what is case study in journalism

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Beginner’s Guide to Case Studies In Journalism

Image shows a desk with a hand writing on papers. [Finding case studies journalism]

Lily Gilbey

Learning how to find case studies and implement them into your research is fundamental to creating powerful journalism.

Case studies, relaying important and interesting experiences, can bring a story to life. Including case studies in your work can also give a platform to those who deserve a safe space to tell their story.

Case Studies In Journalism

Case studies can provide human perspective and experience, which, in turn, can make stories more engaging and relatable. This human connection allows the audience to have a deeper attachment and understanding of the subject matter .

A case study can accompany a feature, personalise a news story or even be published by itself.

Personal accounts of serious matters can influence an audience’s emotional connection to the case study and spark action from readers, for example, by encouraging them to sign a petition or inspire meaningful conversations.

Case studies also allow us to diversify perspectives by enabling journalists to represent different experiences of cultures and communities, which can help shape a well-rounded and comprehensive story. This can also give a platform to those who are often underrepresented in the media and amplify marginalised voices.

Finding Case Studies

To find your case study, you must specify the topic of the story you are trying to produce. Doing this allows you to narrow down your search and relevant people with stories and experiences that align with the theme of the story.

Social media can be a valuable tool for this. Platforms like X, Facebook and LinkedIn can be useful for finding sources and reaching out to them, as long as their privacy settings allow it. Twitter Advanced Search allows you to filter tweets by location, keywords, and dates.

Resources like X’s #JournoRequest hashtag can make finding your source as simple as sending out a tweet. Individuals typically tweet a specific call for sources with certain experiences or expertise. A #JournoRequest can include your deadline, the publication and how to contact you. It also lets accounts like PR & Journo Requests and Press Plugs know you’re looking for sources. You can also ask for retweets explicitly if you’re looking for sources outside of your general algorithm.

O nline forums and communities are another great way to source case studies. A quick search of your topic on Reddit could lead you to hundreds of people with relevant and interesting stories. Reaching out to local charities and campaigns can also be a good way of finding case studies.

Lily Canter, journalist and lecturer at Sheffield University, emphasises the use of PR agencies and Press Offices in finding case studies, as they already have an established database of people who can be contacted. The Journalist Enquiry Service is also free to use, and allows you send a request to hundreds of relevant experts, charities and PRs.

Ethical Considerations Of Using Case Studies

As with all aspects of journalism, ethics are fundamental to sourcing and hearing from a case study, and o btaining informed consent is extremely important. Additionally, it is your responsibility to be fully transparent about the purpose of the story and the potential consequences it might have when it is published.

It is equally crucial to approach personal topics with sensitivity, bearing in mind that they may have the potential to trigger case studies or audiences. It is therefore important not to approach people in an intrusive way which may cause unnecessary harm.

The topic of privacy should be always discussed prior to publishing a case study, especially when dealing with sensitive stories. When necessary, you can use pseudonyms to anonymise sources.

When presenting case studies, it’s of the utmost important to remain truthful and avoid distorting the narrative, which could cause harm to your sources.

THE ART OF WRITING A STELLAR OPINION PIECE

Navigating sensitive reporting: a journalist’s guide, disability-inclusive language in journalism.

Featured image courtesy of Vlada Karpovich via Pexels . No changes or alterations have been made to this image. Image license found here .

Hi, I'm Lily, and i'm currently studying my Masters Degree in Visual Journalism. My passion for motorsport encouraged me to pursue my journalism career further through my writing.

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A reporter faces a choice between protecting a source or holding a source accountable for their public actions.

Should a source’s name be redacted retroactively from a student newspaper’s digital archive?

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Do student journalists’ friendships constitute a conflict of interest?

Is granting sexual assault survivors anonymity an act of journalistic compassion, or does it risk discrediting them?

Should student journalists grant anonymity to protect undocumented students?

How To Find Interesting And Unique Sources And Case Studies

September 27, 2021 (Updated September 27, 2021 )

Finding the most suitable person to centre your articles on is like adding in a secret ingredient to your dish – it pulls the whole thing together. But finding relevant case studies can be quite a feat – you have to make sure they’re the most relevant person, that they’re offering insightful comments, and, most importantly, that they’re available.

During the pandemic, face-to-face meetings – where you can develop a rapport and feed off interviewees answers and energy – have not been a possibility, leaving only virtual options. Journalists have had to find creative new ways to interview sources including Zoom, voice notes, DMs, emails, and texts. But how do you go about finding the right people in the first place?

Using Social Media, From Reddit To Facebook Groups

As a reporter who has worked for various national outlets, I had my usual go-to places for case studies including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Meanwhile, my emails were also an archive of contacts willing to chat to me. The more I reached out to people and the more I wrote, I started developing a diverse contact book that I could come back to – remember you can also use the same experts for more than one piece, or ask them to put you in touch with the relevant people.

But, ultimately, you still need to know where to start. It can be tempting to just put a #JournoRequest call out on Twitter, but you’ll often find better results by finding people yourself, rather than just letting the same people come to you.

“I generally think that if you’re trying to look for really high quality case studies, really original stuff, it’s not the best place to find them,” agrees Sophie Gallagher , an award-winning freelance journalist speaking at a Journo Resources masterclass. “You just get a load of journalists, who are also just sat on Twitter, replying to you. It’s self selecting, it’s people coming to you.”

Instead, Sophie says her trick is to use Twitter Advanced Search , a set of filters that allow you filter tweets by location, keywords, and dates. You can also use TweetDeck (a free online dashboard by Twitter itself) to set up columns to monitor certain searches. “People are so frequently really pleased, that this message they’ve been putting into the universe, someone has got back to them.”

As well as the most popular social media platforms, I also use Reddit to find more niche groups. For example, when I did a series on incels , Reddit was an apt place to find such subcultures. You can follow all the subreddits you like – and provided you’re not breaking any admin rules – you can reach out to suitable people via this medium.

“There are literally millions of people on there talking about millions of things,” agrees Amelia Tait, who covers cultures, trends, and the internet. “From one in a million rare diseases, to people making their own languages, to really intense fandoms.”

“Anything you’re writing a story about, you can find a case study on Reddit who is already talking about this issue organically. People on Reddit are surprisingly open to talking about their experiences, because they’re already there looking to have a conversation.”

Amelia suggests using a Google Site Search rather than using Reddit’s own tools to find relevant communities, as the social media company’s results are often poor. She also recommends using language specific to a certain region to help find UK case studies in a global subreddit. For example, searching for the word “mum” or “colour” is likely to show up less people based in the US.

She also recommends reaching out personally, rather than just posting a message or messaging the moderators as a whole. Don’t be surprised if a Redditor also wants to check who you are too. Thanks to the anonymous nature of the site, you may need to gain people’s trust.

“You can say here’s a similar article I wrote, here’s my tone, my style my approach. Verifying you are who you say you are, if you’re verified on Twitter, send them a message, or from the email address that’s on your website. It’s all about treating people as people.”

Finding case studies is one thing, but what about the experts you need to help put the story into context? We’re delighted to have partnered with ResponseSource as our 2021 sponsor, who have the perfect tool to help bring experts to you instantly. No, really.

The Journalist Enquiry Service is completely free to use, and allows you send a request to hundreds of relevant experts, charities, and PRs. You’ll be able to detail exactly what you want, how you’d like to hear back from them, and your deadline.

A spokesperson for the service tells Journo Resources: “More than 30,000 journalists and broadcasters use ResponseSource and our Journalist Enquiry Service to secure essential insight, information and connections from a selected range of trusted and reliable contacts.

“It puts you in touch with experts, case studies and PR contacts from all sectors, saves you hours of research and helps you meet your deadlines.”

Try It Out For Yourself Here

I am also part of several Facebook groups of various persuasions – ranging from weddings to cats, families to budgeting. Honestly, there’s a Facebook group for everything .

Even if you’re not actively looking for a case study, they’re a great place to hang out which have helped me come up with story ideas and find the right person to speak to. If you join and are requesting comment, just make sure you’re being very upfront about what you need and what you’re planning to do with the information.

Dr Lily Canter, a money and health journalist who also co-founded Freelancing For Journalists , says there’s no one set way to find a case study. “If it’s a consumer story and it’s around fuel and energy, then I will probably go and find niche Facebook groups. So that’s normally a starting point. If I’m looking for something very specific, I might go on a forum like Money Saving Expert, I can find people that are already having those conversations about the issues I’m writing about.”

Looking For Case Studies Beyond Social Media

Social media platforms can be a great tool for journalists, but there are other platforms, both on and offline that can be just as useful for journalists.

Aina J Khan , a New York Times International Fellow, recommends checking crowdfunding, charity and campaigning sites like GoFundMe, Change.org, JustGiving or the Government’s own petition website .

“I always find my case studies though researching lots,” she tells Journo Resources. “The example that I can think of was last year when I wrote a piece for The Guardian, about a Filipino nurse who died of suspected Coronavirus whose body couldn’t be found . His niece was trying to locate the body, and I found her on GoFundMe. The only reason I found out about what happened with her, and then pitched the story and got it commissioned, was because I reached out to her and had seen that she was trying to raise funds.”

Aina J Khan (L) and Lily Canter (R)

“I think there’s an ethical kind of question here as well, because in case studies like these, they’re really traumatic, they’re really heartbreaking circumstances. So I didn’t necessarily start out as ‘let me find the most disgusting or the most traumatic thing’. No, it just comes up through conversations through people that I’m talking to, researching plenty, and it just goes from one thing to another. A good habit to find strong case studies is just picking up the phone and talking to people that you’ve worked with.”

Aina also stresses that talking – and listening – to people within your own community can be one of the valuable ways of finding case studies. Speaking about a story she broke about how the first four doctors to die of Covid-19 being Muslim , she says: “How I got that was, a friend had flagged it up and asked if I’d noticed it.”

“I knew another friend who works for the British Islamic Medical Association, I reached out to him and was like, ‘Do you know anything about this?’ And one thing led to another. He knew one of the doctors who passed away and confirmed he was Muslim. Then I reached out to other people through social media to confirm the background of the doctors. Social media is actually really useful. I found the story because I saw that as kind of a gateway into actually going and exploring more. It’s definitely something I should do more of, because that’s how you get your stories.”

As a new journalist, it can feel intimidating to just start reaching out to people. But, as Lily advises, practice is the only way: “It can be a little bit daunting, the idea of reaching out to people that you don’t know. But the more you do it, the easier it becomes. And reaching out to case studies is really is essential, as a journalist, there’s no way around it. But it’s just the case that you have to keep on doing it and build contacts.”

This content is editorially independent and put together by the Journo Resources in-house team. It was funded and made possible through the support of ResponseSource, one of the UK’s leading services to help connect journalists and PRs .

One of their key tools for journalists is the Journalist Enquiry Service , which helps thousands of journalists connect directly with experts, charities, companies and PRs, to give them the information they need quickly. It’s a completely free tool

Find out more and manage your own requests here .

Overcoming Challenges: The Stories Of Mature Journalism Students

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“Ad”mission of guilt
“Do I stop him?”
Newspaper joins war against drugs
Have I got a deal for you!
Identifying what’s right
Is “Enough!” too much?
Issues of bench and bar
Knowing when to say “when!”
Stop! This is a warning…
Strange bedfellows
Gambling with being first
Making the right ethical choice can mean winning by losing
Playing into a hoaxster’s hands
“They said it first”
Is it news, ad or informercial?
Letter to the editor
Games publishers play
An offer you can refuse
An oily gift horse
Public service . . . or “news-mercials”
As life passes by
Bringing death close
A careless step, a rash of calls
Distortion of reality?
Of life and death
Naked came the rider
“A photo that had to be used”
A picture of controversy
Freedom of political expression
Brother, can you spare some time?
Columnist’s crusade OK with Seattle
Kiss and tell
The making of a govenor
Past but not over
Of publishers and politics
To tell the truth
Truth & Consequences
“Truth boxes”
When journalists become flacks
A book for all journalists who believe
The Billboard Bandit
Food for thought
Grand jury probe
Judgement on journalists
Lessons from an ancient spirit
Lying for the story . . .
Newspaper nabs Atlanta’s Dahmer
One way to a good end
Over the fence
“Psst! Pass it on!”
Rules aren’t neat on Crack Street
“Someone had to be her advocate”
Trial by Fire
Trial by proximity
Using deceit to get the truth
When advocacy is okay
Witness to an execution
Are we our brother’s keeper? . . . You bet we are!
Betraying a trust
Broken promise
“But I thought you were . . . ”
“Can I take it back?”
Competitive disadvantage
Getting it on tape
The great quote question
How to handle suicide threats
Let’s make a deal!
A phone-y issue?
The source wanted out
The story that died in a lie
Thou shalt not break thy promise
Thou shalt not concoct thy quote
Thou shalt not trick thy source
Too good to be true
Vulnerable sources and journalistic responsibility
The way things used to be . . .
When a story just isn’t worth it
When a story source threatens suicide
When public should remain private
The ethics of “outing”
“For personal reasons”
Intruding on grief
Intruding on private pain
Privacy case settled against TV station
Seeing both sides
Two views on “outing”
Unwanted spotlight
Whose right is it anyway?
Other views on the Christine Busalacchi case
The death of a soldier
Firing at Round Rock
A kinder, gentler news media
Operation: Buy yourself a parade
Rallying ’round the flag
“Salute to military” ads canceled
Tell the truth, stay alive
The windbags of war
Absent with no malice
Anonymity for rape victims . . .
An exception to the rule
The boy with a broken heart
Civilly suitable
Creating a victim
“Everyone already knew”
An exceptional case
Innocent victims
Minor infraction
Names make news
Naming a victim
Naming “johns”
Profile of controversy
What the media all missed
Punishing plagiarizers
Sounding an alarm on AIDS
Suffer the children
Anchor’s away
The day the earth stood still
Doing your own ethics audit
Good guys, bad guys and TV news
Is it just me, or . . . ?
The Post’s exam answer story
TV station “teases” suicide
Yanking Doonesbury
The year in review
Colorado media’s option play
Deadly lesson
Deciding which critically ill person gets coverage
When journalists play God . . .
A delicate balance
The Fallen Servant
Handle with care
It’s the principle, really
Killing news
Maybe what seems so right is wrong
On the line
Protest and apology after Daily Beacon story
Red flag for badgering
Sharing the community’s grief
The “super-crip” stereotype
“And then he said *&%*!!!”
When big is not better
When the KKK comes calling
Not the straight story
Agreeing to disagree
All in the family
Family feud
Author! Author!
The Bee that roared
Brewing controversy
Building barriers
Other views from librarians
The ethics of information selling
Close to home
Family ties
How now, sacred cow?
The ties that bind
“Like any other story”
When your newspaper is the news
Not friendly fire
Overdraft on credibility?
The problem is the writing
Written rules can be hazardous
Project censored, sins of omission and the hardest “W” of all – “why”
Risking the newsroom’s image
The Media School

Ethics Case Studies

Ethics cases online.

This set of cases has been 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.

The initial core of this database comes from a series of cases developed by Barry Bingham, Jr., and published in his newsletter, FineLine. The school is grateful to Bingham for his permission to make these cases available to a wider audience.

You may download cases for classes, research or personal use. Permission is granted for academic use of these cases, including inclusion in course readers for specific college courses. This permission does not extend to the republication of the cases in books, journals or electronic form.

Note: We are indebted to Professor Emeritus David Boeyink, who developed this project several years ago.

Aiding law enforcement

“Ad”mission of guilt: Court-ordered ads raise ethical questions
“Do I stop him?”: Reporter’s arresting question is news
Fairness: A casualty of the anti-drug crusade
Newspaper joins war against drugs: Standard-Times publishes photos of all suspected drug offenders
Have I got a deal for you!: The line between cooperation and collusion
Identifying what’s right: Photographer’s ID used in hostage release
Is “Enough!” too much?: Editors split on anti-drug coupons
Issues of bench and bar: In this case, a TV reporter is the judge
Knowing when to say “when!”: Drawing the line at cooperating with authorities
Stop! This is a warning . . . : Suppressing news at police request
Strange Bedfellows: Federal agents in a TV newsroom

Being first

Gambling with being first: The media drive to score on the Isiah Thomas story
Playing into a hoaxster’s hands: How the Virginia media got suckered
“They said it first”: Is that reason for going for the story?

