Journalism Ethics for the Global Citizen

UW SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATION

ADVISORY BOARD

Journalism and Holocaust Deniers On February 22, 2010, the Badger Herald, an independent student newspaper at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, accepted a paid advertisement for its online site from well-known Holocaust denier Bradley Smith, after the newspaper had posted and then removed anti-Semitic comments from its online stories about a fraternity on the UW campus. The paid ad linked to Smith’s Web site. The Herald’s ad sparked a heated controversy, and generated condemnation from many students and others on campus. Jewish students demanded that the ad be taken down. However, the paper refused to remove the ad, based on its libertarian commitment to a free marketplace of ideas and its belief that students and academics on campus would quickly see Smith for what he is – a non-credible Holocaust denier. On March 4, students and academics gathered on campus to debate the Herald’s editorial position and to talk more generally about the issue of journalism ethics and controversial speech. Among the participants on the evening’s panel were Stephen J. A. Ward, director of this Web site and the Center for Journalism Ethics, Prof. Lewis Friedland of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SOJMC), Jason Smathers, a graduate student at the SOJMC and managing editor of the Badger Herald, and Nick Penzenstadler, another SOJMC student and publisher of the Herald. This section opens up editorial space for some of these participants to express their positions. Prof. Friedland begins with his reflections after the March 4 meeting. We also add links to previously published columns by Smathers and Penzenstadler. The intent of this section is to probe more deeply into the reasoning of the dissenting views, and to explore what can be learned from this dispute for the future. Timeline of Events Read more >
The First Amendment and Moral Responsibility Lewis Friedland, March 8, 2010 The Herald equates stubbornness with defense of the First Amendment, and moral harm with public good. Both views indicate a failure on our part to teach them the difference. Read more >
Ethics of Controversial Speech – Things to Read Ethical Exploration of Free Expression [PDF 174 kb] Hate Speech or Reasonable Racism [PDF 201 kb] History, Hate and Hegemony [PDF 182 kb]

FEATURE ARTICLES

Teaching Journalism Ethics, One Village at a Time
Shakuntala Rao, March 1, 2010
Established in 1926, Andhra University is one of the oldest universities in India with 70 departments, 5 campus colleges and 10,000 students. Professor Ramakrishna Challa has recently developed a course on journalism ethics which, he says, has become a necessary part of the curriculum given the changing nature of global media and its impact on even a place like Vishakhapatnam.
Read more >

The Limits of Libertarianism
Robert Drechsel, February 4, 2010
Media law expert Robert Drechsel reviews the controversial decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a federal law that prohibited corporations from spending general treasury funds to advocate the election or defeat of political candidates. Drechsel argues that the ruling reveals the limits of libertarianism on political speech issues. Read more >

God, Disasters, and the Media
Stephen JA Ward, January 19, 2010
The Haitian earthquake coverage raises many issues of media coverage – its quality, limitations, the graphic images, the attempt to report amid chaos. It also raises another issue: What is the place of God in the coverage? Read more >

Does the Press Still Care About Women’s Rights?
Sue Steinberg, January 18, 2010
Sue Steinberg questions whether the media today is still committed to advancing women’s rights and questioning stereotypes. Read more >

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WISCONSIN COMMITMENT TO JOURNALISM ETHICS AWARD
Call for nominations
Nomination form

January 29 ethics rountable
The Center for Journalism Ethics teamed up with two other centers to discuss the ethical dimensions of fundraising, agenda-setting, conflicts of interest, and new technologies.
Roundtable program PDF [1.5 MB]

Stephen J.A. Ward & Herman Wasserman [PDF 1.85 MB]
MEDIA ETHICS: BEYOND BORDERS

New book by Stephen J.A. Ward, GLOBAL JOURNALISM ETHICS,
to be published Spring 2010

JOURNALISM ETHICS NEWS

Turkish media in "identity crisis"
Today's Zaman/Turkey (03-02-2010)
UNESCO-sponsored conference looks at democratization pressures on media in Turkey, Balkans

Ethics in a new-media world
The Independent/UK (03-01-2010)
UK Journalism professor lauds independent media's role as government watchdog.

"Legacy media" should listen
Univ of Southern California News (03-01-2010)
J-school host talk on the changing face of news; education as a two-way road

Let Haiti tell its own story
The Digital Journalist/International (March, 2010)
Prize-winning photographer argues for local control of visual narrative.

WARD'S WORDS
A frank, personal view of the leading ethics issues at home and abroad

Carrying a Torch for Ethics
With any other controversial story involving $2 billion in taxpayers' money, journalists would fall over themselves to cultivate a critical approach, writes Stephen J.A. Ward. Why is it different with the Olympics?

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