Disengaged Ethics

Abstract

Drawing upon scholars who call for an open and inclusive approach to journalism ethics, this paper examines empirically three recent efforts to develop or revise codes guiding journalistic practices. It explores the code developers’ intentions in their work and the values they embraced, finding widespread interest in serving the public and representing community interests. However, as new technologies and emphasis on participatory approaches have the power to reshape journalism, work on these ethical codes involved almost entirely closed processes exclusive to journalists and professional organizations. Such exclusivity calls into question the dedication to serve the public and encourage participation. It also squanders an opportunity to understand the interests of varying publics and how these might inform journalistic work, while simultaneously keeping the public from better views of journalistic practices, norms, and principles.

KEYWORDS:

• accountability
• ethics
• ethics codes
• participation
• professional associations
• social responsibility theory

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Deepest thanks to Meredith Metzler, University of Wisconsin-Madison, for assistance with planning and execution of this project.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The author participated in a later stage of editing and digital design on the ONA code but was not involved in its initial development.