Bottom-line decisions

Is it news, ad or infomercial?: The line between news and advertising is going, going . . .
Games publishers play: Allowing an advertiser to call the shots
An offer you can refuse: The selling of Cybill to the Enquirer
An oily gift horse: saying “No!” to Exxon
Public service. . .or “news-mercials”: The blending of television news and advertising

Controversial photos

As life passes by: A journalist’s role: watch and wait
Bringing death close: Publishing photographs of human tragedy
A careless step, a rash of calls: “Unusual” photo of AIDS walkathon raises hackles”
Distortion of reality?: “Punk for Peace” photograph draws fire
Of life and death: Photos capture woman’s last moments
“A photo that had to be used”: Anatomy of a newspaper’s decision
A picture of controversy: Pulitzer photos show diverse editorial standards

Covering politics

Freedom of political expression: Do journalists forfeit their right?
Brother, can you spare some time?: TV stations give candidates air time
Columnist’s crusade OK with Seattle Times
Kiss and tell: Publishing details of a mayor’s personal life
The making of a governor: How media fantasy swayed an election
Past but not over: When history collides with the Present
Of publishers and politics: Byline protest threatened at Star Tribune
To tell the truth: Why I didn’t; why I regret it
Truth & Consequences: The public’s right to know . . . at what cost?
“Truth boxes”: Media monitoring of TV campaign ads
When journalists become flacks: Two views on what to do and when to do it

Getting the story

A book for all journalists who believe: Accuracy is our highest ethical debate
The Billboard Bandit: Did the newspaper get graffiti on its reputation
Food for thought: You are what you eat . . . and do
Grand jury probe: TV journalists indicted for illegal dogfight
Judgment on journalists: Do they defiantly put themselves “above the law?”
Lessons from an ancient spirit: Why I participated in a peyote ritual
Lying for the story . . . :Or things they don’t teach in journalism school
Newspaper nabs Atlanta’s Dahmer: Another predator who should’ve been stopped: Was it homophobia?
One way to a good end: Reporter cuts corners to test capital drug program
Over the fence: A case of crossing the line for a story
“Psst! Pass it on!”: Why are journalists spreading rumors?
Rules aren’t neat on Crack Street: Journalists know the rules; they also know that the rules don’t always apply when confronted with life-threatening situations
“Someone had to be her advocate”: A newspaper’s crusade to keep a child’s death from being forgotten
Trial by Fire: Boy “hero” story tests media
Trial by proximity: How close is too close for a jury and a reporter?
Using deceit to get the truth: When there’s just no other way
When advocacy is okay: Access is an acceptable journalist’s cause
White lies: Bending the truth to expose injustice
Witness to an execution: KQED sues to videotape capital punishment

Handling sources

Are we our brother’s keeper? . . . You bet we are!
Betraying a trust: Our story wronged a naive subject
Broken Promise: Breaching a reporter-source confidence
“But I thought you were . . .”: When a source doesn’t know you are a reporter
“Can I take it back?”: Why we told our source ‘yes’
Competitive disadvantage: Business blindsided by unnamed sources
Getting it on tape: What if you don’t tell them?
The great quote question: How much tampering with quotations can journalists ethically do?
Let’s make a deal!: The dangers of trading with sources
A phone-y issue?: Caller ID raises confidentiality questions
The source wanted out: Why our decision was ‘no’
The story that died in a lie: Questions about truthfulness kill publication
Thou shalt not break thy promise: Supreme Court rules on betraying sources’ anonymity
Thou shalt not concoct thy quote: Supreme Court decides on the rules of the quotation game
Thou shalt not trick thy source: Many a slip twixt the promise and the page
Too good to be true: Blowing the whistle on a lying source
Vulnerable sources and journalistic responsibility: Are we our brother’s keeper?
The way things used to be . . . : Who says this new “objectivity” is better?
When a story just isn’t worth it: Holding information to protect a good source
When a story source threatens suicide: “I’m going to kill myself!”

Invading privacy

The ethics of “outing”: Breaking the silence code on homosexuality
“For personal reasons”: Balancing privacy with the right to know
Intruding on grief: Does the public really have a “need to know?”
Intruding on private pain: Emotional TV segment offers hard choice
Seeing both sides: A personal and professional dilemma
Two views on “outing”: When the media do it for you
Two views on “outing”: When you do it yourself
Unwanted Spotlight: When private people become part of a public story
Whose right is it anyway?: Videotape of accident victim raises questions about rights to privacy

Military Issues

The death of a soldier: Hometown decision for hometown hero
Firing at Round Rock: Editor says “unpatriotic” story led to dismissal
A kinder, gentler news media?: Post-war coverage shows sensitivity to families
Operation: Buy yourself a parade: New York papers pitch in for hoopla celebrating hide-and-seek war
Rallying ’round the flag: The press as U.S. propagandists
“Salute to military” ads canceled
Tell the truth, stay alive: In covering a civil war, honesty is the only policy
The windbags of war: Television’s gung-ho coverage of the Persian Gulf situation

Naming newsmakers

Absent with no malice: Omitting part of the story for a reason
Anonymity for rape victims . . . : should the rules change?
An exception to the rule: a decision to change names
The boy with a broken heart: Special problems when juveniles are newsmakers
Civilly suitable: If law requires less, should media reveal more?
Creating a victim: Plot for a fair story may not be foolproof
“Everyone already knew”: A weak excuse for abandoning standards
An exceptional case: Hartford Courant names rape victim
Innocent victims: Naming the guilty . . . but guiltless
Minor infraction: A newspaper’s case for breaking the law
Names make news: One newspaper debates when and why
Naming a victim: When do you break your own rule?
Naming “johns”: Suicide raises ethical questions about policy
Profile of controversy: New York Times reporter defends story on Kennedy rape claimant
What the media all missed: Times reporter finally sets record straight on Palm Beach rape profile
Punishing plagiarizers: Does public exposure fit the sin?
Sounding an alarm on AIDS: Spreading the word about someone who’s spreading the disease
Suffer the Children: Journalists are guilty of child misuse

Sensitive news topics

Colorado media’s option play: Most passed; did they also fumble?
Deadly lesson: Warning about sexual asphyxiation
A delicate balance: Mental breakdowns & news coverage
The Fallen Servant: When a hero is not a hero
Handle with care: Priest murder story required extra sensitivity
It’s the principle, really: Timing and people’s money matter, too
Killing news: Responsible coverage of suicides
Maybe what seems so right is wrong: A medical condition media-generated money can’t cure
On the line: A reporter’s job vs. human decency
Red flag for badgering: Ombudsman takes sportswriter to task
Sharing the community’s grief: Little Rock news coverage of three teen-age suicides
Suffer the children: Was story on molestation worth the human cost?
The “super-crip” stereotype: Press victimization of disabled people
“And then he said *&%*!!!”: When sexist and vulgar remarks are new
When big is not better: Playing down a story for the community good
When the KKK comes calling: What’s the story?
Not the straight story: Can misleading readers ever be justified?

Workplace issues

Agreeing to disagree: How one newspaper handles off-hour activities
All in the family: When a journalist’s spouse creates a conflict of interests
Family feud: Handling conflicts between journalists and partners
Author! Author!: Ethical dilemmas when reporters turn author
The Bee that roared: Taking a stand for editorial independence
Brewing controversy: The commercialization of Linda Ellerbee
Building barriers: The case against financial involvement
Other views from librarians: When interests of client and newsroom conflict
The ethics of information selling: Problems for library reference services
Close to home: When your newsroom is part of the story
Family Ties: When are relationships relationships relevant?
How now, sacred cow?: United Way’s favored treatment by the media
The ties that bind: Publisher’s link to United Way raises questions
“Like any other story”: Can it be when it’s your union vs. your paper?
When your newspaper is the news: Editors discuss their experiences
Not friendly fire: News director at odds with CBS over story
Overdraft on credibility?: Reporter faces conflict-of-interest charges
Written rules can be hazardous: A lawyer views ethics codes
Project censored, sins of omission and the hardest “W” of all – “why”
Risking the newsroom’s image: How editors, in a good cause, can strain independence

Article contents

Journalism ethics.

Patrick Lee Plaisance Patrick Lee Plaisance Department of Journalism & Media Communication, Colorado State University
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.89
Published online: 09 June 2016

News workers—writers, editors, videographers, bloggers, photographers, designers—regularly confront questions of potential harms and conflicting values in the course of their work, and the field of journalism ethics concerns itself with standards of behavior and the quality of justifications used to defend controversial journalistic decisions. While journalism ethics, as with the philosophy of ethics in general, is less concerned with pronouncements of the “rightness” or “wrongness” of certain acts, it relies on longstanding notions of the public-service mission of journalism. However, informing the public and serving a “watchdog” function regularly require journalists to negotiate questions of privacy, autonomy, community engagement, and the potentially damaging consequences of providing information that individuals and governments would rather withhold.

As news organizations continue to search for successful business models to support journalistic work, ethics questions over conflicts of interest and content transparency (e.g., native advertising) have gained prominence. Media technology platforms that have served to democratize and decentralize the dissemination of news have underscored the debate about who, or what type of content, should be subjected to journalism ethics standards. Media ethics scholars, most of whom are from Western democracies, also are struggling to articulate the features of a “global” journalism ethics framework that emphasizes broad internationalist ideals yet accommodates cultural pluralism. This is particularly challenging given that the very idea of “press freedom” remains an alien one in many countries of the world, and the notion is explicitly included in the constitutions of only a few of the world’s democratic societies. The global trend toward recognizing and promoting press freedom is clear, but it is occurring at different rates in different countries. Other work in the field explores the factors on the individual, organizational, and societal levels that help or hinder journalists seeking to ensure that their work is defined by widely accepted virtues and ethical principles.

minimizing harm
public service
global ethics
newsgathering standards
framing effects
journalism culture
media technology

Introduction

Potential harm posed by news accounts, the use of deceptive tactics to secure stories, and the increasing prevalence of infotainment content are all examples of journalism ethics issues. In addition to specific practices, the field of journalism ethics also addresses broader theoretical issues such as what roles the news media should play in society, whether the idea of patriotism poses a conflict of interest for journalists, and what might constitute a set of universal or global values to define good journalism across cultures. As a field, journalism ethics spans a wide range of issues from examination of specific case studies that raise questions of privacy and editorial independence, to abstract, normative arguments about how concepts from moral philosophy such as realism, relativism, and the Aristotelian notion of eudaimonia , or flourishing, should inform the work of journalism.

As the idea of journalism has evolved over the centuries, economic imperatives and the desire to be seen as performing “professionalized” work have motivated news publishers and journalists to embrace various standards of behavior. Depending on its cultural context, the idea of journalism emerged from commercial or political “hack” work, where newspapers were entertainment or party organs, to its role in most developed countries as an autonomous broker of information and “watchdog” of power centers on behalf of citizens. As a result, publishers, editors, and writers recognized the value of embracing standards of conduct to build integrity and commercial viability. Journalism ethics scholars and researchers have explored the philosophical underpinnings of these standards, the recurrent failures of news workers to meet them, and the moral obligations of journalism on a societal level.

Ethics and the Journalistic Mission

While ethics is conventionally understood as the work involved to discern “right” actions from wrong, it is more precisely a field of inquiry focused on examining the quality of our deliberations when dealing with moral dilemmas. It is about asking the “right” questions to best illuminate our duties and potential impacts on others. As such, ethics rarely provides clear answers about the best way to handle quandaries. Rather, ethics serves to help us highlight morally relevant issues and come up with optimal defensible decisions. This also describes the field of journalism ethics: while there are some clear rules and standards about how journalists should operate, more common are abstract statements of value that are intended to inform good behavior. Journalism ethics is a distinct subfield of media ethics in that it addresses behavior and dilemmas unique to the practices of gathering and presenting news content. It works within the context of journalism culture that assumes a critical public-service function of the work in a professional or semi-professional setting distinct from marketing or promotional media content. While journalism ethics scholarship draws from moral philosophy in its use of concepts such as autonomy, harm, and justice, it also represents an applied ethics approach, focusing as it often does on case studies and analyses of situations that pose dilemmas involving protection of journalistic credibility or potential harm to story subjects. Ethicists in media often call for a deontological approach in journalism practice—for journalists to be more mindful of these broad duties and less concerned about the consequences of providing the news to the public. True public service, they argue, requires journalists to report the news, as explosive, discomforting, or controversial as it may be, and let the chips fall where they may. The public must decide how that information will be utilized. These ethicists insist that journalists should resist paternalistic impulses and pressure to “sanitize” the news. Despite this general tendency, many journalism ethics codes and standards also include explicitly utilitarian concerns—a recognition that journalists must, of course, be mindful of the consequences of their work, particularly when it comes to potential harmful effects of some information. The tensions created by these two approaches often constitute the heart of many journalism ethics controversies, just as they do in other areas of applied ethics. A look at codes of ethics embraced by various journalistic organizations around the world illustrates how both approaches are invoked. These codes most often avoid clear declarations of prohibitions or required actions, and instead provide aspirational calls for journalists to report the news courageously, to be accountable to the public, and to minimize harm as much as possible. All of these imply a special covenant with the public and an obligation to act in ways that serve more than the commercial interests of individual journalists or news organizations. This includes, as one of the first publishers of the New York Times famously said, to report the news “without fear or favor”—in other words, without being cowed or intimidated by powerful people or institutions who might want to shape the news for their own interests, and also without any agenda to promote any single individual, cause, or policy in the course of reporting. In commercial media systems, the specter of corporate conflict of interest is a recurring journalism ethics issue: corporate media conglomerates use their journalism divisions to promote, in the guise of news content, products or services (such as a film or musical artist) produced by another division. Similarly, nationalized or party-owned news outlets subject to government or political control are typically perceived as lacking sufficient editorial autonomy to report news that may adversely impact those in power. Accountability in journalism most often refers to fulfilling a public-service role in the dissemination of news. It calls for journalists to respond quickly to questions about accuracy, and to acknowledge and correct mistakes. It also implies the notion that journalists wield considerable power in their ability to spotlight and scrutinize the behavior of others, and that they must use that power judiciously. Journalists, consequently, are expected to acknowledge their own ethical lapses, and to apply the same standards of behavior to themselves that they hold for news subjects. Most journalistic ethics codes also call for minimizing harm in the course of news work. Note that the call to minimize harm is distinct from imperatives to “prevent” or “avoid” harm, which are virtually non-existent in journalism. This semantic distinction is deliberate and reflects an acknowledgement that harmful effects are occasionally inevitable in the course of good journalism. Journalistic harm is most conventionally understood as materially “setting back” an important and legitimate “interest” of someone or some group that is the focus of news. Some such harms might be easily defended, such as the economic harm caused by an investigative report on the questionable or illegal practices of a company. Other such harms are more difficult to justify, such as the damage created to someone’s reputation by the disclosure of personal facts not considered very newsworthy. But harm can take many other forms. Ill-considered behavior might result in harm to the individual journalist’s reputation or that of his or her news organization. As with most other lines of work, the ethically questionable behavior of individual actors can easily reflect on—and harm—the profession or field as a whole, reducing trust. The public also can be harmed with misinformation and sensationalistic coverage or content that leaves people with an inaccurate understanding of a topic or issue. In most cases, journalists minimize potential harms by articulating the public value of published information and by considering withholding information that might be less important or relevant for a story. Journalists also consider story “play”—how images and graphics are used as well as story placement and prominence. More recently, journalism ethics discussions and scholarship have emphasized additional values. One is transparency, or being aboveboard in explaining news decisions. For example, recent efforts to revise the code of ethics of the Society for Professional Journalists in the United States resulted in adding the imperative that journalists “be transparent.” In some cases, this has meant inviting the public to observe, either personally or via streaming video, editorial meetings of news organizations. In others, it has meant allowing digital access to databases and other files that are used in building news stories. Another value that has gained in prominence in journalism ethics is community engagement. More journalistic organizations, particularly digital-only news sites, have expressed an obligation to move beyond mere reporting of the news and to make efforts to foster civic participation. At its most basic, this manifests itself through active story comment lines and forums to discuss stories and issues. But it also can include the sponsorship by news organizations of public meetings to address specific issues of concern as well as inviting audience members to “sponsor” an investigative effort, which a news organization, once receiving sufficient financial support, “pledges” to publish.

