‘We’re more ethical than they are’: Third-person and first-person perceptions of the ethical climate of American journalists

Lee, Angela M.; Coleman, Renita

doi:10.1177/1464884918778249

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…Third, we show that, although journalists are rather worried about the spread of and citizen exposure to disinformation, EU correspondents feel rather confident about their own abilities to detect disinformation. This provides evidence for the applicability of the so-called thirdperson effect (e.g., Corbu et al, 2020;Lee and Coleman, 2020): EU correspondents consider disinformation to be a problem for the profession and European citizens but are less worried about their own abilities to deal with disinformation. This seems to be the case for journalists across the board as there are no differences between journalists working for traditional and digital media when it comes to their concerns over exposure to disinformation by EU and national citizens.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Disinformation and the Brussels bubble: EU correspondents’ concerns and competences in a digital age

2023

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European Union (EU) political actors have been heavily affected by the so-called disinformation crisis, leading to intense worries about how EU citizens may be guaranteed access to trustworthy information in the years to come. While there is increasing research on how EU officials, platforms, and political parties react to the threat of disinformation, less attention has been paid to how another crucial group of actors in Brussels copes with this threat: EU correspondents. This paper presents one of the first empirical observations of EU correspondents’ perceptions of the disinformation crisis. We conducted a survey with Brussels-based correspondents ahead of a politicized 2019 European Parliament election campaign, and asked: What are (a) the concerns and (b) self-perceived competences these correspondents have in dealing with disinformation? Our study offers two main take-aways: First, we recommend further studying EU journalism as a complex organism whose concerns and competences are influenced by intra-European differences in press freedom and journalistic professionalisation. Second, disinformation studies in the EU context must no longer neglect the challenges professional journalism faces when aiming to stop false content.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Disinformation and the Brussels bubble: EU correspondents’ concerns and competences in a digital age

2023

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“…When analysing the perceptions of journalists, we should not ignore the effect of firstperson and third-person perceptions. Regarding Lee and Coleman (2018), for example, US journalists believe that colleagues in their same organisation act unethically significantly less often and act ethically significantly more often than those at other organisations and in related industries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of professional perceptions relating to the effectiveness of codes of ethics for journalists in Spain

Mauri-Ríos

Marcos-García

Zuberogoitia-Espilla

2020

JICES

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Purpose Codes of ethics are important instruments in journalism, as they promote transparency and self-regulation of media, in addition to monitoring the quality of information. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the perceptions that Spanish journalists have of the effectiveness of codes of ethics and to evaluate the different personal and professional variables which condition this vision. Design/methodology/approach The methodology used in the present study is based on quantitative content analysis using the survey technique. This technique makes it possible to obtain empirical data on various key aspects of the profession that are determining factors in ascertaining Spanish journalists’ views of one of the instruments of accountability that is external to the media: general ethical codes. Findings The results show that Spanish journalists are largely confident in the effectiveness of ethical codes in their profession. Likewise, it was seen that variables such as age, professional experience or the media with which they work influence the perceptions that professionals have of such instruments. Originality/value If understanding journalism as a profession whose mission is to guarantee the citizens their right to information, then it is essential to be familiar with the tools provided by the profession itself to be accountable to the public regarding this professional mission. Hence the importance of instruments of accountability and the perceptions of the professionals themselves regarding their effectiveness.

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“…The second paradox was the power paradox. Externally, journalists are expected to be courageous, challenging, independent, and resistant to intimidation (Lee and Coleman 2018). They play a vital role in a democratic society by speaking truth to power, exposing the lies of governmental officials, and calling attention to important social issues.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, there are exceptions in the literature. Examples include studies of the effectiveness of training on codes of ethics (Boeyink 1994;Lee and Coleman 2018). Killebrew (2009) examined ethical leadership, journalists' satisfaction, and newsroom culture, and Bunce (2019) explored the strategies used by managers to discipline and incentivize journalists' reporting priorities.…”

Section: Extant Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Unethical Newsroom Behavior: Paradoxes and a Perfect Storm

Drumwright

Cunningham

2020

Journalism Practice

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Unethical behavior in newsrooms has come to public attention, and despite the glare of publicity, it persists. This research examines the question of why newsrooms provide a context conducive to persistent unethical workplace behaviors. We conducted 25 indepth interviews with reporters, editors, anchors, producers, and news executives. Sexual harassment has been in the public eye, but our informants also described other unethical workplace behaviors such as bullying, discrimination, and incivility. Behavioral ethics emerged as a theoretical lens to help interpret our data. Five explanatory themes arose: 1) conceiving of work solely as creating journalistic content; 2) toxic rituals, rites of passage, and norms; 3) high power differentials and acquiescent behavior; 4) ineffective organizational mechanisms; and 5) a disruptive industry context. Networks of complicity enabled the bad behavior, and together with the themes, created a perfect storm that permitted unethical behavior to persist. Two paradoxes resulted: 1) the ethics paradox in which journalists had high ethical sensitivity in reporting but were blind to unethical behavior within newsrooms and 2) the power paradox in which journalists experienced role conflict caused by the need for initiative, courage, independence, and resistance to intimidation in reporting versus the dependence, obedience, and acquiescence required within newsrooms.

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‘We’re more ethical than they are’: Third-person and first-person perceptions of the ethical climate of American journalists

Cited by 6 publications

References 52 publications

Disinformation and the Brussels bubble: EU correspondents’ concerns and competences in a digital age

Disinformation and the Brussels bubble: EU correspondents’ concerns and competences in a digital age

Analysis of professional perceptions relating to the effectiveness of codes of ethics for journalists in Spain

Unethical Newsroom Behavior: Paradoxes and a Perfect Storm

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