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=== Famous controversies ===
  
=== Famous controversies ===
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* New York Newsday front cover, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Olympic figure skaters pasted to appear in the same scene
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* New York [[Newsday]] front cover, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Olympic figure skaters pasted to appear in the same scene
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* Newsweek and Time Magazine covers, OJ Simpson case. Newsweek runs the raw police mug short and Time runs a darkened "photo illustration" of the accused sports star. Even the police "plate" numbers were manipulated in the Time photo.
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* [[Newsweek]] and [[Time]] magazine covers, O.J. Simpson case. Newsweek runs the raw police mug short and Time runs a darkened "photo illustration" of the accused sports star. Even the police "plate" numbers were manipulated in the Time photo.
 
* National Geographic, moving an Egyption pyramid on its cover shot to fit the vertical orientation.
  
* National Geographic, moving an Egyption pyramid on its cover shot to fit the vertical orientation.
 
* Newsweek, and Martha Stewart. On her losing weight in prison, pasted her head onto the body of another person, and used on front cover of the magazine.
  
* Newsweek, and Martha Stewart. On her losing weight in prison, pasted her head onto the body of another person, and used on front cover of the magazine.

Revision as of 06:38, 4 April 2005

Journalism ethics concern issues such as:

  • conflicts of interest,
  • privacy,
  • right of response, and
  • truthfulness.


Reporting

Two of the most infamous ethical cases involved Janet Cooke and Jayson Blair.

Cooke, of The Washington Post, was found to have fabricated a child heroin addict. She later said the child was a composite.

Blair, of The New York Times, was found to have fabricated and plagiarized many articles. The case led to the resignation of The Times' editor, Howell Raines.

Cooke and Blair are black. Views vary as to what role, if any, race might have played in these cases.

As of 2005, more recent cases have involved:

  • Jeff Gannon
  • Jack Kelley of USA Today
  • Dan Rather of CBS News
  • video news releases

Photos

Digital cameras and photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop enable more opportunity to manipulate photos. This has become especially common when it comes to celebrity pictures. (cite: Martha Stewart, March 2005)


Ethics

Here are key statements from Paragraph 4 of the National Press Photographers Association ethics code:

"In documentary photojournalism, it is wrong to alter the content of a photograph in any way (electronically or in the darkroom) that deceives the public. We believe the guidelines for fair and accurate reporting should be the criteria for judging what may be done electronically to a photograph."

The reference to "documentary photojournalism" is apparently intended to differentiate itself from photo illustration.

Whether a photo illustration is acceptable can hinge on whether it is obvious that the image is not accurate and the context in which it is presented.

Famous controversies

  • New York Newsday front cover, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Olympic figure skaters pasted to appear in the same scene
  • Newsweek and Time magazine covers, O.J. Simpson case. Newsweek runs the raw police mug short and Time runs a darkened "photo illustration" of the accused sports star. Even the police "plate" numbers were manipulated in the Time photo.
  • National Geographic, moving an Egyption pyramid on its cover shot to fit the vertical orientation.
  • Newsweek, and Martha Stewart. On her losing weight in prison, pasted her head onto the body of another person, and used on front cover of the magazine.

Ethics Codes Online

European collection

U.S. professional associations

U.S. Newspapers

A-K

L-Z

Other external links

This article is incomplete, and could use your help.

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