Journalism and Ethics Frameworks

Much work in journalism ethics is rooted in two predominant strains found in the philosophy of ethics. One is consequentialism , in which much of the moral weight of decisions is placed on the goodness of the outcome. In journalism, this is most clearly illustrated by the focus on possible harms resulting from newsgathering and publishing. The other predominant strain is deontology , or duty-based ethics. Many news outlets and journalism associations have embraced ethics codes that itemize the various duties that responsible journalists must carry out: duty to serve the public, duty to scrutinize centers of power, duty to be as transparent and accountable as possible. But the “third way” in ethics, virtue theory, has recently been gathering prominence in journalism practice as well. Rooted in the work of Aristotle, this approach focuses instead on identifying “virtues”—what it means to be courageous, charitable, honest, and so forth—and articulating how such virtues ought to be manifested in our lives if we are serious about the promotion of human “flourishing.” Insisting that journalists should “be virtuous” may sound like a less-than-useful platitude, but recognizing and living by virtues is far from simple. We would not still be discussing them thousands of years after Aristotle if it were. And as we have seen, ethics is rarely black and white. We must juggle competing claims, weigh various possible harms, articulate often multiple duties—all in the course of just one ethical question. In moral psychology (discussed later in this article), the idea of “moral commitment” is an important one—the degree to which individuals internalize moral principles, or virtues, into their very self-identities, so that those principles almost reflexively inform daily behavior. Moral “exemplars” are those among us who not only internalize these principles, but whose moral development has given them what might be called a highly developed skill of discrimination: the ability to make fine-grained distinctions among similar situations and to thoughtfully respond with just the right mix of appraisals, beliefs, and behavior that still reflect one’s broader moral commitments. This is the more character-driven approach that preoccupies virtue ethicists. One of them, Rosalind Hursthouse ( 1999 , p. 154), argued that the virtues “are not excellences of character, not traits that, by their very nature, make their possessors good and result in good conduct.” Rather, she said we must remember the “Aristotelian idea that each of the virtues involves practical wisdom, the ability to reason correctly about practical matters.” It is more of a “ground-up” approach, rather than the “top-down” approach of duty ethics or the “ends-focused” approach of consequentialism. And for a growing chorus of journalism ethics scholars, it may be the most useful one. “By building from our appreciation of ‘particular facts’ about how the media operate in the contemporary world, we have a more useful starting point for the tangled problems of media ethics than by relying on supposedly consensual norms, rights or obligations,” wrote media ethicist Nick Couldry ( 2013 , p. 42).

A notable example of virtue ethics applied to journalism is offered by media ethicist Sandra Borden. Borden draws on the work of philosopher Alistair MacIntyre, who argues that the ancient Greeks understood the notion of virtues as qualities that were critical to have if one were to perform well in his or her social roles. Aristotle described virtues not as ends in themselves, but as tools to achieve what he said should be our broader aim: “the good life,” or eudaimonia . As individuals, we not only contribute to our own well-being but help bring about such flourishing for all through specialized work that is often referred to as professional behavior. In his landmark book, After Virtue , MacIntyre ( 2007 , p. 187) called this type of work a practice :

By ‘practice’ I . . . mean any coherent and complex form of socially established cooperative human activity through which goods internal to that form of activity are realized in the course of trying to achieve those standards of excellence which are appropriate to, and partially definitive of, that form of activity, with the result that human powers to achieve excellence, and human conceptions of the end and good involved, are systematically extended.

Such practices, he argued, involve “standards of excellence and obedience to rules” that are aimed at attaining internal goods, or things that contribute to the common good regardless of who actually receives them. Media professionals, when deliberately informing their work with the “standards of excellence” that are attached to their “practices,” are able to deliver public goods such as providing information and analysis that enables the public to participate in a vigorous democratic life. As Borden ( 2007 , p. 16) summarized, “an occupation’s purpose provides it with moral justification, from a virtue perspective, if it can be integrated into a broader conception of what is good for humans.” In her book, Journalism as Practice , she made the compelling case that journalism should indeed be treated as a MacIntyrean practice . Another media ethicist, Victor Pickard ( 2011 , p. 76), eloquently described the “practice” of journalism having internal goods as its aim:

[Journalism] is an essential public service with social benefits that transcend its revenue stream. In its ideal form, journalism creates tremendous positive externalities. It serves as a watchdog over the powerful, covers crucial social issues, and provides a forum for diverse voices and viewpoints. As such, journalism functions as democracy’s critical infrastructure.

Implications of Specific Practices

Due to the ongoing nature and recurring tensions inherent in news work, several specific types of questions and controversies regularly surface. Yet it should be clear that ethics provides no clear-cut solution to cases of the same type; indeed, ethicists often argue for very different resolutions or optimal decisions among similar cases, depending on context and factors that may have more or less importance in different situations. It nonetheless is valuable to note several broad types of journalism ethics questions:

Conflict of interest. As noted previously, corporate and political conflicts of interest commonly raise questions of journalistic autonomy and adherence to ideals of public service. Conflict of interest can also occur at the individual level, where the interests or values of a single journalist might tempt him or her to compromise his or her news judgements. Most journalistic policies require news workers to treat potential appearances of conflict of interest as just as much a threat to credibility as actual conflicts, and, in cases of the latter, to take explicit steps to acknowledge the conflict and to either minimize or eliminate it. In most cases, journalists are expected to recuse themselves from activities that might pose a journalistic conflict. This includes policies that prohibit reporters covering politics from featuring political bumper stickers on their private vehicles.

Minimizing harm. Also as noted, the concept of harm can take many forms, and journalists are regularly called upon to justify their decisions that arguably cause harm to individuals or groups. Photojournalists in war zones and those covering sites of humanitarian tragedy have been challenged, for example, for their decisions to maintain their role as dispassionate witnesses to scenes of human suffering, rather than setting down their cameras and helping those in need. News organizations also have drawn criticism when disclosing secret or classified information that, in the course of informing the public, may arguably harm or undermine national interests.

Balancing privacy interests. Generally, theorists agree that everyone requires a degree of privacy to allow for self-development and to enable individuals to manage their multiple social roles. But with the value of privacy regularly being contested, journalists confront the dilemma of the extent to which respect for individual privacy should determine news coverage. While some scholars have argued that protecting privacy should never be considered the job of the journalist because of myriad and shifting definitions, others emphasize that journalism that respects privacy can encourage civic participation and engagement. Ethics arguments frequently flare over when disclosure of personal information is merited as well as when story subjects arguably seek to dodge accountability by invoking questionable or ill-informed privacy claims.

News frame effects. News content that may have negative effects on society frequently raises ethics questions. For example, psychologists have long warned of the “contagion” effect of coverage of suicide that focuses on the method of death and emotional state of the subject, which may prompt others in a similar emotional state to “copy” the story. Journalists have embraced media guidelines for responsible coverage of suicide as a social-health issue rather than as spectacle. The way an issue in the news is “framed” by story narratives, using factors such as sourcing, point of view, emphasis, and description, can leave audiences with a particular understanding of that issue. Framing of hot-button topics such as gun violence, gender roles, or obesity can serve to emphasize or favor one perspective over another and thus raise ethical questions.

Stereotypes. Relying on or perpetuating gender, racial, or ethnic stereotypes in news stories also can be considered a framing issue, and journalists must be mindful of inadvertent stereotyping. Expediency, narrative brevity, and the press of deadlines often discourage thoughtful considerations of the descriptions used for story subjects, be they local celebrities or police suspects. Research has suggested a consistent gender bias in news descriptions of physicality, emphasizing clothing items for women but not men, for example. Also, consistent focus on race often leaves skewed perceptions of crime patterns in the mind of the public.

Newsgathering techniques. What methods are justifiable in the collection of information valuable to the public? Classic what-ends-justify-the-means questions regularly confront journalists. While absolutist policies are rare, many news organizations refuse to pay for news or interviews, though tabloid outlets commonly do so. The concern is that sources with a financial incentive may be tempted to embellish, alter, or even fabricate facts and events, thereby undermining the journalistic enterprise. In some developing countries, such as Kenya, China, and India, money is regularly passed to individual journalists to curry favor and secure positive treatment. With celebrity periodicals, where exposure has created its own competitive market among a finite pool of public figures, payment for attention has become more removed from objective newsworthiness standards. The use of deceptive tactics, such as hidden cameras, also raises ethical questions. Several journalistic organizations have adopted policies stating that hidden cameras should be used only as a last resort and only when the information sought has high potential value for the public. Similar policies apply to journalists misrepresenting themselves to access information.

Graphic images. The publication of photos that depict gore, violence, and suffering regularly raises ethical questions for news journalists. Such questions become particularly heated during times of war or conflict, and when patriotic sentiments may bring added pressure to bear on journalists to depict the “right” story and avoid using images that audiences might perceive to be demoralizing. Claims that graphic images can be offensive, harmful, or unnecessary clash with concerns that avoiding such images risks sanitizing or propagandizing the news, which can easily undermine journalistic credibility. As with other journalistic ethics issues, the controversies over the publication of graphic images reflect diametric approaches within ethics itself: A utilitarian concern focused on minimizing harmful consequences of a decision versus a deontological ethos that calls for depicting the news with courage and relying on audiences to make their own decisions about the value of such images.

Ethics and Journalism Sociology

A variety of factors influences and even determines the behavior of journalists. The professional, cultural, and organizational environments in which journalists work have been referred to as their “moral ecology,” a recognition that news workers, like everyone else, do not operate in a self-defined vacuum, and that individual beliefs and predispositions are routinely subsumed by broader processes of socialization that can both help and hinder the exercise of ethical reasoning skills and moral autonomy. Thus, normative claims about what journalists should or should not do in the course of their work must rest not on assumptions that journalists are guided solely by personal beliefs but on an appreciation of these socialization processes. For example, journalists are criticized for advancing a “news agenda” reflecting their personal biases, but such claims often ignore how the broader constraints of the news decision-making process (e.g., the requirements of video production on deadline), organizational structure (e.g., the allocation of resources intended to produce one type of news content over another), or professional culture (e.g., the internal system of sanctions and rewards from editors based on impartiality of work) function as much greater influences. That moral ecology, of course, varies widely around the globe. Journalism sociology research over the years has identified broad “levels” or categories of factors that influence the production of news, generally distinguishing among individual-, organizational-, and societal-level spheres. For example, the ongoing “Worlds of Journalism” project examining news work across cultures has identified six levels of influence:

The individual level includes personal opinions, values, and demographic data as well as information on specific roles and occupational characteristics within a news organization.

The media routines level includes deadlines, production procedures, and standards and other constraints posed by newsgathering practices.

The organizational level includes technological imperatives, advertising or revenue considerations, and editorial decision-making.

The media structures level includes the economic model of news that entails profitability and resource allocation as realities in the relatively high costs of news production.

The systemic level includes national-level data such as regulatory policies, ideological assumptions, and degree of press freedoms.

Reference groups constitute a dimension that spans professional and personal domains to include competing news organizations, audiences, colleagues, friends, and family members.

In much research on journalism culture since the late 20th century, organizational- and societal-level factors have been found to be stronger influences on news content than individual-level factors, suggesting a hierarchical structure of influences in which the higher the level, the stronger the influence. However, no definitive model of influence has emerged.

Media Technology

The proliferation of online media has resulted in a host of new complications for journalists and news organizations. While traditional ethical concepts do not fundamentally change when information is delivered online, the ease and ubiquity of digital media provide new ways of interacting with audience members and story subjects. And everyone is tempted to do things he or she may not otherwise contemplate without the speed and ease of media technology. As one media ethics scholar noted, “Deceptive behavior in cyberspace is . . . not a new moral issue though it raises the problem of ‘moral distance’ with extra urgency . . . The speed of digital communication does not create new forms of immorality, but makes it possible to commit immoral acts so fast one hardly notices” ( 2000 , pp. 34–35). For example, the issue of corrections and retractions in digital journalism has received considerable attention.

Generally, many journalistic organizations, such as the Canadian Association of Journalists, have adopted policies against “unpublishing” erroneous reports from their archives and instead amending corrections to them. News organizations also have felt increasing pressure from story subjects who are embarrassed by content and argue that it is unfair for the news organizations to archive material long after it is no longer relevant. But allowing individuals to “scrub” the public record for their own interests raises deeper questions about the value of independently curated public information, and it also can threaten a key aspect of the journalistic mission, which is to document history. As one journalism educator has said, “Source remorse is not a reason to unpublish.” Unpublishing material also does little to eliminate the “echoes” that likely exist all over the Web on search engines, blogs, and other news sites. Better to correct or amend the existing archived material, which both preserves the integrity of the journalistic process and also fosters credibility through transparent action. For instance, editors at the Boston Globe cited the latter for their decision to correct, but not remove, a live blog post erroneously stating that an arrest had been made shortly after the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013 . In rare cases, a news organization may consider unpublishing a story that is judged to be unethical or even be questionable legally, or when continued accessibility of an archived story may pose a real threat to someone’s well-being. In such cases, many policies urge journalists to look for evidence of concrete harm, such a doctor’s opinion, and for any such decisions to unpublish to be made by consensus, never leaving them to a single person.

The immediacy provided by media technology has enabled journalists to increase their relevance and value and to foster new forms of interaction with audiences. It also can encourage broad collaborative efforts with non-journalists whose perspectives and information can augment journalistic efforts. But that very immediacy can threaten to become deterministic —the value of now can displace ethical concerns of credibility, verification, and care. In the rush to be a part of the conversation and buzz on breaking stories, many news organizations have fallen victim to all stripes of hoaxes. “The development of social networks for real-time news and information, and the integration of social media content in the news media, creates tensions for a profession based on a discipline of verification,” said journalism technology scholar Alfred Hermida. News sites around the world, for example, circulated what turned out to be a fake photo of Osama Bin Laden’s body soon after his death in May 2011 . The immediacy of digital technology tempts journalists to post, share, and verify later—often at the cost of their long-term credibility. This risk of compromised integrity or even partiality is a serious concern reflected in the social media policies of most news organizations. The notion of technological determinism—that values emphasized by technology such as convenience tempt us to set aside other values such as respect, conscientiousness, and even safety—has resulted in abetting the perilous impulse in a competitive media system of getting it first rather than getting it right. Critic Evgeny Morozov ( 2011 , p. xvi) calls this “cyber-centrism,” or our tendency to “prioritize the tool over the environment.” The integration of social media also has required journalists to resist the temptation for informality. Several news organizations have adopted explicit policies that reinforce how traditional concerns of ethics as well as etiquette apply to social media. For example, the Associated Press cautions its writers about the peril residing in too-informal use of Twitter:

Twitter, in particular, can present some challenges—with a tight character count and no way to modulate your body language or the volume and tone of your voice, requests that are intended to be sensitive can come across as cold or even demanding. Think about how your tweet would come across if spoken with an angry voice, because that’s just how the recipient may hear it in his head.

Media technology has collapsed time and space in the exchange of information, but it also has arguably initiated a reformation of communication structures. No longer is the news media system a “closed” one in which journalists serve a central gatekeeping function; now we have an “open” system in which the sourcing and distribution of information has been radically democratized and globalized. As many theorists have said, we now have a networked society. Journalists and journalistic brands are now just single nodes among a constellation of voices and sources, all moving in a “shared” information space. This, writes scholar Ansgard Heinrich, “sketches the evolution of an interactive sphere that, at least in theory, fosters a greater level of interaction and exchange. Connection, interaction, and collaboration are the markers of this shift.” This transformation, however, poses many questions for journalism as it has been conventionally understood, in the form of print newspapers and broadcast networks. Who do you link to? How do you distinguish between activist bloggers and more dispassionate collaborators? Do these distinctions matter anymore? And in this new “network journalism,” how are journalists to act responsibly in what is now a global sphere? Scholars have begun insisting that journalists have a responsibility to be more cosmopolitan in their outlook and their framing of news, and to work harder to transcend the “nationalistic” lenses that have traditionally dominated news narratives. As Heinrich argues, “This nationally inward looking focus of news reporting, however, does not do justice to a world (1) where events in one corner of the world might affect the other; (2) where news stories produced by one outlet are not restricted in access to ‘local,’ i.e., national audiences; and (3) in which many voices roam through the spheres of a digitally connected world that might provide an alternative take on a news story.” Globally responsible journalists, then, must break out of the tradition of foreign correspondent narratives that focus almost exclusively on elite or official sources and on how events impact a particular nation, instead engaging in the multitude of activist and “unofficial” sources that provide often competing narratives.

