Media Ethics & Objectivity :: Library Resources for Communication Studies

Library Resources for Communication Studies

Media Ethics & Objectivity

Introduction

This subject guide presents resources for researching the range of topics related to media ethics. Ethical practice in journalism encompasses issues such as source selection and identification, coverage of minorities, privacy, and conflict of interest. Objectivity – journalists’ efforts to avoid actual or perceived bias – is another of these issues. Both communication studies and applied ethics sources are included in this list.

Suggested Subject Keywords

Communication AND "Moral and Ethical Aspects"
Journalistic Ethics
Mass Media AND "Moral and Ethical Aspects"

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Reference Materials

Core Reference Materials:

A Companion to Applied Ethics, edited by R. G. Frey and Christopher Heath Wellman. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2003. ISBN 1557865949
Comprises a wide range of essays on applied ethics, including a 11-page article on Media Ethics accompanied by a bibliography and suggested reading list.

Dictionary of Ethics, Theology and Society, edited by Paul Barry Clarke and Andrew Linzey. New York, NY: Routledge, 1996. ISBN 0415062128
Brief (maximum 5 pages long) entries for Advertising, Media, and Professional Ethics.

Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics, San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1998. ISBN 0122270657
Contains extensive (7-15 pages long) essays on many media-related topics including Broadcast Journalism; Freedom of the Press in the USA; Media Depiction of Ethnic Minorities; and Media Ownership. Essays begin with a glossary and conclude with a bibliography.

Encyclopedia of Ethics, 2nd ed, by Ruth Chadwick. New York, NY: Routledge, 2001. ISBN 0415936721
Articles discuss the philosophical underpinnings of ethics.

Ethics, an Annotated Bibliography, by John K. Roth. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 1991. ISBN 0893566624
Provides 11 pages of media-related citations, most for books, with descriptions.

Additional Reference Materials:

Encyclopedia of Communication and Information, edited by Jorge Reina Schement. New York, NY: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001. ISBN 0028653866
Contains an essay on the Ethics of Information.

Encyclopedia of International Media and Communication, edited by Donald H. Johnston. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 2003. ISBN 0123876702
Provides a 7-page “Ethics in Media, Overview” article, with glossary and bibliography that references 12 additional encyclopedia articles.

History of the Mass Media in the United States: An encyclopedia, edited by Margaret A. Blanchard. Chicago, IL: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998. ISBN 1579580122
Includes an article on the history of codes of ethics and refers the reader to articles on the criticism of advertising, broadcasting, and newspapers.

International Encyclopedia of Communications, edited by Erik Barnouw. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1989. ISBN 0195049942
Offers a 4-page article on Media Ethics with bibliography.

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Periodical Databases/Indexes

Icon Key: = Paid access = Free access = Available electronically = Available in print

Best Bets:

Communication Abstracts, 1978- present Paid Access Available electronically Available in print
From Sage Publishing; covers everything from print journalism, media broadcasting and advertising to speech and interpersonal communications.
Publisher site: http://www.sagepub.com/journal.aspx?pid=168

Communication Abstracts Online Paid Access Available electronically
A Cambridge Scientific Abstracts database, Communication Abstracts Online covers communication-related articles, reports, papers, and books from a variety of publishers, research institutions, and information sources, some published as far back as 1977.
Vendor site: http://www.csa.com

Communication and Mass Media Complete Paid Access Available electronically
Cover-to-cover abstracts for 300+ journals in Communication; selected coverage of 100 more. Starting dates vary, with some journals going back to their first issues in the early 20th century. Incorporates National Communication Association’s CommSearch and the Mass Media Articles Index from Pennsylvania State University.
Vendor site: http://www.ebsco.com/home/

CIOS: Communication Institute for Online Scholarship Paid Access Available electronically
Dates of coverage vary, with a few extending back to the 1970s, and the majority for the past 10-15 years. Indexing of journal literature is available in three versions. Two are online at http://www.cios.org/, at different levels of institutional membership, which also includes access to other CIOS information resources. One is available as an annually updated web-downloaded file.
Vendor site: http://www.cios.org/

Open Journals Index: Covers about 35 journals in communication, using table of contents information. Available online for basic institutional membership.
ComAbstracts: Indexes and abstracts articles in more than 70 journals in the field of communication. Available online with expanded institutional membership.
ComIndex: (Web download): About 80 journals are indexed, with coverage date from inauguration of journal or 1970, which ever is more recent. Includes basic table of contents information. Available for freestanding workstations or may be licensed for in-library LANs.

Additional Useful Databases:

CQ Researcher Paid Access Available electronically
A section of the larger CQ Electronic Library. Offers in depth reports focused on a single topic. Each weekly issue provides up-to-date information on controversial subject reported by CQ's staff of reporters; media ethics topics have included "Journalism under Fire," "Media Ownership," and "Broadcast Indecency."
Vendor site: http://www.cqpress.com/gethome.asp

Index to Journals in Communication Studies through 1995 Paid Access Available in print
Dates of coverage vary. Last of five editions prepared by the National Communication Association, listing contents of 24 key journals from the earliest issue through 1995, with author and keyword subject indexes appended. Continued by NCA’s CommSearch database, which was in turn incorporated into Communication and Mass Media Index (above).

