Library and Academic Services: Journalism: Ethics

Ethics & Fact Checking

Accuracy, fairness, independence, and integrity are some of the guiding principles in journalism, even in a breaking-news world.

CAJ (Canadian Association of Journalists) Ethics Guidelines
This document – along with the accompanying “Principles for Ethical Journalism” – is intended to help both seasoned professionals and new journalists to hold themselves accountable for professional work. While many specific questions are considered here, it is impossible to capture all potential scenarios in a document such as this. Instead, it seeks to provide examples of the application of our general ethical principles, and to help journalists apply those principles and their best judgment when faced with scenarios not covered here. --From the Preamble
**Also available as a downloadable PDF.
FactsCan
Launched in 2015, FactsCan aims to check claims made by public figures in Canada.
International Fact-Checking Network
The IFCN is a unit of the Poynter Institute with the purpose of bringing together fact checkers from across the world.
Snopes
From their 'About Us' page:
Snopes got its start in 1994, investigating urban legends, hoaxes, and folklore. Founder David Mikkelson, later joined by his wife, was publishing online before most people were connected to the internet. As demand for reliable fact checks grew, so did Snopes. Now it’s the oldest and largest fact-checking site online, widely regarded by journalists, folklorists, and readers as an invaluable research companion.

Library Resources

Media Ethics at Work by Lee Anne Peck; Guy S. Reel (Editor)
Location: PN 4756 .M355 2017 (Exchange District Campus)
Each story is presented as a narrative, so students can work through the ethical dilemmas as they unfold, encouraging readers to think about and ask the question: “What would I do if this happened to me?” By creating a more personalized experience for students beginning their first entry-level media jobs or internship, this book helps readers develop their own ethical standards and apply in the workplace what they have learned.
The Crisis of Journalism Reconsidered by Jeffrey C. Alexander (Editor); Elizabeth Butler Breese (Editor); Marîa Luengo (Editor)
Location: PN 4756 .C85 2016 (Exchange District Campus)
This collection of original essays brings a dramatically different perspective to bear on the contemporary "crisis of journalism." Rather than seeing technological and economic change as the primary causes of current anxieties, The Crisis of Journalism Reconsidered draws attention to the role played by the cultural commitments of journalism itself.
Think/Point/Shoot by Annette Danto (Editor); Mobina Hashmi (Editor); Lonnie Isabel (Editor)
Location: P 94 .D37 2017 (Exchange District Campus)
Think/Point/Shoot gives students a thorough overview of the role of ethics in modern media creation. Case studies emphasize the critical issues in global media ethics today in all stages of media creation from preproduction research and development, to production and post production.
Disrupting Journalism Ethics by Stephen J. A. Ward
Location: eBook
The book contends that long-established ways of thinking, which have come down to us from the history of journalism, need radical conceptual reform, with alternate conceptions of the role of journalism and fresh principles to evaluate practice. Through a series of disruptions, the book undermines the traditional principles of journalistic neutrality and "just the facts" reporting. It proposes an alternate philosophy of journalism as engagement for democracy.

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