Global Journalism Ethics Theorizing

Much journalism ethics theorizing since the end of the 20th century has been preoccupied with the desire to establish viable ethical norms that transcend cultural boundaries and reflect what one researcher referred to as an empirical trend toward “ever-increasing globalization of journalism standards.” Some of this work calls for a media system that relies on a framework of international human rights, or a general veneration of human life, to guide news work regardless of culture. Others have called for a “modified contractualist” approach that would respect differing cultural manifestations of broad principles. Still others insist that any such global framework reject Enlightenment assumptions of the primacy of individual rights and rationality. Too often, claims of journalism standards of behavior remain rooted in Western cultural assumptions and are imperialistically imposed onto non-Western cultures in which the values of social stability and collective well-being replace individualistic models. As one scholar observed, “It is a global reality that the common concerns we have as human beings coexist with differences of ethical thinking and priorities in different cultures. This coexistence of common ground and different places plays out in the work of journalists across the world.” Notwithstanding the rarity with which the value of press freedom is enshrined in Western media systems, American and European scholars and journalistic organizations continue to dominate journalism ethics discourse. As a result, that discourse is focused on protecting journalistic functions with the rule of law and insulating them from power and identity politics. The European Federation of Journalists, for example, released a report in 2015 examining the effects of chronic corruption in 18 countries, noting how “media managers are doing ‘deals’ with advertisers to carry paid-for material disguised as news, how editors are being bribed by politicians or corporate managers and how this whole process makes it increasingly difficult to separate journalism from propaganda from public relations.” But voices from other parts of the world are joining the discourse on press freedom and journalism ethics. Many sociology and philosophy scholars on the African continent have offered critiques of postcolonial systems to promote journalism institutions (e.g., Kasoma, 1996 ; Wasserman, 2006 ). In 2015 , the Journal of Media Ethics published a special issue devoted to the notion of ubuntu as a guiding framework for media practice—the idea common among several south African cultures that individual flourishing is possible only through community belonging and social identity. The widespread practice of journalists accepting gifts and cash in exchange for favorable treatment—called “brown-envelope” journalism in Nigeria and “red-envelope” journalism in China—is receiving an increased amount of attention by journalism sociology scholars around the world (Xu, 2016 ). The practice in China was an intrinsic part of the commercialization of the media system in China beginning in the 1980s, and was actually initiated by foreign companies to entice journalists to attend press conferences (Zhao, 1998 ).

Cultural diversity notwithstanding, research worldwide has identified several key areas and concepts that concern journalists across cultures. These include truth-telling, accuracy, factualness, objectivity, credibility, balance, verification, independence, fairness, accountability, honesty, and respect. Of course, many of these overlap, and they can apply to one or more of the influence levels referred to previously. But many journalism ethics scholars agree that these are not enough. It is shared moral principles, rather than agreed-upon practices, that can bind responsible journalists around the world in ethical solidarity. As scholar Clifford Christians ( 2010 , p. 6) argues:

Without a defensible conception of the good, our practices are arbitrary. How can we condemn violent practices such as suicide bombings in the name of jihad except through widely accepted principles? We are stunned at the blatant greed and plundering of the earth, but without norms we are only elitists and hot-tempered moralists. Conflicts among people, communities, and nations need principles other than their own for their resolution. A credible ethics, as a minimum, must be transnational in character.

Christians and others argue that such a global media ethic cannot start with conventional morality that assumes a superior rationality, such as that of Kant. Instead, it must begin with a much more “naturalistic” principle: universal human solidarity, which prioritizes human dignity, truth, and nonviolence, all of which are grounded in the notion of the sacredness of life. In addition to this notion, scholars point to the fundamentally social reality of human existence—that despite the predominance of Western individualism, our realities and even our identities are arguably rooted in interaction and community belonging. In this reality, communication is central, as it is through exchange that we understand ourselves and we see the importance of “the Other”—individuals we encounter who may not share our culture or perspective, but whose existence requires respect and validation. Again, Christians, drawing on a long line of earlier philosophers, explains: “Communication is not the transference of knowledge but a dialogic encounter of subjects creating it together.” This leads us to a framework of “anthropological realism” that provides a hopeful basis for a global media ethic. It is anthropological in nature because it is rooted in the realities of human existence rather than claims about any rationalistic ideals. It is realist in that it insists morality has an explicit character that exists independently of our perceptions and judgements. For the moral realist, moral claims of rightness or wrongness are true regardless of any beliefs an individual might have about them. The casual observer, however, might see an immediate problem with such a framework, a problem wrestled with by philosophers since antiquity: what exactly is the nature of the “good” and how do we apprehend it? Is there more to a moral claim than a sort of intuition that we just know right from wrong? And how might journalists articulate this framework of moral realism in the judgements they make about news, about ethnic conflict, about graphic images? In journalism ethics scholarship, these debates continue.

Moral Psychology Research

Broad-brushed, deductive theorizing such as that discussed previously is one active area of journalism ethics research. But other researchers are increasingly acknowledging the need for more empirical work that seeks to better understand ethical reasoning processes on the ground by bringing long-established psychology measurements to bear. This moral psychology research draws on important philosophical concepts as well as instruments that assess beliefs, attitudes, and dispositions to explore possible patterns and relationships among factors in ethical decision-making. Recent cross-cultural research involving interviewing journalists around the globe, led by German researcher Thomas Hanitzsch, suggests that they perceive notions of objectivity, accuracy, and truth-telling as “core elements” of a widely accepted ethic for journalism practice. Journalists, of course, have been socialized into these norms through formal journalism education as well as through immersion in the newsroom culture, with its internal system of sanctions and rewards by peers and superiors based on the perceived quality of one’s work. Other researchers emphasize that social psychological processes resulting in bias perceptions, such as social validation and attitude stabilization, also must be recognized as evident in the work of journalists.

Moral development theory provides several models to help explain how individuals’ moral agency and sense of morality evolve over the course of a lifetime. The most widely cited moral development theory is that of Lawrence Kohlberg, who has argued that our moral development is tied largely to two factors. One is the degree to which we internalize moral principles that apply to all and move away from relativistic thinking—the notion that moral decisions regarding what is “right” are strictly “relative” to one’s own personal values rather than any broader moral principles. The other, closely related to the first, is the sophistication and scope of our understanding of the concept of justice. Our moral development, Kohlberg argues, can be assessed as existing in one of six stages. Based on Kohlberg’s theory, researchers have refined and widely used a survey instrument that measures one’s moral reasoning skills based on these two factors. By assessing the frequency with which respondents draw on higher-order justifications when presented with a moral dilemma, the Defining Issues Test (DIT) has enabled researchers to assess the moral-reasoning skills of various populations such as professional groups. Media researchers Lee Wilkins and Renita Coleman pioneered the application of the DIT to journalists and other media workers, concluding that, because journalists routinely encountered ethical questions in the course of their work, their moral reasoning skills were relatively high compared with workers in other professions.

Another moral psychology instrument that has proven useful in journalism ethics research is the Ethics Position Questionnaire (EPQ) developed by Donelson Forsyth. Because people’s responses to ethical dilemmas are influenced by their worldviews, understanding the basic elements of their outlooks can illuminate the thrust of their ethical judgements. Two such basic elements are key to individuals’ “ethical ideologies.” One is how idealistic they are—that is, to what extent are they optimistic about the actions of others, and to what extent are they concerned about minimizing harm or are more accepting of harmful effects if positive consequences are believed to outweigh them. Another basic element is how relativistic they are—whether they tend to make judgements based primarily on their own interests and perceptions of “rightness” that are relative to their own standing or views, or whether they tend to draw on broader, universal principles to decide what’s ethically justifiable. Using some key items from the Forsyth instrument, the “Worlds of Journalism” project found that most journalists in the 20 countries surveyed tend to embrace universal principles that should be followed regardless of situation and context. They also agreed on the importance of avoiding questionable methods of reporting, even if this means not getting the story. Much less approval—although the extent of it varied between countries—could be found regarding how much personal latitude journalists should have in solving these problems. This desire for flexibility reflects the longstanding tension in ethics between desirable ends and questionable means, as discussed. Many journalists think that in certain situations, some harm to others would be justified if the result supports a greater public good. News workers in Western countries are more likely to disapprove of a contextual and situational ethics. This attitude, however, also exists in non-Western contexts, though less strongly. Chinese, Pakistani, and Russian journalists, on the other hand, tend to be most open to situational ethical practices. Consistent with this result, interviewees in Western contexts showed little support for the idea that journalists should be allowed to set their own individual ethical standards. Similarities between journalists from Western countries also exist with regard to idealism. Although journalists in all countries agreed on the view that questionable methods of reporting should be avoided, those working in Western contexts appreciate this idea more than their colleagues in a developmental and transitional environment. Regarding the acceptance of harmful consequences of reporting for the sake of a greater public good, journalists in most Western countries—but also their colleagues in Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Uganda—tend to keep all options on the table. Journalists in Bulgaria, Chile, China, Egypt, Romania, and Russia, on the other hand, exhibit a greater willingness to accept harmful consequences in the course of newsgathering and reporting.

In a study of journalism “exemplars” in the United States—reporters and editors widely respected for their accomplishments and ethical leadership—media ethicist Patrick Plaisance used both the Defining Issues Test and the Ethics Position Questionnaire, along with several other moral psychology instruments. Regarding the journalism exemplars’ moral reasoning, Plaisance found their DIT scores were indeed higher than that of journalists on average. Regarding the EPQ, the journalism exemplars uniformly rejected relativistic thinking as well. There was also a negative relationship between the journalism exemplars’ DIT scores and their degree of idealistic thinking. That is, the higher the exemplars score on the Defining Issues Test, the less they appear to embrace idealistic thinking. This may first appear counterintuitive; it might stand to reason that people with higher DIT scores, associated as they are with greater application of universal principles in moral judgements, also would be rather idealistic in their outlooks. However, it is important to remember that all of the exemplars scored low in relativistic thinking; so the issue is not that the exemplars would be more or less Machiavellian depending on their DIT scores, but to what degree their belief in universal moral standards, and perhaps primarily their concern for harming others, could be applied rigidly or not. The negative correlation with moral-reasoning scores, then, arguably reinforces the suggestion of comparatively greater moral development in that exemplars with the higher DIT scores exhibit a greater ability to adapt their principles to best fit the often complex range of contingencies in which they find themselves having to work. In other words, they are too wise to believe they can insist on a rigid application of moral rules that can fit all circumstances and have become more adept at making the kind of carefully considered, fine-grained distinctions frequently found among moral exemplars of all walks of life.

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Journalism on the Web
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Journalism, Culture, and Society
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Theories of Journalism
Gender and Journalism
Policy Issues Surrounding Journalism
Drone Journalism, Privacy Law, and Journalism Ethics
Journalism and Explaining News Content
Behavioral Journalism in Health and Risk Messaging
Journalism's Social Contract
News, Economic Governance, and Anti-Corruption
Objectivity and Bias in Journalism
Accountability in Journalism
Crowdsourcing in Journalism
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SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS

Home > Ethics

SPJ's Professional Standards and Ethics Committee's purpose is to encourage the use of the Society's Code of Ethics, which promotes the highest professional standards for journalists of all disciplines. Public concerns are often answered by this committee. It also acts as a spotter for reporting trends in the nation, accumulating case studies of jobs well done under trying circumstances.

Visit spj's ethics central website for current news and events surrounding journalism ethics.

SPJ’s Code of Ethics

SPJ declares these four principles as the foundation of ethical journalism and encourages their use in its practice by all people in all media.

SPJ Ethics Central

Reporting what’s happening, discussing what matters and exploring what’s next. • Ethics and Diversity in the News • In depth: SPJ’s Code of Ethics Updates: Updating reporting on a hit-and-run as more information is released Minimizing harm for families of homicide victims False reporting on a child influencers death Answering audience questions with transparency portal Using official documents during an investigation

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SPJ Toolbox: Ethics

More ethics coverage at SPJ Toolbox: Fact Checking Check Domain Names Fact-Checking COVID-19

>> Visit The SPJ Toolbox

New! Media Ethics: 5th Edition

Closely organized around SPJ's Code of Ethics, this updated edition uses real-life case studies to demonstrate how students and professionals in journalism and other communication disciplines identify and reason through ethical dilemmas. Order now: – Bookshop.org – Amazon/Kindle – IndieBound – More

Help us spread #SPJTruth

– Ethics Blogs and Position Papers – What is ethical journalism and why is it important? – What do journalists do and who are they? – Ethical journalism looks like this – What can you do? – Learn about secure places to leak information – Buy the latest ethics textbook – Host an ethics program, contact our experts and more – #PressForEthics – Read ethics case studies

What the Codes Say: Code provisions by subject

What follows are excerpts from codes of ethics that have been collected by the American Society of News Editors and SPJ from publicly-available sources online. These lists appear after each chapter in Journalism Ethics: A Casebook of Professional Conduct for News Media . Related: – Other Codes of Ethics – Journalism Ethics: A Casebook of Professional Conduct for News Media

Ethics Committee Position Papers

This collection of position papers is intended to clarify SPJ’s position on specific ethical themes that frequently arise in journalism, and also to provide better guidance for journalists, academics, students and the public when consulting SPJ's Code of Ethics.

This collection of position papers, produced by the Society of Professional Journalists’ Ethics Committee, is intended to clarify SPJ’s position on specific ethical themes that frequently arise in journalism, and also to provide better guidance for journalists, academics, students and the public when consulting the SPJ Code of Ethics. The following papers are available for immediate reference , with more — on using anonymous sources, undercover reporting, dealing with victims of tragedy, handling diversity coverage, privacy and news media accountability — to release over the coming months: Newly Added: — Reporting on Grief, Tragedy and Victims — Anonymous Sources — Accountability Newly available: Plagiarism The digital age we’re currently in offers both the most opportunities to verify the authenticity of original work and also misuse it without giving credit to the original reporting source. With databases, Web searches and other online research, it has never been easier to research the source of a story or other original material. Continue reading Plagiarism Also Available: — Using the SPJ Code — Plagiarism — Checkbook Journalism — Political Involvement

SPJ Leak Seeker: Share information with reputable news media

Many reputable news organizations offer secure pathways for people wanting to leak information, and SPJ is building a list to help facilitate the effort.

Ethics Case Studies

There seems to be no shortage of ethical issues in journalism these days. Let these sample cases — nearly 20 in all — guide you in your classes, speeches, columns, workshops or research.

For journalism instructors and others interested in presenting ethical dilemmas for debate and discussion, SPJ has a useful resource. We've been collecting a number of case studies for use in workshops. The Ethics AdviceLine operated by the Chicago Headline Club and Loyola University also has provided a number of examples. There seems to be no shortage of ethical issues in journalism these days. Please feel free to use these examples in your classes, speeches, columns, workshops or other modes of communication. — Index — Using the ‘Holocaust’ Metaphor — Aaargh! Pirates! (and the Press) — Reigning on the Parade — Controversy over a Concert — Deep Throat, and His Motive — When Sources Won’t Talk — A Suspect “Confession” — Who’s the “Predator”? — The Media’s Foul Ball — Publishing Drunk Drivers’ Photos — Naming Victims of Sex Crimes — A Self-Serving Leak — The Times and Jayson Blair — Cooperating with the Government — Offensive Images — The Sting — A Media-Savvy Killer — A Congressman’s Past — Crafting a Policy

Quill: Lets Do Better: 2023s egregious breaches in journalism ethics

More from Quill: Wrestling with trust vs. attention when breaking news Focusing on photography ethics Conduits of misinformation

Ethics Help

Have a dilemma? Our experts are standing by. Get your questions answered here. — Frequently Asked Questions — Ethics Hotline Information

Free Webinar on Demand

Working With Unnamed Sources

An important key to watchdog reporting and a serious challenge to journalism credibility are the same thing: use of unnamed sources. In this webinar we’ll discuss how to use and work with unnamed sources.

