Journalism ethics

Normative questions concerning journalistic behaviors, moral and social obligations, decision-making, and news content effects comprise the growing and critical field of journalism ethics. This chapter provides an overview of the most widely used philosophical frameworks as well as discussions of some central ethical issues of journalism practice, including conflict of interest, minimizing harm, and respecting audiences. It concludes with a consideration of likely future trends in journalism ethics research, such as theorizing on pluralistic global journalism systems and more inductive, empirical scholarship that explores the moral psychology of media workers.