Contemporary approaches to journalistic ethics

Because interest in the ethics of journalism rose during the 1970s after 40 years of virtual silence, it seems necessary to describe the recent influx of literature and to assess its quality in order to suggest the direction it must go to reach its goal. Journalistic ethics have been approached two ways: through issues, which explore moral dilemmas, and through theories, which attempt to build ethical systems. The former successfully describe the moral context of journalism, but the latter tend to disregard the importance of careful justification, without which theories are impotent.