Explore SPJ

Diversity & inclusion, for educators, for students, freedom of information, freelancing, international journalism, spj foundation.

The Case for Media Impact

The media—and especially nonprofit media—has spent the past few years struggling to measure the impact of its work. Some outlets are compelled to do so by counting their philanthropic supporters; others see their impact as foundational to audience development and engagement, and still others are beginning to experiment with the role of impact measurement in advertising and other revenue streams. Of course, at its core, journalism is intended to have an effect: to inform the public so we can be civically engaged and hold the powerful to account.

But what does it mean for a journalistic organization to put the goal of impact at the center of its mission? In this report, we explore this question through the lens of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its explosive project, “Evicted and Abandoned,” in which a collaborative reporting project of more than fifty reporters and fifteen organizations in twenty-one countries took on the World Bank. The investigation found that, over the last decade, projects funded by the World Bank have physically or economically displaced an estimated 3.4 million people; that the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation have financed governments and companies accused of human rights violations; and that, from 2009 to 2013, World Bank Group lenders invested fifty billion dollars into projects graded with the highest risk for “irreversible or unprecedented” 1 social or environmental impacts.

Part One of the report introduces the current impact conversation in the media arena and describes ICIJ’s structure and strategy. Part Two traces the forerunners to some contemporary journalists’ discomfort with the notion of impact as a goal for media, and finds that, in fact, the notion of journalistic impact is nothing new. In Part Three, we examine how ICIJ’s impact imperative affects the organization’s approach to story choice, production, and distribution. The report also covers the challenges associated with this model and suggests what other journalistic organizations can learn from the experience of ICIJ.

Key Findings

A networked structure necessarily requires that ICIJ relinquish control of the investigation and content produced by partner organizations, which can result in reporting errors.
Measuring the impact of one organization and one project is difficult. Even knowing about the far-flung impact of ICIJ partner stories is near impossible.
Collaborations, however complicated, result in increased capacity, larger audiences, and greater potential for impact. ICIJ’s above-and-below distribution strategy has proven effective.
Large, international media generates attention to issues from international elites, while local and national media generates awareness among the most affected populations.
A rolling thunder approach whereby reporters stick with the story long after the initial publication keeps the spotlight on the issues.

Recommendations

Impact is not a dirty word : In our experience, news organizations are often wary of putting impact at the center of their operations for fear of getting too close to the ethical line separating unbiased journalism from advocacy work. The case of ICIJ demonstrates that an impact imperative need not cross this line, nor is impact necessarily a requirement that funders foist upon organizations. Instead, by having a clear mission that puts impact at the center of all it does, an organization can formulate its own theory of change (even if implicit) to guide strategy.
Give your audience more—people like positive change more than bad news : The next step for media organizations is to take the expansive notion of impact that helps to govern internal strategy and communicate these changes with audiences. Now, as the American public’s trust in both media and government hovers at an all-time low, it is more important than ever to show the positive change that often stems from crucially important investigative reporting. This includes not just the political and institutional responses, but also the nuanced changes that happen at the level of individuals and communities.

Download a PDF of the full report here.

Media Impact

In the wake of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ “The Panama Papers” investigation, almost overnight a prime minister resigned; official investigations opened around the world; leaders from the United States, India, Australia, Norway, and France spoke out; and China began a censorship campaign to ensure its citizens would not access the findings. But the impact of “The Panama Papers” was not luck. It was the result of ICIJ’s carefully planned campaign. While investigative reporting designed to achieve impact may seem antithetical to the principles of journalism, ICIJ has high reporting standards that are widely respected in the field.

But what does it mean for a journalistic organization to have a core mission based on generating impact? To begin to answer this question, we focused our research on determining the effects of ICIJ’s impact imperative on the organization’s structure, processes, and strategies.

Impact in a Historical Context

The relationship between media and culture has been examined for generations, and the current study of journalism impact has precursors. In the 1920s and 1930s, scholars focused on the relationship between media and politics—at just the moment when media began to claim impartiality. Politics and dominant culture are often seen as being inextricably linked, if not synonymous.

In later parts of this paper, we review those forerunners: from Antonio Gramsci’s argument that media is a tool of the elite to create culture and dominate politics, thereby quieting the masses, 2 to arguments from economists like James T. Hamilton that assert the media is often instead a mirror reflecting consumer preferences. 3 We also cover those of social movement scholars who find that movements and organizations use the media to bring their cultural and political critiques into the mainstream, thereby shifting the broader cultural consciousness. 4 5

For the moment, though, we will accept that “media impact”—whether intended or unintended—exists, and is a suitably complex topic that has preoccupied researchers and journalists alike for almost as long as the industry has existed.

Media and Impact: Why Are We (Still) Talking About It?

There are at least three particular forces that make media impact a timely subject.

Funding for nonprofit journalism comes with impact requirements

The rise of nonprofit news organizations roughly coincides with the decline in traditional, legacy news outlets. The nonprofit model is supported by philanthropic foundations, individual donors, and members. According to a recent Knight Foundation report, foundation support accounted for fifty-eight percent of nonprofit news revenue in 2013. 6 However, many of the current, large funders of journalism, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Omidyar Network, have historically funded service delivery organizations and projects, not media 7 8 —a trend widely discussed in the nonprofit media and philanthropic communities. This creates an immediate tension, as, for example, it’s far easier to measure the impact of inoculations administered than the impact of a series of news reports on the importance of inoculations. Furthermore, service organizations have clear goals, while media organizations often have broader and more vague missions around values like contributing to a healthy democracy or protecting the public interest. However, as nonprofit media organizations and their funders have negotiated (often uneasy) partnerships, academics and other researchers have edged into the conversation and proposed other methods for understanding media’s effects—both on individual behavior and more complicated processes like framing public debate on issues.

The crisis of trust in journalism has made impact a brand differentiator

This second trend has been less explored but may have more powerful implications for media, including commercial media. In an era during which the public’s trust in legacy news organizations is rapidly eroding, 9 a media organization’s ability to understand its impact and then communicate that impact to its audience can potentially increase the organization’s perceived trustworthiness in the eyes of the audience. If this hunch were proven to be true, this would have huge implications for the media industry and its long-term sustainability.

The rise of analytics data has produced a culture and means of measurement, and demanded a counterweight

The last decade’s boom in newsroom analytics has influenced newsroom operations. It is commonplace to have loads of metrics that can be interpreted as indications of the success of journalists’ output. The first wave of audience data tools focused on pretty crude measures (often aligned with the needs of those selling advertising)—clicks, unique visitors, and visits. The state of analytics has massively evolved since then, capturing virality and user actions on page, among many other data points. Many journalists, upon publishing a story, pay close attention to how it spreads on Twitter and Facebook. In her report, “The Traffic Factories,” Tow Center fellow Caitlin Petre observed that while newsrooms’ cultural values play a big part in how staff use and perceive analytics, the very existence of readily available data that could be used to indicate a story’s worth is a potent force. 10 This defines the modern media, and separates the era of digital platforms from analogue. Some are troubled by this, whether they condemn it outright, or seek to synthesize the traffic and social analytics practices with computable indications of journalism’s other social values—impact in particular.

ICIJ: Global Collaboration for Maximum Impact

Collaboration rarely happens in the news industry, especially in investigative reporting where projects are carefully guarded under lock and key until an organization chooses to break the story. But new media outlets, and especially nonprofits, are exploring collaboration and recognizing the potential for increased reporting capacity, distribution reach, and impact. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is one such organization that has flipped the traditional model on its head and embraced radical collaboration.

ICIJ is a project within the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Center for Public Integrity and was founded by journalist Chuck Lewis in 1997. Observing the rapid globalization of the 1990s, ICIJ’s original members believed that a journalism organization with an international mindset could be well suited to report stories that sprawled beyond any single country. At a time, according to ICIJ, when rapid globalization places “extraordinary pressures on human societies,” 11 it aims to be a globalized reporting network that counterbalances these pressures.

Mission and values

ICIJ’s mission is, perhaps not surprisingly, to “be the world’s best cross-border investigative team.” However, that comes second to its first aim: “to bring journalists from different countries together in teams—eliminating rivalry and promoting collaboration.” 12

Interviews and participant observation with ICIJ staff clearly indicated that ICIJ’s collaborative nature, cross-border reporting, and, more importantly, its syndicated distribution models are tactics in the service of impact.

Operating processes

ICIJ has a networked organizational structure with two spheres. First, its directly employed journalists, located across countries, form the network node. Then, ICIJ’s network expands to include more than 190 investigative journalists in over sixty-five countries. They are generally employed by other newsrooms and publish under their employers’ mastheads.

According to ICIJ website, “ICIJ reporters and editors provide real-time resources and state-of-the-art tools and techniques to journalists around the world.” 13 In-country reporters contribute to the collaborative investigations through on-the-ground reporting. Reporters pool resources as needed and freely share information. ICIJ Computer Aided Reporters provide data and data support to reporters who might not otherwise have the skills or programs necessary to conduct the analysis. Projects are then compiled and simultaneously published internationally in a syndicated manner, in multiple languages and publications across the globe.

Operational funding comes from philanthropic foundations and individual donations. Gerard Ryle, the leader of ICIJ’s headquarters staff in Washington, D.C., has primary responsibility for identifying and securing funding for general operations (although some comes through the Center for Public Integrity’s networks), which is not tied to specific editorial projects or topics. However, once an investigation is underway, ICIJ will often apply for smaller grants to fund additional reporting angles.

ICIJ’s structure, operating model, and editorial focus flows from its purpose. According to Ryle, the organization reports stories that are international, where it has evidence that institutions have broken down, and where it there are significant problems which should be—and can be—remedied.

ICIJ and impact

ICIJ has an underpinning model of change, namely that the wider the reach of high-quality, investigative stories and the stronger the distribution partners (in audience size and credibility), the greater the potential for change to remedy the problem (impact). Although ICIJ unambiguously aims for impact and practices journalism in pursuit of exposing problems so that they can be fixed, the organization does not start with a prescription for particular outcomes.

ICIJ’s model for change contrasts with many organizations that identify as social impact organizations. Social impact organizations with strong monitoring and evaluation processes generally work with what’s known as a theory of change, or a set of logical steps working back from the desired outcome. For example, if the desired outcome is fewer children dying in a specific region and common causes of death are known, a public health organization will ask what intervention can be taken to prevent those causes of death, and what resources and actions are needed to achieve that intervention.

To better understand how ICIJ’s collaborative process works and where “impact” fits into the big picture, we closely followed the reporting, production, distribution, and impact of one project, “Evicted and Abandoned: The World Bank’s Broken Promise to the Poor.” 14 We were flies on the wall in editorial and production meetings, and conducted interviews with ICIJ staff and reporters from other organizations who participated in the project. This process is documented and explored in detail in Part Three of this paper.

ICIJ team shares responsibility for collecting impact indicators. Indeed, many functions within the organization are shared. Again, according to Ryle, that’s necessary for such a small team. The journalists continue to follow the story, which can include reporting on reactions by subjects or stakeholders. The online editor compiles traffic and social metrics, and also has primary responsibility for updating the blog with impact indicators. Impact is often then reported back to audiences as follow-up content.

However, because ICIJ projects are published in multiple languages in newspapers, on websites, and throughout social networks across the world, compiling comprehensive analytics is effectively impossible. And, while some news of real-world change makes its way back to ICIJ staff and can be documented, much change that occurs in local, regional, or even national settings is never known by the organization.

Thus, for ICIJ, the operating model is an impact catch-22: the large and diffuse network leads to powerful investigative stories with sweeping scope and a huge potential for change, but these same qualities make understanding reach, audience, and the full scale of real-world change difficult, if not impossible.

Story selection

ICIJ’s story selection adheres to journalistic news values that would be familiar to most investigative teams; however, to those news values ICIJ adds an extra filter regarding the potential impact of a project. Ryle says, “We’re looking for obvious issues of global concern, always look[ing] for a systemic failure in things,” and asking, “can we make a difference?”

He emphasizes that there is no direct relationship between funding and story selection. However, once a story is chosen, ICIJ will approach grant-making organizations it thinks would be interested in funding sub-projects, such as a reporting trip. For example, when reporters Sasha Chavkin and Mike Hudson realized that a part of the “Evicted and Abandoned” story would require reporting on World Bank activity in Asia, ICIJ applied for a grant to do on-the-ground reporting in the region.

ICIJ also considers the type of stories it has already reported when selecting future projects. Ryle says that ICIJ is aware that the organization has a reputation for doing high-quality investigations into tax-haven stories fueled by leaks. The organization thus seeks out different types of stories, such as “Evicted and Abandoned,” to avoid being perceived as a “one-trick pony.” In Ryle’s words: “You’ve got to satisfy your CEO. You’ve got to satisfy the board . . . Also, funders start mumbling . . . even though it’s a series of stories on the same topic, they see it as one story.”

This suggests a subtle influence of the funding model: The team looks for stories that fulfill ICIJ’s primary criteria, but that can also widen and strengthen the organization’s reputation as able to tackle a diverse range of stories.

Reporting and publishing strategy

ICIJ partners with other journalism organizations for both reporting and publication. ICIJ forms partnerships with organizations in countries relevant to the investigation both to increase on-the-ground reporting capacity and to ensure localized distribution of the investigation. In this way, ICIJ can maximize the amount of reporting that is possible with limited budgets and guarantee that the stories will reach the largest possible audience.

ICIJ does not partner with activist organizations. Ryle clarifies that ICIJ maintains a distance from activist organizations, and that, “[When] you even let them know that you’re about to publish something, that is bordering on advocacy by itself.” When there is an investigation that is relevant to advocacy organizations, ICIJ will often send the final, public version of the story to them in order to spur impact.

ICIJ’s global reporting and publishing strategies are closely intertwined. “We need to have a story that will make its way onto the front pages of every newspaper or TV station that we work with,” says Ryle. “It has to work equally well in France, as it does in Germany, as it does in Brazil, as it does in Japan.” And, while ICIJ acknowledges that it is difficult to find and report stories that are global in nature, Ryle asserts that, “by getting the right one you’re almost automatically guaranteed to get one part of the impact, which is that . . . news organizations publish the story prominently.”

After the launch of an investigation, ICIJ processes in place to track the project’s impact both for journalistic and management purposes. As described above, the strategy requires that journalists stay assigned to the investigation, continuing to report out stories that were identified during the initial investigation, as well as following new leads generated by the first rounds of publication. Reporters also report on the impacts of the investigations.

ICIJ furthermore gives one of its major funders, philanthropist Graeme Wood, a report every six months on how, operationally, his money has been spent and what it has produced. That explicitly includes instances of impact.

The awareness that media has an impact on society, culture, and politics is not new. However, journalism’s focus on media impact has surged in recent years, especially in nonprofit, investigative reporting organizations and those that fund this type of work. ICIJ is a new type of news organization with collaboration at its core and impact in its mission. This focus influences how ICIJ approaches story choice, partnerships, reporting processes, publication strategies, and follow-up reporting.

Part Two of this report explores theories of media and social change, as well as theories from other industries and academic fields, such as health and development, advertising and marketing, the social sciences, and documentary film. In Part Three, we use ICIJ’s “Evicted and Abandoned” project as a case study to more deeply understand how an impact imperative permeates one investigation.

Impact Theory

The notion of journalistic impact—that is journalism having an effect on individuals, organizations, and society—is not an invention of this century. At the very least, the practice of collecting, making sense of, and distributing information is built upon an assumption that individuals will access the information, which will inform their perspectives, decisions, opinion, attitudes, and knowledge. However, in recent years, impact has become a hotly debated topic in the media industry. Amid the failure of the legacy newspaper model, paranoia around “new media” that doesn’t follow long-established journalistic rules of the game, and an obsession with whether and how millennials access and consume news and information, is in the zeitgeist.

This section traces the forerunners to journalists’ current concerns with impact, starting with the years before the press adhered to a rhetoric around disinterested objectivity. Later on, a theoretical and evidence base developed to show that journalistic influence not only existed but could, in certain circumstances, be identified and measured. However, other fields have more precise and established impact-assessment regimes. This paper briefly surveys some that may be interesting and relevant to journalists.

