Ward’s Words Column

Funding experiments are welcome and there’s nothing wrong with journalists looking for new ways to pay for reporting, writes Stephen J.A. Ward. But why assume funding from a foundation is any less fraught with potential conflicts than advertising from Zellers?

For too long, journalists have indulged in cant about how their standards meet the expectations of the public, and how they seek public input on ethical issues.

Even textbooks make the public an important player. The sub-title of the popular The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel is: What Newspeople Should Know and The Public Should Expect

At a recent conference on the future of ethical journalism, several journalists argued that the current media revolution does not entail a revolution in ethics.

Critics have long accused objective reporters of hiding behind facts to avoid taking a stand on crucial issues.

How little these people know about the courage it takes for journalists to be objective. How little they know about what it takes to stand behind a commitment to telling the truth, and to stating a fact as a fact.

Should we close journalism schools?

The language of journalism ethics today is like bad Irish stew – a mishmash of different and conflicting ideas, rules, and practices.

Ethical mumbo-jumbo.

Doing ethics in journalism has never been easy.

Across the history of modern journalism, journalists have struggled against economic and political powers to be independent and responsible public communicators.

Journalism educators need to actively respond to these trends by developing a clear conception of the distinct nature and overriding social value of journalism in a digital democracy.