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Dean Wright on Ethics, Innovation and Values

14:40 June 29th, 2009

Ethics tips — and more — for budding journalists

Posted by: Dean Wright
Tags: Full Disclosure, , , , , , , ,

dean-150Dean Wright is Global Editor, Ethics, Innovation and News Standards. Any opinions are his own.

YouTube has launched a worthy project called the Reporters’ Center, a collection of videos from journalists around the industry providing advice for aspiring citizen journalists.

I’ve contributed a piece on ethics and gaining and keeping the trust of your audience, and my Reuters colleague Adam Pasick, the U.S. editor of Reuters.com, has done a piece on shooting different kinds of video interviews.

You’ll also find contributions from folks who are a lot more famous, such as Katie Couric, Bob Woodward and Arianna Huffington, among others.

One comment so far

Just watched your video and totally agree: Most news consumers don’t know whom to trust these days. The explosion of online media makes it extremely difficult. You’re right that the basic principles of honesty, fairness, transparency, non-bias, and truth are more important than ever — especially in the new world of citizen journalism. As Scott Gant’s savvy book put it: “We’re All Journalists Now.” If all those who practice any form of journalism, however defined, would be more transparent, accountable and open about who they are and where they’re coming from, credibility and trust might be regained. They should also welcome challenges, correct mistakes promptly and — perhaps most important — have a little humility. The Washington News Council (www.wanewscouncil.org) has been promoting these ideas for almost a dozen years now. Journalism is vital to democracy, but it must earn public trust or it will be rendered irrelevant.

- Posted by John Hamer

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