Media, Impact, and Politics: Easy Allies in the Early Days

Newspapers in the United States were not founded on the principle of existing as an unbiased fourth estate to keep government in check. Instead, during the majority of the eighteenth century, newspapers were largely (directly or indirectly) supported by political parties. 15 16 17 Their raison d’etre was influence.

Party papers often suppressed stories that were damaging to their party and/or politicians, failed to publish facts about events when stories were not suppressed, and printed stories with significant spin. 18 Newspapers were produced with the express goal of supporting the party and ensuring that the party’s candidates were elected.

In the 1870s, the number of independent papers began to increase in the United States’ urban areas. Economist James T. Hamilton and others have made compelling economics-based arguments for the growth of independent presses from 1870 through 1920 (a foreshadowing of the current era’s economic upheaval in media economics). First, technological advances in the steam cylinder printing press, wood-pulp paper, and the telegraph lowered the cost per unit of a paper, even if they increased the up-front cost of production. Second, urban growth meant more consumers in a geographic area, providing opportunity for new papers to enter the market. Independent papers were able to attract a heterogeneous audience, and thus were more profitable than party papers aimed only at attracting a homogenous audience. Third, the growth in audience brought increased advertising revenue. Advertising revenue, paired with increased subscription revenue, meant that party support was no longer the most profitable option for newspapers. 19

While “independent” did not necessarily equate to “unbiased,” independent papers were not affiliated with political parties, suppressed fewer relevant news stories, had less (at least obvious) bias in their stories, and provided more facts. 20 However, these new independent newspapers were not without a mission. In fact, the owners and editors of independent papers worked to expose corruption in politicians, parties, and government institutions. Whether or not the independent press resulted in better informed or less partisan voters is difficult to prove. However, in the words of Gentzkow et al., “While we cannot prove that a more informative press helped diminish corruption, it does appear that campaigns against corruption succeeded when they were supported by news coverage.” 21

So, while impact might not have been a media industry buzzword in 1890, the media was undoubtedly working to effect political change in the United States. With a change in the market size and an increased economy of scale, independent newspapers between 1870 and 1920 grew in popularity (and profitability) based upon the premise that independent news was credible news. It seemed consumers agreed with them, and by 1900 independent papers accounted for more than forty-seven percent of all dailies and more than fifty-five percent of circulation. 22

Professionalization and (the myth of) neutrality

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, literacy in the United States became more widespread, the population expanded, new cities formed, and journalism and media products multiplied to serve these populations. The changing operating environment for news businesses swung their explicit identities and goals even further away from influencing a populace on behalf of their owners or funders. While Michael Schudson and Chris Anderson urge us to avoid the pitfall of looking for a genesis moment for the journalism profession, they agree with other journalism scholars that the rise of the neutrality norm coincides with the field’s professionalization. 23 For many authors, “Objectivity continues to be the sine qua non of journalistic professionalization: explain the reasons behind the emergence of objectivity as an occupational practice, fix a date at which it first emerged, and you have gone a long way towards uncovering the “secret” of professional journalism.” 24 .

If, then, journalists were not explicitly aiming to have impact or influence, researchers have looked for the field’s alternative value and role in society. What was it that justified audiences paying money, workers providing their labor, and owners their capital? (Owners’ profit and workers’ wages could only be produced if the enterprise provided value to readers, perceived or real.) 1 Retrospectively, scholars of journalism identified the concept of “newsworthiness,” an idea that the subjects of the news have within them elements which make them worthy of being a media product, and thusly deserving the attention around which a business model could be built. At the heart of the idea of newsworthiness is an implicit belief that what journalists are covering is worthy of the audience’s time and attention.

Those scholars have spent much time studying, documenting, and critiquing news values. In 1965, Johan Galtung and Mari Holmboe Ruge put forth what they hypothesized to be the top twelve factors of newsworthiness: frequency, threshold, unambiguity, meaningfulness, consonance, unexpectedness, continuity, composition, reference to elite nations, reference to elite people, reference to persons, and reference to something negative. They, and those who follow in their tradition, focus on the supply side of the media equation. That is, while they hypothesize that these factors have “certain effects among the audience,” the effects of journalistic news values are not the social phenomena under consideration. 25

While researchers and practitioners alike have used Galtung and Ruge’s study as a starting point to delve deeper into supposed news values, 26 27 others have critiqued the endeavor by arguing that it ignores the ideological underpinnings of news values.

One early critic of media as an instrument of ideological power was Antonio Gramsci. Writing in Fascist Italy, he argued that the regime exerted indirect power over civil institutions such as schools, the legal profession, trade unions, and the print media in order to control and incorporate the proletariat into its ideology. 28 This interpretation is strongly associated with the concept of “hegemony.” However, the media’s ideology was not generated in a vacuum. Kellner explains:

The hegemony model of culture and the media reveals dominant ideological formations and discourses as a shifting terrain of consensus, struggle, and compromise, rather than as an instrument of a monolithic, unidimensional ideology that is forced on the underlying population from above by a unified ruling class . . The hegemony approach analyzes television as part of a process of economic, political, social, and cultural struggle. According to this approach, different classes, sectors of capital, and social groups compete for social dominance and attempt to impose their visions, interests, and agendas on society as a whole. Hegemony is thus a shifting, complex, and open phenomenon, always subject to contestation and upheaval. 29

Writing specifically about U.S. media of the twentieth century, Gamson et al. argue that the frames journalists use, which are constructed through “routine, taken-for-granted structures of everyday thinking contribute to a structure of dominance.” 30 As with Gramsci’s dialectic, they acknowledge that the audience has agency in interpreting these frames. 31 But ultimately, the imbalance in power means the common sense, or “gut feeling” of the journalist (and the editor, company, and industry) is perhaps the strongest contributor to their readers’ perceived reality. 32 For current readers considering journalistic impact, these theorists provide an argument that, despite journalists’ claims to objectivity and the intrinsic newsworthiness of their stories, societal power-holders use the media to exert their control and influence audiences’ views.

Nonetheless, since at least the mid-1900s, journalists have claimed objectivity and neutrality as a core tenet of the profession, and cited these factors as justification for their position of power in creating our shared reality through broadcast and print media. In the words of Schudson and Anderson:

U.S. journalism’s claim to objectivity—i.e., the particular method by which this information is collected, processed, and presented—gives it its unique jurisdictional focus by claiming to possess a certain form of expertise of intellectual discipline. Establishing jurisdiction over the ability to objectively parse reality is a claim to a special kind of authority. In sum, journalistic objectivity operates as both an occupational norm and as object of struggle within the larger struggle over professional jurisdiction. 33

But what of the audience? Gamson et al. assert that the social constructions disseminated through media are likely to be both unconscious on the part of the journalists and unrecognized as such by the reader. 34 “News is both a permanent social structure and a means of social reflexivity and contestation; a product as well as a productive process.” 35 But the question begs to be asked: What do citizens believe to be newsworthy? What do they want more of? And, perhaps most importantly, why?

Ida Schultz dances around these questions when she writes: “Where most of the classical newsroom studies used titles such as ‘making,’ ‘creating,’ ‘manufacturing,’ or ‘constructing’ the news, the best title verb describing journalistic practice within the analytical framework of reflexive sociology would be positioning the news.” 36 Following Bourdieu, Schultz recognizes that journalists and media companies are part of the journalistic field, and as such they interact with other producers of culture and knowledge. Thus, rather than constructing a news story with an unintentional but powerful frame, she posits that journalists position their work internally to get their stories green-lit. Furthermore, media organizations actively work to externally position their content in such a way as to maximize its appeal to audience members. 37 Now, not only had “news values” been identified, but critics had articulated a tension between journalists’ claim to being a neutral filter for the news and their self-interest in amplifying or, at least, emphasizing newsworthy elements. If their work could be seen as consequential, it was more important and more valuable.

Mainstream media in the United States has been loath to acknowledge the power inherent in its industry, the ends that result from their means of communication, and the news values of its audience(s). Note Schudson and Anderson: “Journalism seems to simultaneously make a grandiose knowledge claim (that it possesses the ability to isolate, transmit, and interpret the most publicly relevant aspects of social reality) and an incredibly modest one (that really, most journalists are not experts at all but are simply question-asking generalists).” 38

The evidence base for journalistic evidence

Researchers have long worked to identify and quantify the influence of the news media on individuals, society, and politics alike. Particularly relevant to our study, in 1972 Max McCombs and Donald Shaw put forth their theory of Agenda Setting, which aimed to develop an empirical basis for how the media affected what the public paid attention to. Comparing the issues that the media emphasized in its coverage of the U.S. presidential election campaign and the issues that survey respondents recalled, the researchers found that the more the media covered an issue, the more audiences considered that issue to be important. 39

The theory was extended to how the media influences audiences’ perceptions of facts within an issue, such as the positive and negative attributes of people and organizations in the news. 40 Researchers investigated the ways in which agenda setting worked in non-political subjects, including business reputations, sports, and religion (generally speaking, the principles held true). They also started to find that the recency and volume of individuals’ exposure had a significant influence on how much they retained the information in memory, (i.e., when issues drop out of the media agenda, most people mostly forget the details). 41

In the mid- and late 2000s, the growing prominence of digital media, and in particular the early social media technologies (blogs, comment boards and the like), prompted researchers to extend their understanding of a changing environment that allowed, as never before, individuals to participate in fragmented, conversational groups and clusters (and for the conversations to be studied on a mass scale). 42 The framework of “agenda melding” was one result; the idea that individuals join groups and partially assimilate the group’s opinions of what’s important, or maybe stay silent. 43 Mostly, after joining a broadly like-minded group they do not seek to change the group’s dominant views to align with their own outlier views on minor matters.

A study of 2012 U.S. election-time Twitter also observed differences between how people with different political affiliations absorbed salience: The researchers, using the relatively new term “network agenda setting,” concluded that supporters of the Republican nominee Mitt Romney appeared to absorb their online network’s views on salient topics and facts more than did Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s supporters. 44

While the foci of agenda setting studies have varied across time, platforms, and individuals’ characteristics, the field of research has provided a range of empirical bases from which to understand the way news media can and has influenced public perceptions of events, individuals, and organizations.

Rediscovering an impact mission

In recent years, media organizations have been motivated to explicitly embrace the reality that they are, in fact, influential social forces. Having lost their dominance over channels of communication, and as consumers of news look to new and unconventional sources for information, legacy companies are coming to grips with the fact that evolution is now necessary for their survival. They have started to attend to what happens post-publication: Audience engagement, especially via social media, is an accepted practice in newsrooms, and engagement editors are common in media companies across the United States. The proliferation of nonprofit media has allowed for a wave of experimentation in the co-creation of news, and deep audience and community engagement by media.

An increasing number of both nonprofit and commercial media organizations are betting that impact—that is, any change in the status quo as a result of an intervention on their part (content, engagement, etc.)—is key to their long-term sustainability. 45 While this trend started in the nonprofit news space and was largely pushed by philanthropic foundations with a history of program evaluation around the NGOs they support, many commercial media outlets are taking it as a given that to show real, positive change as a result of their reporting will build a deeper relationship between their brand and their audience. The logic goes something like this: The more impact a news organization has, the more people will trust that brand and the greater affinity they will feel for it; thus, they’ll return more regularly to the organization’s website/broadcast program/newspaper, ultimately generating more revenue for the organization.

However, impact is still not the most important metric for the vast majority of media organizations. For example, again in Caitlin Petre’s ethnographic research report, “The Traffic Factories,” she finds that traditional media metrics rule newsrooms, and that these metrics have an effect on journalism. Especially relevant is her finding that traffic-based rankings can “drown out” other forms of evaluation, thereby engendering a range of emotions in journalists such as “excitement, anxiety, self-doubt, triumph, competition, and demoralization.” 46

Measuring Impact in Other Fields

If a history and literature review of how journalism has approached its influence and impact is useful as a look down deep into the topic, then this next section may be useful as a survey of adjacent fields’ approaches. Some pertinent professions’ practices are briefly outlined below.

Impact and metrics in development and health

Journalism researchers looking for expertise in achieving and evaluating impact can turn to the development fields, in particular the NGOs, foundations, and international organizations focused on health and social well-being. Their best practice, when planning an intervention, is to develop a “theory of change.” 47 The first step is to envision and articulate the ultimate outcome (e.g., bringing down rates of infant mortality in Afghanistan from 115 per thousand to forty per thousand), then work backwards through each precondition needed to change from the status quo to the desired condition. One of the many preconditions might be all children getting vaccinations, for which a precondition is parents knowing and agreeing to vaccinations, for which a precondition is an effective public information campaign, and so on. At each step the theory of change relies on cause and effect models that are accurate for the local environment. Ideally each intermediary step has indicators, which can be meaningfully measured.

Funders in the development field have also driven the adoption of standardized metrics to express the value of their outcomes. The DALY and QALY, favored by parts of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization, exemplify this practice, but the fundamental idea (having a comparable metric for expressing outcomes) underpins similar methods used by the Hewlett Foundation, the Acumen fund, and the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, among others.

In 1994 a movement to professionalize health development reached a milestone by establishing the DALY, or Disability Adjusted Life Year, intended to be a single metric to capture the impact upon a human of any condition, such as a disease or a trauma. 48 (Development organizations’ interventions aim to reduce that number.)

Using this framework, individuals in the target population experience a condition that burdens them a given amount. For example, total blindness is expressed as a sixty-percent burden, death is a 100-percent burden, whereas protein malnutrition to the point of wasting is considered a 5.3-percent burden. If a person lives with blindness for ten years, they would have lost six DALYs. Protein malnutrition for ten years becomes 0.53 DALYs, and so on. The figure can then be combined into a formula to express costs and benefits across populations: An intervention costing five dollars per person which prevents otherwise certain blindness, given to 100 five-year-olds with a life expectancy of seventy-five years, might be expressed as:

100 * (75-5) * 60% = 4,200 DALY at a cost of 100 * $5 = $500

So this intervention has a cost per DALY of about 12c ($500/4,200) and thusly can be compared to any other intervention.

However, many readers will immediately see that while this might be precise, it has many points incorporating assumptions and estimations which risk losing accuracy and even meaning, while also flattening the lived experience of many individuals into a single number. Within the rich literature critiquing DALY, a Health Policy paper published one year after its introduction acknowledged limitations—including that the DALY sits within a narrow utilitarian value system—but did not wholly reject it. 49 Three years after DALY’s introduction, two more economists from Oxford and Harvard, Sudhir Anand and Kara Hanson, detailed both technical and ethical problems, concluding that DALY’s results would be practically flawed and decisions based on them would also be inequitable. 50 As late as 2014, Princeton researcher Rachel Parks charted the rise, resilience, and continuing use of the DALY through important centers of global health policy. 51

Impact-minded journalists may be interested in the DALY for two main reasons, aside from its persistent power. Philanthropists have the option of giving their money to organizations that can express a likely value of their intervention in a simple number. (Responsible organizations will include caveats and acknowledge uncertainty, but at least they offer a comparable data point.) However, the underlying theory of change in journalism is far less direct than health organizations’. Journalists may need to articulate that their case for funding must embrace that uncertainty. For example, in James T. Hamilton’s book Democracy’s Detectives, he conducts an economic analysis of the cost of producing investigative reporting versus the monetary social value to provide a quantifiable economic societal cost savings. 52

Impact and Metrics in Information and Communication Worlds

Science and social sciences

Moving from the fields of development closer to the world of journalism, we pass academia and scientific research where there has been an established and highly structured metric for impact. When researchers publish formal articles in peer-reviewed journals, those publications will have an “impact factor,” calculated by taking the number of times the journal has been cited in a year and dividing by the total number of articles published over the previous two years, as recorded by Thomson Reuters’ “Journal Citation Report” (JCR). Tenure and promotion committees pay heed when researchers, especially those in the sciences and social sciences, publish papers in highly rated journals such as Science and Nature. However, the “JCR” does have its critics who say that Thomson Reuters’ database skews toward North America, its data is hard to verify, that the calculation cannot fathom whether the citation is approving, disapproving, or central to the citing author’s argument, and a host of other problems.

