Lesson Plan Activity #3

Lesson Plan Activity #4

Lesson Plan Activity #5

LESSON (1) : What is Journalism? What role does this profession have in our (free) society, and what are some basic moral issues that arise in journalism?

The first goal of this module is to explain what is 'journalism', and how it differs from - and is similar to - other related but distinct professions, such as teaching (education), history, and science. To reach this goal:

1. Ask students what are some possible similarities and/or differences between journalism and the other 3 professions listed above. A suggested answer is as follows:

SIMILARITIES: Journalism, history, and science are interested in discovering truths about the world. Also, they each aim to be objective (impartial observers and recorders of the truth).

DIFFERENCES: Science is essentially concerned with describing but also predicting nature (journalism is not interested in prediction, but it does concern itself with description too). History is essentially concerned with creating records of the past (even with events that occurred thousands of years ago), whereas journalism is interested with recent or contemporary events ("breaking news").

1. Building on the similarities between Journalism and History, this first lesson should also try to make students aware that journalism plays a vital role in the creation of historical records of the present for the use of future generations: in other words, today's news reports become part of a fabric which conveys a mosaic of what the world is like in "today's generation", which will become the "history" of tomorrow's future generations. Therefore, if news reports today do not describe the world as it "really is", then future generations will draw upon a distorted view of reality as it was here and now. This has important implications for political and social issues and the political role that the media and journalism in particular play in the preservation and promotion of a Free Society, students will be encouraged to be aware of the ethical duty to create truthful (truthful), accurate, and objective news reports - not just for the sake of today's Free Society, but for the sake of future generations who will be relying on today's news reports for an understanding and interpretation of the past, in order to deal with their own present and futures.

* * *

LESSON (2) : An awareness of the importance of (good) Journalism in a free society (the concept of 'good' journalism will be explained in this lesson).

This lesson attempts to convey the value and role of accurate, objective (good) journalism in maintaining and promoting a Free Society.

Concept of "objectivity": discuss the idea that objectivity is a matter of degree such as how news reports (writing, in general) can be more or less objective, depending on how factual the report is, how accurate and impartial the report is, and whether the report tends to "mirror" the way the world is independently of the reporter's feelings and subjective biases.

While some students may say that this is impossible -=- that objectivity cannot be attained, you may reply by explaining that things like the weather report or stock market reports are fairly objective (where is the biases in these reports?).

Activities:

1. Show the class various clips or segments of the film, "All the President's Men", in order to show how the decision to vote for a President can depend on the information reported by journalists.
2. Select various news reports from reputable (objective, accurate) newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and compare and contrast these objective reports with 'reports' or stories from "sensationalistic" magazines such as The National Enquirer, to draw the contrast between 'reliable news reporting" and "sensationalistic info-tainment'. As the students: which type of news report best informs citizens, and why? What are the main differences between 1 type of news report (the objective ones) and the 'sensationalistic' ones? Why is this difference important for the task of promoting journalism? Are sensationalistic reports even classifiable as 'journalism'? Or are they entertainment? Is there anything unethical about creating & disseminating 'sensationalism' in the news?

Extension Activities
By having students look through various newspapers, magazines, journals, etc. (on-line or print versions) and find examples of 'objective' news reporting versus examples of 'sensationalistic' journalism, they can then:

Take turns sharing and discussing your examples of news reports, both with the class as a whole, and (alternatively) in small groups.
Discuss why you think some reports are objective (and how / whether this enhances the quality of the report); and why some reports are 'sensationalistic'
After reading the essay, "Can Reporters Handle the Truth", by philosopher David Kelley, try to reconstruct or paraphrase the main points (reasons, premises) of Kelley's argument, and to state what is Kelley's main conclusions.
Finally, critically evaluate Kelley's argument: is it a good or sound argument? Or does he commit a fallacy (error in reasoning)? Discuss whether you agree or disagree with Kelley's argument and his conclusions; gives reasons for your view.

* * *

LESSON (3) : 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)

To the teacher: Discovering and reporting the news is not always easy -- it can be very difficult, just as making a scientific discovery can be difficult. Therefore, in order to succeed in the task of being a 'good' journalist, one needs to cultivate special traits of character, including perseverance, conscientiousness and dedication to one's task; loyalty to the truth (honesty); rationality (a commitment to the truth, to the facts, to reality itself). To convey these values, the following projects and ACTIVITIES may be used:

Continue showing excerpts from the film, "All the Presidents Men" -- in particular, the scenes in which Bob Woodward (played by Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (played by Dustin Hoffman) are at work in the process of doing investigative journalism (spending hours at the Library of Congress looking for facts, and as they spend a lot of time and energy interviewing as many witnesses and sources as possible -- all for the task of creating a truthful (truthful), objective (impartial, fair) description of the facts and the story they're covering (in this case, the Watergate scandal in which members of the Republican party broke into the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex and stole documents and information, which led to an in-depth investigation that ultimately culminated in then-president Nixon's resignation from office).
Have students go on-line to journalist Carl Bernstein's website (at www.carlbernstein.com) and have them explore the nature of a serious investigative journalist's work. In particular, as students to go to Bernstein's on-line collection of essays, and to read in particular the essay "The Idiot Culture", in which Bernstein condemns and criticizes the "sensationalistic" nature of news reporting today, and makes a good case for a return to more professional standards of Investigative Journalism, which include accuracy and objectivity.
Help students to understand that sensationalistic news reporting can create the sort of "dumbing down" of society (as described by Bernstein -- see above) and the negative consequences for a democratic free society (if citizens are uniformed and uneducated about significant socio-political events, then how can they meaningfully participate in a democracy -- and what becomes of the concept of a 'democracy' itself?

