Legal and Ethical Considerations

This chapter focuses on the important and complex issues of law and ethics, the cornerstones of good journalism. The pillars of news reporting (accuracy, fairness, and objectivity) are among the major considerations for those who work in the news industry. Additionally, there are ongoing debates over bias, objectivity, favoritism, and a number of other legal and ethical issues. Other concerns are also vexing to newsrooms. “Fake news” is particularly disturbing, as these false news stories are presented as factual, usually on social media accounts. Since these erroneous news stories can go viral at breakneck speed, there is often no chance to check them for accuracy, fairness, or objectivity. Even worse is when such a story is picked up by traditional news outlets, thus giving validity to a story that was false from its inception. This chapter is split into the two broad areas of law and ethics. The law guidelines are broad (there can be differences among states and cities), but the underlying principles of accuracy and fairness are universal. The ethics discussions detail the dilemmas that appear frequently among broadcast journalists, especially in this era of nonstop social media. Before we get into either of those sections, we begin with the basic need to get the story right.