Philosopher’s Index Paid Access Available electronically
Provides citations and abstracts to journals and books about philosophy and related fields.
Vendor site: http://www.ovid.com/site/catalog/DataBase/155.jsp?top=2&mid=3&bottom=7&subsection=10

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Web Sites

The Daily Howler
http://www.dailyhowler.com
Critique and analysis of the media’s political coverage.

Ethica, the newsletter of the National Communication Association's Communication Ethics Division
http://www.millikin.edu/communication/ethica/two/index.html
Contains reports on Division activities, book reviews, and columns on ethical issues.

EthicNet: European codes of journalism ethics
http://www.uta.fi/ethicnet/
EthicNet is a collection of codes of journalism ethics from most of the European countries, translated into English. The core of the collection resulted from numerous research projects of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Tampere, and it has been extended and updated with information from various relevant sources.

Ethics Cases Online
http://www.journalism.indiana.edu/Ethics/
Created for teachers, researchers, professional journalists and consumers of news to help them explore ethical issues in journalism. The cases raise a variety of ethical problems faced by journalists, including such issues as privacy, conflict of interest, reporter- source relationships, and the role of journalists in their communities.

PoynterOnline
http://www.poynter.org/subject.asp?id=32
“Everything you need to be a better journalist,” claims this website, and among the topics displayed on the left-hand side of the homepage journalists will find an Ethics link. The Poynter ethics page provides a toll-free ethics hotline number, case studies, tips on ethical reporting, and a bibliography of websites and books.

PressWise Codes of Conduct
http://www.presswise.org.uk/display_page.php?id=40
Searchable database of over 70 journalistic codes of conduct.

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Associations & Organizations

AIM, Accuracy in Media
http://www.aim.org
A conservative media-watchdog group.

Center for Media and Public Affairs
http://www.cmpa.com/
The Center’s goal is "to provide an empirical basis for ongoing debates over media fairness and impact through well-documented, timely, and readable studies of media content."

FAIR, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
http://www.fair.org
Critiques media coverage, promotes journalistic diversity, and presents under-reported stories, from a progressive/liberal perspective.

Media Matters for America
http://mediamatters.org
According to its website, this organization is a "progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media."

Media Research Center
http://www.mediaresearch.org
Describes itself as a "conservative media watchdog" aiming to bring "political balance to the nation's news and entertainment media."

NewsWatch, a Consumer’s Guide to the News
http://www.newswatch.org/
Links to articles, blog entries, and other websites regarding media bias,

Organization of News Ombudsmen
http://www.newsombudsmen.org/
Ombudsmen monitor their news organization’s reporting for fairness, accuracy and balance, responding to readers’ concerns and transmitting those concerns to reporters. The ONO website provides searchable full text of ombudsmen’s columns and links to over 40 newspapers where ombudsmen preside.

Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law
http://www.silha.umn.edu
Located at the University of Minnesota, the Center publishes comments and opinions of recent laws and court cases related to information gathering, as well as a quarterly Bulletin that includes an Ethics Roundup section and. See /resources.htm for comments and opinions, and /bulletin.htm for the Bulletin.

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Journals & Trade Publications

Note: For title changes consult a serials directory such as Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory.

Folio: the new dynamics of magazine publishing ISSN 0046-4333
Trade publication. Primedia Business Magazines & Media, Inc. 1972-current
This trade publication for the popular-magazine-publishing industry includes ethical issues in its subject content.

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society ISSN 1477-996X
Academic/Scholarly. Troubadour Publishing Ltd. 2003-current
More of a communication- than media-ethics journal, this publication covers the impacts of new media and information and communication technologies on society, organizations, the environment and individuals.

Journal of Mass Media Ethics ISSN 0890-0523
Academic/Scholarly. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. 1985-current
Covers the larger ethical and moral issues surrounding the profession of mass communication. The targeted audience is primarily faculty and students interested in the ethical considerations of reporting the news and the use of mass communication to inform the public on important topics.

Journal of Public Relations Research ISSN 1062-726X
Academic/Scholarly. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. 1989-present
This journal’s stated purpose is to “provide scholarly criticism of public relations practice, and helps to develop the history, ethics, and philosophy of public relations.”

Newspaper Research Journal ISSN 0739-5329
Academic/Scholarly. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. 1979-current
As a bridge between journalism scholars and newspaper professionals, this journal presents practical research on a broad range of topics relating to American newspapers, including the ethics of reporting.

Quill: the magazine for journalists ISSN 0033-6475
Trade. Society of Professional Journalists. 1912-current
Each monthly issue contains a one-page “Weighing the Impacts” article, and some brief topics, on ethical issues. An issue entirely about ethics appears annually in April.

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Created: January 29, 2004
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