As a counterpoint to the “JCR” impact factor, some academic researchers have started to pay attention to “Alt-Metrics,” a system which also includes indicators of usage (in the form of views and downloads), peer review, discussion on social media, data usage, as well as citations. 53 Researchers add their own expert understanding to either of those frameworks of whether peers’ findings have become useful and built-upon in the field. For particularly important findings, studies are replicated; theoretically, when the research is done again, in the same way, it should produce the same results.

Advertising/marketing

Leaving aside, for a moment, the vast chasms of motivation, methods, and form (at least traditionally) that separate advertising and journalism, there are still similarities. Advertising intends to persuade the audience, as does some journalism. Advertising’s success metrics, however, are much more clearly linked to driving revenue for businesses (although that relationship became complicated in later years).

Indeed, the early performance indicators for marketing executives in products and services firms were found in the financial statements. In the 1950s and 1960s, according to marketing historian Bruce Clarke, most advertising was judged on whether revenue and/or operating profit went up (more sales being made or products commanding a higher price compared to the cost of production), and/or market share increased. 54 As advertising management became more sophisticated, executives argued that those indicators lagged their output by too much. Their solution was to measure softer, but standardized indicators: primarily, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and brand equity. 55 (At this point, journalists might start to see potential lessons: These labels refer to attitudes held by people exposed to media works, although the difficulty remains of proving causality in an intrinsically chaotic environment.) Customer satisfaction was expected to drive future sales revenue in volume and the higher prices customers would be prepared to pay because they were already satisfied with the product. The financial premium derived from satisfaction, loyalty, and audiences’ overall improved perception of the brand, in the form of increased revenue and lower subsequent customer acquisition costs, was called brand equity. Surveys of marketing professionals have revealed more attitudinal metrics, and myriad combinations of financial and non-financial measures, but they still follow the logic that a population’s perception of a product or service will influence the financial statements over time. 56 Marketing and advertising firms traditionally used surveys and focus groups to measure these attitudinal factors, although the advent of social media has produced a set of tools promising to deliver customer insights and measure the impact of marketing and communications. 57

Although journalists may balk at adopting practices from the marketing industries, that field has developed expertise in measuring the effects of their activity.

Documentary filmmaking

Journalists and documentary filmmakers are perhaps the closest relatives in this survey. The fields overlap. However, the inclusion of philanthropic funding sources in documentary economics precedes the rise of the online news organizations like ProPublica and The Marshall Project, which are strongly associated with impact and foundation-funded journalism. As such, the documentary community has established a practice and rhetoric around impact which is more recognized than in other mission-driven journalism.

Media-funding philanthropists, including the Ford Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the Bertha Foundation and the Sundance Institute, underwrote a guide to impact for the documentary field. Its roots lie in a model published by political and communication theorist Harold D. Lasswell in 1948. Lasswell said, simply, the best way to describe an act of communication was:

Who Says What In Which Channel To Whom With What Effect? 58

Jana Diesner, a researcher in computer science with relevance to impact assessment, applied this approach in a framework for measuring the impact of documentaries. She called it the CoMTI model, suggesting research techniques and suitable metrics for measuring results throughout four dimensions of a film: its content, medium, target, and impact. Within the impact dimension Diesner uses the preexisting idea that effects can be on individual, communal, societal, or global levels, which may take the form of changes to awareness, sentiment, and actions. 59 Although Diesner’s CoMTI paper was an intermediary step toward building a computational tool to analyze text from the network of stakeholders around a documentary, the model and its constituent parts is valuable as an extensive catalogue of metrics and research techniques for assessing journalistic impact.

The history of thinking around how journalism affects society supports a conclusion that journalists must accept that their work can and frequently does have consequence. However, unlike some of the other professional fields outlined above, it is easier to see something like influence—one element within a suite of factors leading to an end result, rather than the direct impact of a health intervention like immunizations or cataract surgery. Nonetheless, each of the impact and influence theories discussed above have their limitations. Journalism, which necessarily operates in the chaos of the uncontrolled real world, must expect to tackle uncertainty, which is antithetical to a stable and predictable theory of change.

ICIJ Case Study

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists was founded by Chuck Lewis in 1997 as part of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Center for Public Integrity (CPI). Observing the rapid globalization of the 1990s, ICIJ’s founders believed that a journalism organization with an international mindset could be well suited to report stories that sprawled beyond any single country. As a time of rapid globalization places “extraordinary pressures on human societies,” 60 according to ICIJ, the organization aims to be a globalized reporting network which counterbalances these pressures.

In October 2016, the CPI announced that ICIJ would spin off to become a free-standing organization. In a press release, the CPI stated: “The CPI’s Board of Directors has decided that enabling ICIJ to chart its own course will help both journalistic teams build on the massive impact they have had as one organization, and allow each to pursue new opportunities and options for funding and pursuing their crucial work.” 61 According to ICIJ director Gerard Ryle, the fundamental differences in ICIJ’s networked, collaborative structure and processes were at odds with the more traditional Center for Public Integrity, which focused on U.S. national, watchdog, and government accountability reporting. Furthermore, international philanthropic entities are governed by the laws, rules, and regulations of the state in which they are based. And, there can be limits to donations on international organizations. An independent ICIJ will then potentially have access to a different and/or increased pool of funders. 62

In this chapter, we examine how ICIJ’s impact imperative affects the organization’s approach to story choice, production, and distribution. We also ask what challenges are associated with this model and share what other journalistic organizations can learn from the experience of ICIJ. We use ICIJ “Evicted and Abandoned” investigation into the World Bank as a prism for separating the structures, processes, calculations, and strategies that together form ICIJ’s high-impact model.

ICIJ’s stated mission is to “be the world’s best cross-border investigative team,” which it does by bringing “journalists from different countries together in teams—eliminating rivalry and promoting collaboration.” 63 While there are indications that collaboration is becoming an emerging norm in today’s new media landscape, ICIJ has been ahead of this curve. In this landscape of increasing collaboration, ICIJ stands out due to the sheer size and scope of its projects, many of which involved dozens of journalists and media organizations across the globe.

The network structure of ICIJ and its syndicated content model were developed with one goal in mind: impact. In interviews and through participant observation with ICIJ staff, we found clear indications that ICIJ’s collaborative nature, cross-border reporting, and, more importantly, its syndicated distribution models continue to be tactics in the service of impact. According to editor Mike Hudson: “Everything is predicated on writing powerful stories: accurate, hard-hitting, deep digging, powerful journalism. And then, readership. But these all dovetail. The primary discussion is about the content, but knowing [the rest] will lead to impact.” 64

Hudson recognizes that impact—real-world change—may take “many years to manifest.” For example, he says, “Action plans are announced but not implemented.” While change might be promised, action can be just “mere spasms of reform that don’t do anyone any good.” The real impact, he adds, “is that change that is sustained attention beyond PR and press releases.”

ICIJ’s networked organizational structure consists of two spheres. At its core, ICIJ directly employs journalists located across the globe (at the time of writing, staff includes six full-time and seven contract journalists), who report, coordinate the reporting efforts of others, and develop projects’ distribution strategies. ICIJ’s extended network includes more than 190 investigative journalists in at least sixty-five countries. These reporters are generally employed by other newsrooms and publish under their employers’ mastheads. ICIJ provides monetary and other resources such as data reporting to in-country reporters, as necessary.

ICIJ assumes that for high-quality investigative stories, the greater the reach of a story and the stronger the distribution partners (in audience size and credibility), the greater the potential for change to remedy the problem (impact). Although ICIJ unambiguously aims for impact and practices journalism in pursuit of exposing problems so they can be fixed, the organization does not acknowledge or promote any specific prescription or outcome.

On the surface, ICIJ’s model seems almost absurdly obvious: Partner with as many reporters and organizations across the globe to conduct in-depth investigations and distribute them globally to reach maximum audience. But the elegance of the model obscures the degree of complexity required in the scaffolding for these projects. The success of ICIJ projects relies on the successful maneuvering of ICIJ to manage partner relationships, expectations, information, and much more. ICIJ senior editor Michael Hudson acknowledges that the partnership model is inefficient if one considers only the number of stories published based on effort put into investigations. However, he says that this model is not necessarily set up for maximum output, but instead for impact: “A key part of impact is agenda-setting and dominating the conversation.”

ICIJ director Gerard Ryle notes that there are two main advantages to the organization’s partnership model, through which they bring partners in early in the reporting process: First, partners are able to contribute reporting resources, and local knowledge and expertise; and second, partners provide almost guaranteed publishing platforms across the globe. He says that with this model, in some cases, “A story can be published in thirty-five countries in a single day.” 65

As a nonprofit, the collaborative model has additional logic for ICIJ. “The basic business model [of journalism] is failing,” Ryle says. “Organizations aren’t spending the kind of money they used to spend on investigative journalism. By pooling resources, we’re able to cut out a lot of the cost.” By sharing photographs, graphics, and travel and document costs, ICIJ is able to manage large-scale projects much more quickly and at lower cost than a traditional newsroom.

Case study: “Evicted and Abandoned”

Spoiler alert: ICIJ’s collaborative “Evicted and Abandoned” investigation found that, over the last decade, projects funded by the World Bank have physically or economically displaced an estimated 3.4 million people; that the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation have financed governments and companies accused of human rights violations; and that, from 2009 to 2013, World Bank Group lenders invested fifty billion dollars into projects graded the highest risk for “irreversible or unprecedented” social or environmental impacts. 66 But how did they get this story? And how did an ICIJ investigation result in a powerful international institution, the World Bank, changing its own internal policy?

ICIJ is known for its big investigations with a leak at the center. However, in 2014, ICIJ wanted to diversify the types of stories it covered so as not to be pigeonholed as an outfit that “just” gets leaks. The brief came down for reporters to begin poking around and pitch ideas. Reporter Sasha Chavkin, sensing a possibility, started going to World Bank seminars in the spring of 2014, where he heard complaints about adverse effects of World Bank projects. Chavkin started to research and found that the complaints panel was hearing from complainants in Kenya, Honduras, and India, and that there were many impoverished people who were having their lives disrupted as a result of World Bank projects.

The World Bank’s state mission is to “end extreme poverty within a generation and boost shared prosperity.” 67 The bank has a promise of no harm, and for infrastructure or other physical projects, it is required to resettle or otherwise recompense affected people. However, Chavkin found indications that there is chronic undercounting of the actual harm done and individuals displaced as a result of World Bank projects, and that, often, the action plans that are designed to mitigate negative effects of bank projects are not implemented. Furthermore, there is no effective redress to any private processes or projects funded in whole or in part by the World Bank, and there are examples of violent evictions and people being displaced into lands controlled by tribes hostile to the new settlers. In one example, it became clear to Chavkin that a sum of the one to two billion-dollar fund made available to an Ethiopian health and education program were going toward forcible resettlement (theoretically to where there was more education infrastructure).

Chavkin says he wanted to understand the deeper roots of this story. Of the investigation, he notes, “I think it’s about both the scale of displacement and human rights abuses and violence associated with World Bank projects, and then the fact that pretty systemically the World Bank seems not to be following its rules for protecting the people who are in the path of its projects.” While local media covered individual cases of violence or wrongdoing resulting from these projects, Chavkin says it took reporting to determine that there was actually a larger systemic problem of forced resettlement that the World Bank seemed to accept fairly routinely as a part of its projects. Furthermore, he says, “There seemed to be very broad failure to take the required steps to protect the people who were being displaced.” 68

Chavkin and his editor, Mike Hudson, found sociologists and others who had been tasked with assessing the potential adverse impact of World Bank projects and who are meant to provide checks on approvals. However, they recognized that these experts do not hold any meaningful power and are often sidelined. Instead, “The World Bank approval side of the operation has all the power,” says Hudson, adding that the World Bank is “run and staffed by engineers and economists who have a very modeled, abstract way of understanding the world.”

When asked what ICIJ identified as a hypothetical “win” would be for the “Evicted and Abandoned” project, editor Mike Hudson says: “A win would be if ICIJ can penetrate the World Bank and write about what’s going on. [To] give voice to the marginalized, give a hearing to the people who are seen as peripheral.” He is clear that, as a news organization, ICIJ can not aim at for specific policy changes, but he asserts: “We want the world, the World Bank, policy makers, politicians, academics, “real people,” activists, voters, media to sit up and listen and read. This is important.”

For “Evicted and Abandoned,” Hudson estimates that ICIJ ultimately partnered with about fifteen other organizations. 69 From the outset, key partners in the United States included the Huffington Post, which was tasked with reporting and building a data interactive, the Global Post, NPR (through a freelancer), the GroundTruth Project, and the Investigative Fund. Internationally, early partners were The Guardian in the United Kingdom, El País in Spain, and three Swiss newspapers. Other partners included the German stations WDR and NDR. ICIJ recognized there was a reporting hole in Asia, so it applied for a grant to do reporting in the region. Ultimately, other partners included Nigeria’s Premium Times, BIRN in the Balkans, a Slovenian freelancer (Blaz Zgaga), radio freelancer Keane Barron (funded through the Fund for Investigative Journalism), freelancer Barry Yeoman (funded by The Nation Institute’s Investigative Reporting Fund), and Fusion.

ICIJ wrote, “In all, more than 50 journalists from 21 countries worked together to document the bank’s lapses and show their consequences for people around the globe.” 70 ICIJ also analyzed thousands of World Bank documents and made them accessible through an interactive database. 71 The byline for the main story read: “By Sasha Chavkin, Ben Hallman, Michael Hudson, Cécile Schilis-Gallego and Shane Shifflett. With reporting from Musikilu Mojeed, Besar Likmeta, Ciro Barros, Giulia Afiune, Mar Cabra, Anthony Langat, Jacob Kushner, Jeanne Baron, Barry Yeoman, Blaž Zgaga and Friedrich Lindenberg. ”

Differing journalistic norms, practices, and standards pose challenges in cross-country collaborations. Hudson says that ICIJ defaults to U.S. standards and style because they stand up elsewhere in the world. While he emphasizes that he doesn’t necessarily think that U.S. journalism is “better” than others, using this as the standard has worked so far.

ICIJ carefully selected reporting and publishing partners to maximize on-the-ground reporting capacity, reach, and potential impact of this investigation. According to Hudson, while “most of the consideration was about the fullness of the story,” there was a deep awareness of audience. “The composition of the partners was totally informed by balance, coverage, and ability of various partners to meet certain needs. For example, [ICIJ selected] Fusion for [its reach and expertise on] social media.”

Early in the reporting process, ICIJ selected the Huffington Post as a core partner with the intent of reaching a wide audience of “non-wonks.” The team immediately began thinking about the design: who would host the project, who would do the reporting, who would be responsible for editing, and who would do the data and design work. In the end, reporters said the reporting and writing was “pretty evenly split” between ICIJ and the HuffPo.

There were two separate data visualizations for this project, one hosted by the Huffington Post and the other by ICIJ. We asked HuffPo data reporter Shane Shifflett how the decision was made to have two visualizations. Shifflett says that HuffPo’s team decided that for its general audience, a map was the easiest way to present the complex information from the investigation. “HuffPo is eager to clue readers into what they can do, talk about solutions, and see how they can help. ICIJ is interested in impact and goals,” he says. 72 So, ICIJ’s visualization was in-depth and made the deep data and records it had used during reporting accessible to its more technical and informed audience in order to provide the necessary information to pressure the World Bank directly.

On the HuffPo side, Shifflet says the team had to completely rethink the way in which it told this investigation for its audience. For example, he says he and his colleagues worked from the assumption that the HuffPo audience would know what the World Bank is, but that they wouldn’t be familiar with the intricacies of how international policy is made or the institutions in place to hold them accountable. Shifflet produced an interactive map and visualizations for the stories hosted on the HuffPo, with the central goal being to increase awareness of the World Bank. Shifflet also recounts that the HuffPo welcomed the opportunity to work with ICIJ’s investigative reporters, and to be able to champion such an important project.

ICIJ shared the full text stories with the Huffington Post and agreed to its posting the content on its website. According to ICIJ’s online editor Hamish Boland-Rudder, “The things I wanted in return for that was guarantee that we’d be able to have access to analytics to track the traffics website on that site, as well as have links back to our site and, more importantly, that these links be fairly prominently displayed. Also, we requested that there be an email sign-up.”

