Ethics

Social Media and Blogging Guidelines

Social media and blogs are important elements of journalism. As such, RTDNA has created guidlines for journalists who use social media both personally and professionally as well ethical considerations to account for while blogging.

New Tech Creates New Pressures - Cincinnati - Aug. 6-7. 2010

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Sponsored by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation

Produced by the Radio Television Digital News Foundation in association with the Ohio Broadcast Association

In addition to all of the pressures you face reporting, photographing, producing, managing and editing your daily newscasts for radio and TV, now you face new pressures as you move your stories online. RTDNF is here to help!

This workshop addresses the new pressures that come with new technology.

- Do you need rules to cover how journalists in your newsroom use such social media sites as Twitter or Facebook, even when they’re "off the clock?"

- What new problems come when you open your website news stories to public comment? How responsible are you for what others say?

- How do you know if the video, photos or information that people post on your site is real?

- What are your ethical concerns when linking or aggregating?

Of course, you still have your daily journalistic pressures of how to:

�- Use 911 calls
� - Treat information about juveniles
- Cover victims and vulnerable people
� - When to go “live” with a breaking story
� - Use graphic audio and video
� - Use confidential sources

Along with instruction on all the workshop topics, you will also have the rare opportunity to hear from a LIVE focus group as regular folks from around Cincinnati discuss their likes and dislikes when it comes to local news. We will show them stories and listen to their reactions. Hear the unvarnished opinions from the people we all seek to serve.

Cost: The workshop registration fee is ONLY $40 and includes the workshop materials and meals. PLUS, RTDNF will pay for Friday night's hotel room for out-of-town attendees. This special rate is made possible through a grant to RTDNF from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

When: The workshop begins Friday, August 6 at 6:30 p.m. with light dinner and a live focus group of the public. The interactive workshop continues through 5:30 p.m. Saturday, August 7.

Where: All workshop sessions are at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, 35 West Fifth Street, Cincinnati. Phone 513-421-9100

RTDNF has reserved a room block for out-of-town attendees.Reservation details are on the registration page.

Registration: This workshop is for journalists, students and academics working in television, radio and online. Space is limited and priority is given to RTDNA and OAB members. The Registration deadline is July 26 (unless the registration sells out early) .

Click here to register

Facilitators:


Lynn French, assistant chief photographer/multimedia journalist, KPNX-TV, Phoenix

Lynn French is a veteran TV photojournalist. She has been doing one-man-band reporting for 13 years, and has served as an assignment editor, producer and what she calls “every job in production.” She is currently the assistant chief photographer at KPNX-TV in Phoenix and is in Athens as part of Gannett's Broadcast division, which includes crews from KUSA, WXIA, KARE and KSDK.



Al Tompkins, The Poynter Institute's Group Leader for Broadcasting and Online

Al Tompkins has been in the forefront of electronic journalism and his daily “Al’s Morning Meeting” on poynter.org is required reading for professionals across the country. Al is also the author of Aim for the Heart, a classic text on writing for broadcast. He has also taught thousands of journalists in more than 40 states and five countries how to write more effectively and make sound ethical judgments. Al co- authored four editions of RTNDF's Newsroom Ethics workbooks and DVDs, which have been used in workshops nationwide.

Guidelines for Avoiding Conflict of Interest

“Professional electronic journalists should present the news with integrity and decency, avoiding real or perceived conflicts of interest, and respect the dignity and intelligence of the audience as well as the subjects of news.”

Guidelines for Breaking News Events

Make sound decisions when your community is looking to you for information during disasters and other emergencies.

Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

The Radio Television Digital News Association, wishing to foster the highest professional standards of electronic journalism, promote public understanding of and confidence in electronic journalism, and strengthen principles of journalistic freedom to gather and disseminate information, establishes this Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

Guidelines for Airing 911 Calls

What is the journalistic purpose for airing the 911 call? Does using the call help better tell the story in a way that is not sensational? Can the 911 tape illuminate broader issues about the 911 system and its effectiveness? Can using the tape help critically examine the 911 system or help illustrate how effectively the system works? When deciding to use the call, ask yourself these questions about the 911 system.

Guidelines for Amber Alerts

Television and radio stations should provide the information necessary for the safe return of a missing child. News staff should insure information is factual and detailed and carefully evaluate its validity before going on the air. News staff should find answers to the following questions when making decisions to broadcast or stop broadcasting an Amber Alert.

Guidelines for Balancing Business Pressures and Journalism Values

"Professional electronic journalists should gather and report news without fear or favor, and vigorously resist undue influence from any outside forces, including advertisers, sources, story subjects, powerful individuals and special-interest groups." The Radio Television Digital News Association declared this traditional journalistic value when it revised the RTDNA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct in September 2000. Times of economic pressure test that value, challenging journalists to see it anew-and to practice it in new ways.

Guidelines for Covering Funerals

When journalists cover funerals, they must do so with the highest degree of sensitivity and professionalism. Although stories of funerals can be deeply moving, newsworthy and even healing for an audience, there is great potential for journalists to intrude on a family's privacy and cause pain to already vulnerable people.

Guidelines for Covering Bomb Threats

Ask: what is my journalistic duty in reporting this story? What do our viewers need to know? What is the threat to life or property? What are the consequences of the event itself? How significant is the evacuation and the interruption to normal life in your community? What is the impact this event has on law enforcement or emergency crews ability to respond to other calls? What else is this story about? What is the story behind the story? (In some cases, racial slurs and threats have been sprayed on school walls.)