Practicum proposal, Spring 2007
I have been asked to write a newsroom ethics policy for The Charlotte Observer. This is a marvelous opportunity to put my education to practical use. I am well-suited to do this, as I have been studying journalism ethics since my days on a weekly high school newspaper, and I have spent the past several years studying ethics. My course will have these components:
1. Meet with three editors and the contracted attorney who handles consultations on stories, to find out what elements they believe should be in the policy.
2. Reading List:
A. John Dewey’s The Public and Its Problems. My understanding is that much of 20th century journalism has been a response to concerns expressed in this book. I have been glad to work in a field that, at its best, is as much concerned with providing a public service as it is with making a profit.
B. Ethics policies of several major newspapers, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post. The supervising editor has several items for me to read, which may include policies from other McClatchy papers.
C. Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists.
D. Stephen Ward’s The Invention of Journalism Ethics.
E. Jeremy Iggers’ Good News, Bad News: Journalism Ethics and the Public Interest
F. The International Journal of Applied Philosophy articles on journalism ethics
G. The Poynter Institute articles and case studies on journalism ethics
3. Write a draft of the policy.
4. Meet with the editors and others, to discover what changes are needed. This stage would include more than the original three editors and attorney, as I would need to speak with representatives of several areas of the newsroom, not just editors.
5-6 hours per week will see this project completed within a semester. Some substantial portion of that time would be involved in interviews and consultations. The readings will be completed by the end of February, six weeks into the project. The first round of interviews will be completed as soon as possible, with a target of Feb. 15. The first draft of the policy will be complete by March 2. The second round of interviews and rewrites will take up March, with completion of the policy April 10. The policy should run the length of 20 pages of academic material. I will spend the remainder of the semester on a reflection piece of 10 pages.
Dr. William Gay has agreed to supervise this project. He has published a great deal himself, and did the section in the graduate course on Responsible Conduct of Research on Ethics of Publication.