Seek Truth and Journalists should: Minimize Harm Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect. Journalists should: Act Independently The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public. Journalists should: Be Accountable and Transparent Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public. Journalists should:
Making ethics accessible and applicable to media practice, Media Ethics: Key Principles for Responsible Practice explains key ethical principles and their application in print and broadcast journalism, public relations, advertising, marketing, and digital media. Unlike application-oriented case books, this text sets forth the philosophical underpinnings of key principles and explains how each should guide responsible media behavior. Author Patrick Lee Plaisance synthesizes classical and contemporary ethics in an accessible way to help students ask the right questions and develop their critical reasoning skills, both as media consumers and media professionals of the future. The revised and expanded second edition includes new examples and case studies throughout, expanded coverage of digital media, and two new chapters distinguishing the three major frameworks of media ethics and exploring media ethics across new media platforms including blogs, new forms of digital journalism, and social networking sites. David Celiberti, PhD, BCBA-D, Carolyn J. Sniezyk, MS, BCBA, and Erin Leif, PhD, BCBA-D The Ethical Journalism Network has identified five common themes. In this short piece, we would like to showcase these five core principles and discuss how they intersect with media representations of autism treatment. As we highlight below, the current landscape of the autism community is fraught with multiple threats and challenges to these core principles. Finally, in the spirit of promoting accuracy and transparency, we also offer some proactive strategies and considerations.
The following sources provide more information about ethics for journalists: IFJ Global Charter of Ethics for Journalists (International), Accountable Journalism (International), Society of Professional Journalists (USA), European Federation of Journalists (Europe), MEAA Journalist Code of Ethics (Australia). We hope these ethical guidelines, along with the proactive strategies described above, serve as a useful source of guidance for journalists who are looking to write the next story on autism. Citation for this article: Celiberti, D., Sniezyk, C., & Leif, E. (2020). Five principles of ethical journalism: Implications for media representations of autism treatment. Science in Autism Treatment, 18(2). Other ASAT articles that may be of interest: |