SAMPLE

PRESENTATION:
NEWS MEDIA
POLITICAL BIAS
Presentation
Is political bias in the
Question
news
an ethical violation of
professional journalistic
standards?
Code of
Ethics

"P score" measuring the percentage of time that people use universal principles
(Coleman & Wilkins 2004).
 Journalistic • Accuracy of presenting fact-based information
• Independence of the journalist in compiling the
Code of information
• Impartiality, to assure a story includes alternate
Conduct – the viewpoints

Basics • Humanity, to consider how the story might adversely

harm people
• Accountability, where sources are identified,
information is corroborated, and journalist’s errors are
acknowledged

(Ethical Journalists Network, n.d.)

 Kant’s Now that it’s been established that news
can legitimately be presented as a factual
Guidance report or as a biased analysis, the
question at hand is if political bias could
be considered an ethical violation of
professional journalistic standards.
Combined, Kant’s moral theory and rule
utilitarian reasoning provide a useful
structure to consider this question.
Political Bias
is an ethics
violation…

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Political Bias
does not
violate
ethics…

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 Political Bias The “meeting in the middle” of this discussion is
best summarized by this question, derived from
– Somewhere a review of sociologist Max Weber’s application
of Kantian ethics in organizational theory
in the middle? (Rutgers & Schreurs 2006):
Somehow, we are in need of a distinction between
value and purpose (rationality), but in our opinion, we
need to turn away from the (implicit) discussion
about the origin of values and focus on the relations
between values and social action. This shift in focus
brings us back to what Weber's question is all about:
Are we valuing an action itself or the result of an
action?
References
Baron, D.P. (2006, Jan). Persistent media bias. Journal of Public Economics, 90(1-2), 1-36. Retrieved
from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2004.10.006
Coleman, R., & Wilkins, L. (2004). THE MORAL DEVELOPMENT OF JOURNALISTS: A COMPARISON
WITH OTHER PROFESSIONS AND A MODEL FOR PREDICTING HIGH QUALITY ETHICAL
REASONING. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 81(3), 511-527. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/216926675?accountid=27203
Ellis, G. (2012). Journalism's road codes: The enduring nature of common ethical standards. Pacific
Journalism Review, 18(2), 118-130. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=ufh&AN=82877400&site=ehost-live
Ethical Journalism Network (n.d.). The 5 principles of journalism. Retrieved from:
http://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/who-we-are/5-principles-of-journalism
MacKinnon, B. & Fiala, A. (2018). Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues. Boston, MA. Cengage
Learning
Rutgers, M. R., & Schreurs, P. (2006). THE MORALITY OF VALUE- AND PURPOSE-RATIONALITY: The
kantian roots of weber's foundational distinction.Administration & Society, 38(4), 403-421. Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/196844668?accountid=27203
Society of Professional Journalists (n.d.). Why doesn’t SPJ enforce its Code of Ethics? Retrieved from
https://www.spj.org/ethicsfaq.asp
Ugland, E., & Henderson, J. (2007). Who Is a Journalist and Why Does it Matter? Disentangling the
Legal and Ethical Arguments. Journal Of Mass Media Ethics, 22(4), 241-261.
doi:10.1080/08900520701583511
van der Wurff, R., & Schonbach, K. (2011). BETWEEN PROFESSION AND AUDIENCE. Journalism
Studies, 12(4), 407-422. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2010.506055
My Opinion
Political bias in the news
is not
an ethical violation of
professional journalistic
standards.
 Social Justice The very existence of the “News Media” in all developed
societies serves the notions of social justice as considered
by Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Massaro, and John Stuart
Mill. Disseminating the news, provided its practitioners
follow the codes of professional conduct, helps “…ensure
that all people have fair and equitable opportunities to live
decent lives…” (McKinnon & Fiala 2018). As to the codes of
conduct, Gavis Ellis references John Stuart Mill (Ellis 2012):
There is a Millian thread that runs through the principles
common to modern codes [of ethics]. All are based on the
assumption that failure to observe their provisions could
result in harm to an individual or group of individuals
(including society in general). Mill believes ‘that the only
purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over
any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to
prevent harm to others’
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 Conclusion
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Bias, political and other types, is both an
inherent and useful influence in the news
profession. It determines what stories are
pursued, whether for reasons of expertise (a
financial reporter), for local interest (a town
newspaper), or for health (inaction about lead in
water).
The critical requirement for news written with
any kind of bias, but especially political bias, is
that the journalist provides clear prose for what
is fact and what is subjective (Baron 2006).
 Discussion Questions
• Should the codes of conduct for journalists be enforced
through legal means in the same way as they are for doctors
and other licensed professionals?
• Should there be different ethical standards based on the
type of media? For example, should the standards for an
online-only local news site be less strict than for an
established printed newspaper company?
• A common recognition among studies about journalistic
standards is that increased ethics education results in better
journalism (van der Wurff & Schonbach 2011). If this http://www.thenextgreatgeneration.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/07/journalism-1.jpg
correlation is true, should journalists be professionally
credentialed, like an accountant (CPA) or nurse (RN)?