Ask students to carefully watch the segments of the film, "All the Presidents Men', -- based on a true story - take notes of the main ethical issues that arise in the film. Then, write a brief essay in which you discuss 1 or more of the following:

Throughout their investigative reporting, the journalists (Bernstein and Woodward) are engaged in careful research which requires a lot of perseverance -- especially as they go through a series of uncooperative, unhelpful, uninformative interviews with sources (many who deny any knowledge of the facts, or who rudely turn them away, and who mislead in various ways). Bernstein and Woodward's loyalty to "getting the facts right" -- to reporting the story "as it really happened" - is central to the ultimate success of their news coverage. QUESTION: Why and how do they refrain from reporting based on mere speculation, gossip, or "hunches" and "intuitions" about what they "feel" may be the truth? Why do they rely so much on the use REASON in order to create an argument in support of one theory as the best description of what really happened in the story? Is this use of logic really necessary or desirable in news reporting? Why or why not?
Is it ethically right for Woodward and Bernstein to use an "anonymous source" such as "Deepthroat" (the person who gives them steady, reliable information or leads with which to develop their story, but who remains unnamed in the film and book)? Or should all sources be named or identified - in order to be more accurate and truthful? Discuss some of the pro's and con's, from an ethical point of view, in keeping the identify of one's news sources private or anonymous.

3. Discuss whether the film, "All the President's Men", tends to support (or not) the main ideas developed by Kelley in his essay, regarding the nature of a free and objective news press and a Free Society. Give reasons for your view, using examples from the film.

* * *

Advanced Activity (Honors, AB, Gifted):

(Lesson 1). 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" of a democracy)

To achieve a clear and visual understanding of 'bias' and the related concept of 'propaganda', you may show students clips from the real documentary, "OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism", in which countless examples and tactics of the Fox News enterprise are depicted and discussed, and which will convey an understanding and awareness of the ways in which the media can and does transmit biased and propaganda "news".

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION & DISCUSSION:

Does the Fox Network behave unethically by providing news reports that contain noticeable or significant 'bias' and propaganda?
Should the Fox News Channel be censored or somehow "regulated" so that it does not broadcast so much bias? If so, what about the Fox's right to freedom of expression and editorial self-determination? Would censorship violate the Fox's natural right to free speech and to the exercise of their own editorial judgement? If so, is this wrong?
Does the Fox Network (based on our class screening of "OUTFOXED") tend to support or undermine the foundations for a free society ? Discuss.

Finally, explain to students the idea that the term 'newsworthy' is inherently "relative", in that what seems or is "newsworthy" to one person may not be newsworthy (or important) to another person. However, you should also convey that certain topics are inherently of value or significance to citizens of a Free Society, and that these topics are therefore "newsworthy" in a national sense -- and should be the focus of at least some journalistic coverage (in particular, through media which claim to provide a "balanced" and "objective" account of the news. Activities to promote this task include:

1. Have students individually make a list of topics which they think are 'newsworthy' in the sense that any well-informed, rational citizen should want (and would need) to know about these topics from an accurate, objective, well-informed news source (have students make a list of about 10 significant, or newsworthy, stories and topics or issues)
2. Then, have students make a list of topics which they find are "newsworthy" but only on a personal or individual level (e.g., news reports about their favorite celebrities, sports events, etc)
3. Finally, have students discuss and explain (either to the class as a whole, or in small groups) the difference between these two types of newsworthy stories, giving REASONS as to why 1 type of story should be of interest (or newsworthy) to everyone in society, and why the other type of report may (or should) be of interest to individuals only.
4. Also, have students discuss whether journalists (all? some?) have a moral duty to report on the "national-interest" newsworthy stories in their news reports, and why. If some students think there is no such moral duty, then ask them: what would happen to society of no journalists created and disseminated the national-interest type of news report? Could society remain free? If so, why or how? If not, why not?

* * *

LESSON (2) : the moral duty to think critically -- for both Journalists and consumers of the news.

Convey to the students that Journalism (the "news enterprise") is, like any other profession, an activity which involves both producers or creators (the "journalists), and consumers (the news audience). Having established this dual aspect of Journalism, encourage students to see that while Journalists do have a moral duty to report the facts accurately and objectively (as established in the previous lessons) -- that the news audience or general public ALSO has a moral duty to THINK CRITICALLY and independently in sorting out the facts from biases, propaganda, or other misleading information. To realize this objective, the following tasks may be used:

Make a list of the ways in which 'bias', 'propaganda' and other sources of deception or misleading information may appear in news reports, editorials, and other media products (TV news stories, on-line coverage, etc). The list may include such factors such as: "slanters", "hyperbole"; "appeal to non-experts"; hasty generalizations; etc. (A complete list of fallacies, slanters and other bias-creating language and devices are explored in Critical Thinking, by Moore and Parker (see Bibliography) and other critical reasoning texts.
Have students search through newspapers, magazines, etc (online and print), and have them select news reports which contain at least 1 or more of the above-mentioned list of sources of bias, propaganda, etc
Finally, have students discuss (to the class as a whole, or in small groups) which reports are biased and how the reader needs to think critically in identifying these sources of deception, bias, etc.