At launch, “Evicted and Abandoned” country-specific stories included Kenya, 73 Ethiopia, 74 Peru, 75 India, 76 Honduras, 77 and Kosovo. 78 The stories were written by a combination of ICIJ staff and partners, with local reporting partners in all cases. According to reporter Sasha Chavkin, ICIJ “chose our case studies based on the severity of impact to displaced communities, the quality of existing documentation, and the extent to which they illustrated larger themes [ICIJ] wanted to investigate (human rights abuses, financial intermediaries, etc.).” He says they also worked to have geographic diversity and to have stories that would be of interest to ICIJ’s partners on the project.

Strategizing for Impact

The project launch date was a key piece of ICIJ’s strategy for “Evicted and Abandoned,” designed to maximize audience reach and the potential for impact. Prior to publication, lead ICIJ reporter on the project Sasha Chavkin explained: “Our launch is going to be the day before the World Bank spring meetings this year. That’s not a coincidence. Right now the Bank is rewriting its safeguard rules. 2 […] And we want our story to come out before the second version is published.” And while Hudson says that the team did not talk explicitly about the impact the project would have, it did make explicit predictions about readership potential, assuming that wide readership was most likely when there was a news hook.

ICIJ decided to have a rolling release of its prepared stories over a four-week period. This strategy was designed to drive sustained traffic, which (in its tacit theory of change) would produce impact. At the time of project launch, ICIJ had eight known stories. Chavkin explains:

We are trying to present the most compelling body of work to the widest audience we can . . . Some of that requires strategic decisions. For example, there are eight stories overall that we have planned. We could release all eight on the same day. We think no one would possibly read of all of them. So that’s why we’re going with four on the first day, and then the others will come out a week at a time after that.

ICIJ had also committed Chavkin and Hudson full time to the project for the remainder of 2015, after having already worked on it for ten months. Mike Hudson says, “That’s where the true impact comes from . . . We get a big bump on the first publish then the traffic reduces. More time allows the team to cover reactions, and respond to any leaks or sources who emerge to suggest new lines of reporting.” He suggests that this style of rolling release and ongoing coverage is different from “most other news organizations.” While he names a few exceptions, such as The New York Times, he says, “Most do big splash then move on.” In addition to a rolling release sustaining public attention and increasing the potential for impact, he says it also allows the story to evolve.

ICIJ staff members emphasize the importance of delineating journalism from advocacy. Ryle, for example, says that while he recognizes that advocacy groups “do fantastic work” with ICIJ stories that contribute to investigations’ impact, “We don’t want to be the advocates for a number of reasons.” He adds: “If our stories are good enough, they’ll get picked up by these groups, and if they’re not, then we’re failing as journalists.” For Ryle, impact can mean many things. “For me, impact is, you know, outrage—public outrage, companies changing laws, parliamentary debates, you know, protests in the streets, all of which we actually do get,” he says.

Online editor Hamish Boland-Rudder says that ICIJ does not have any “official” way to monitor the impact of its projects:

The best thing that I can point towards is I’ve started a tag on our blog: impact tag. And because we have no formal measurement tool setup, I’m not formally reporting things at all. That’s kind of the place where we try and collect the most important stuff or what seems to be the most important stuff. That’s really the only record of it that we have.

Chavkin says he finds out about the impact of his projects mostly from the news, through Google alerts, on Twitter, and from other ICIJ members around the world who tell ICIJ when “stuff is happening.” When something seems important enough to share, Chavkin says, “I put it in a post.”

In the case of “Evicted and Abandoned,” ICIJ knew it had hit a nerve when the World Bank began pushing back on the story before it had even been published. ICIJ reported that, “In March 2015—five days after the reporting team send detailed questions informing the bank it had found “systemic gaps” in its protections for people displaced by its projects—World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim issued a statement admitting “major problems” with the bank’s resettlement practices and announcing a reform plan to fix them. 79 The World Bank also released a five-and-a-half page document titled, “Action Plan: Improving the Management of Safeguards and Resettlement Practices and Outcomes.” 80 It is worth noting here that ICIJ directly links its reporting to the World Bank response. ICIJ published a follow-up story in May that said former World Bank top employees did not think the Action Plan addresses the deepest flaws in the system. 81

When the investigation was published in mid-April of 2015, the bank pushed back in a more direct way. The Guardian ran a version of the story in which it misstated some of ICIJ’s findings. According to Chavkin and Hudson, “Essentially [ The Guardian ] said that 3.4 million people had been forced from their homes, which was not our finding. It was that 3.4 million were physically or economically displaced. And so the bank made a formal complaint to The Guardian . The Guardian corrected the things they had misstated.” The Guardian readers’ editor wrote a column, “The Readers’ Editor on . . . the Pluses and Perils of Journalistic Partnerships,” in which he admitted the paper’s mistakes and said: “ The Guardian ’s writers and editors failed to get their heads around a complex exposé on which our partners in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists had been working for months.” 82

The Guardian blunder aside, “Evicted and Abandoned” generated an impressive global response. Chavkin and Hudson followed the global pickup of the story, both by ICIJ partners and other news organizations. While they do not know the number of media outlets that ran the story, they informally kept track of the coverage estimate that there were “more than fifty, probably close to 100” articles written across the globe about the project. “Some of these are about the general findings [of the project], and some have actually used [ICIJ] data to look at displacement occurring within their own countries. So we’re glad to see all of that pickup,” they say.

ICIJ has closely followed the long tail of impact stemming from the project and, in many cases, its team members have written follow-up stories about these changes in order to communicate them with their audiences. However, in these stories about the impact of “Evicted and Abandoned,” ICIJ does not explicitly tie the changes to the investigation.

Immediately following the investigation in April 2015, EarthRights International filed a lawsuit in the United States against the World Bank’s private-sector lending arm, the International Financial Corporation, on behalf of people living and working near a coal plant in northwest India. 83 While ICIJ about this lawsuit, which charges the World Bank with serious environmental and economic to fisherfolk, farmers, and villagers and the parallels to the findings of its own investigation, the post does not say that the lawsuit has any direct relationship to “Evicted and Abandoned.” In July 2015, the IFC claimed legal immunity from being sued in the United States.

In June, ICIJon the dismal results of a World Bank employee survey that found staffers did not have a clear understanding of the direction of the institution, nor did they agree that the bank “creates a culture of openness and trust.” 84 Again, ICIJ did not claim that these survey results, which were worse for the bank than the prior year’s, were a result of “Evicted and Abandoned.” However, the article does construct a timeline in which the World Bank’s surveys shifted significantly from 2014 to 2015, with “Evicted and Abandoned” being one of two incidents that happened between the two (the other being demotions and reduced salaries), thereby implying that it played a role in the employee dissatisfaction. ICIJ also reported that a leaked document with open-ended answers to the survey revealed that staffers fear retaliation from senior management.

In July 2015, ICIJ reported that a World Bank Inspection Panel found that the bank had used outdated census data when funding a power transmission line project in Nepal. 85 This resulted in many more families being displaced and compensation being slow, if at all.

Finally, in December 2015, the World Bank implemented reforms to address the economic and environmental resettlement costs to individuals living in areas where bank projects were developed. 86 The reorganization gives autonomy to specialists who enforce social safeguards, including independent staff and budgets; hires new social safeguard specialists; requires “Resettlement Boot Camp” for all safeguards staff; and increased overall funding for safeguards support. ICIJ reported that the World Bank’s “Resettlement and Safeguards Management” factsheet was a response to its continued reporting on the issue. 87

Honors and awards

Honors and awards are common indicators of the success of any journalistic endeavor. By this standard, “Evicted and Abandoned” was a considerable success.

National Headliner Award—Online Writing
Online News Association—The Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award (Large Newsrooms) 88
Overseas Press Club of America—Whitman Bassow Award for International Environmental Reporting 89
New York Press Club—Gold Keyboard Award for Outstanding Enterprise or Investigative Reporting 90
New York State Society of CPAs—Excellence in Financial Journalism Award
Society of Professional Journalists/Sigma Delta Chi Award—Feature Photography 91
Investigative Reporters and Editors Award—Finalist
Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism—Finalist
Society of American Business Editors and Writers “Best-in-Business” Award—Finalist
John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism—Finalist
D.C. Chapter of Society of Professional Journalists Dateline Award—Finalist

Challenges and Learnings

A collaborative reporting project of more than fifty reporters and fifteen organizations in twenty-one countries, taking on a behemoth like the World Bank—what could go wrong? While certainly there are nearly infinite answers to this question, in fact, very little did go askew.

According to editor Mike Hudson, the largest challenge with “Evicted and Abandoned,” as with most ICIJ projects, is working with partners in different countries where journalistic norms, practices, and laws vary greatly. However, by using American journalistic norms as the standard and then working closely with reporters who are producing work that will contribute to ICIJ stories, Hudson says they meet issues head on. However, as was seen with The Guardian story that misrepresented “Evicted and Abandoned”’s findings, the model is not bulletproof.

Another challenge when working with partners arises when trying to understand the widespread and multifaceted impact of such a massive undertaking. At the most basic level, ICIJ staff members say that it is difficult, if not impossible, to get web and social media metrics from partners in order to truly know the reach of a project. Furthermore, it’s likely that only a fraction of the on-the-ground, real-world change that happens in the wake of ICIJ projects ever makes its way back to the eyes and ears of ICIJ staff. And, because there are not ICIJ staff dedicated analytics or impact, there is little bandwidth to improve these processes.

But even with these challenges and an incomplete understanding of the scope of impact of “Evicted and Abandoned,” there are at least three lessons worth stating.

First, collaborations, however complicated, result in increased reporting capacity, larger audiences, and greater potential for impact. Having in-country reporters contribute to investigations means reporting can be done more cheaply than otherwise, and with greater cultural competency. This means there is a built-in audience for the stories in countries across the globe.

Related is ICIJ’s above-and-below distribution strategy, where large international media like the Huffington Post and El País generate attention to issues from international elites, while local and national media generate awareness among the most affected populations. The resulting pressure from the grassroots and elites create a vise for institutions and power holders, forcing them to respond. 3 92

Finally, ICIJ stuck with the story long after initial publication, focusing its spotlight on the World Bank and the changes it had committed to making. This rolling thunder approach kept international attention on the World Bank, likely resulting in its continued efforts to address the problems and wrongdoing identified in “Evicted and Abandoned.”

In our experience, news organizations are often wary of putting impact at the center of their operations for fear of getting too close to the ethical line that supposedly separates unbiased journalism from advocacy work, or fear of the perception of straddling that line. However, the case of ICIJ demonstrates that an impact imperative need not cross this line, nor is impact only necessarily a requirement that funders demand of organizations. Instead, by having a clear mission that puts impact at the center of all it does, an organization can formulate its own theory of change (even if implicit) to guide strategy.

When an organization pays attention to the levers of change relevant to an investigation and incorporates these into its strategy for publishing a story, the project often becomes both wider and deeper in scope. Suddenly, editorial partnerships become logical pathways to reach broader audiences, informing more people about wrongdoing and helping to set agendas in geographic locations where structural change is possible.

The next step for media organizations, including ICIJ, is to take the expansive notion of impact that helps to govern internal strategy and communicate these changes with audiences. At a time when the American public’s trust in both media 93 and government 94 hovers at a dismal twenty percent, an all-time low, it is more important than ever to show the positive change that often stems from crucially important investigative reporting. This includes not only the political and institutional responses, but also the more nuanced changes that happen at the level of individuals and communities. Communicating these impacts can potentially help improve public trust in media as an agent for positive change, while also providing models of citizen engagement in processes of social change.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, especially Pete Brown and Claire Wardle, for their support, patience, and feedback throughout the lifecycle of this project. Many thanks to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists for participating in this project. The degree of ICIJ reporters’ and editors’ transparency and thoughtfulness have been an inspiration. June 2017

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We acknowledge that advertisers paid a lot of the financial costs of journalism, but readers still need to find value if they are to “pay” for the product with their attention. ↩
The World Bank safeguard rules are those designed to minimize potential harm to individuals affected by World Bank projects and activities. ↩
This finding mirrors that in a 2015 study of the impact of the CIR’s reporting on a disability claims backlog at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. ↩

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The New Ethics of Journalism Principles for the 21st Century

Kelly McBride - The Poynter Institute
Tom Rosenstiel
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“This is an essential book about a profoundly important subject published at a critical time. The New Ethics of Journalism: Principles for the 21st Century focuses intensely on the role that journalism plays in our society, a role that remains urgent and unique even as so much changes in the profession and in the business of journalism, as well as in our global society.”

-- Bob Steele , Distinguished Professor of Journalism Ethics at DePauw University and Director of The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics

An excellent reader in journalistic ethics - I recommend it to undergradauate students in photojournalism.

This book is a great teaching resource because of its easy-to-read style, but also because it is rich in examples and case studies. The books will be a valuable resource for both lectures and seminars.

This book is highly important and goes into depth at the ever changing face of journalism, as students are the future of the next generation of journalists it is important they understand the ethics involved in it.

It superficially looks good but I haven't assigned chapters yet to read. I will need a bit more time, thanks.

KEY FEATURES:

A new set of Guiding Principles for Journalists that reflect the standards most modern newsrooms are using today is presented in the introduction.
Case Studies at the end of each chapter reinforce abstract concepts in a concrete, contemporary application.
Chapters by 14 journalism thought leaders and practitioners address the problems facing journalism today.

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Doing Democracy Right or Doing Right by Democracy

A collection of ethics case studies from journalism and communications.

Read about ethical tensions in journalism, including coverage about the James Smith Cree Nation stabbings and how news framing impacts how disability is perceived

Read about ethical dilemmas from a communications perspective, including cases about Sephora’s National Indigenous History Month Campaign and Dylan Mulvaney’s “Days of Being a Girl” series on TikTok

As an educator for journalism and communications students, I emphasize the importance of media ethics for upcoming storytellers. We tackle inquiries such as: How can students ensure their practices uphold the highest ethical standards when interacting with peers, information sources, and the public? How can they approach this responsibly?

In my course, I encourage students to spearhead the examination of ethical questions from cases they’re passionate about. As a collective, we delve into these issues, engaging as both narrators and audience. Students engage in in-depth analyses of their selected case studies through this method. These instances serve as starting points for discussions about the hurdles journalists and communications experts face when addressing these subjects and the ways to enhance their approach.

Romayne Smith Fullerton Professor Faculty Scholar Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS), Western University [email protected]

For over 25 years, I’ve worked and studied on the lands of the Anishinaabek (Ah-nish-in-a-bek), Haudenosaunee (Ho-den-no-show-nee), Lūnaapéewak (Len-ahpay- wuk) and Chonnonton (Chun-ongk-ton) Nations, which are lands connected to the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. I respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land. Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) continue to endure historical and ongoing cultural genocidal practices and injustices in Canada. As a professor who teaches and researches at The University of Western Ontario, I acknowledge my responsibility to contribute toward exposing and correcting miseducation, and to renewing respectful relationships. One way I strive to do so is by including works by Indigenous knowledge keepers (academics, community leaders, scholars, journalists) and consulting with them for input on both teaching materials and ongoing research projects. As Western students, what roles and responsibilities do you have? What commitments might you make?

First Online: 27 October 2022

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R. M. Channaveer 4 &
Rajendra Baikady 5

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This chapter reviews the strengths and limitations of case study as a research method in social sciences. It provides an account of an evidence base to justify why a case study is best suitable for some research questions and why not for some other research questions. Case study designing around the research context, defining the structure and modality, conducting the study, collecting the data through triangulation mode, analysing the data, and interpreting the data and theory building at the end give a holistic view of it. In addition, the chapter also focuses on the types of case study and when and where to use case study as a research method in social science research.

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Channaveer, R.M., Baikady, R. (2022). Case Study. In: Islam, M.R., Khan, N.A., Baikady, R. (eds) Principles of Social Research Methodology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5441-2_21

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Brothers Carl and Irvin Kahle spent 80 years on the family farm together. They appear in a Saturday Feature in 1995. Irvin was trying to keep the farm going. The brothers were ordinary Americans leading ordinary lives. Photo by Torsen Kjellstrand. This story was part of Torsten’s newspaper NPPA Photographer of the Year award in 1996.

A case study: Photojournalism and its value to a community

While I spent time thinking about the numbers surrounding my project, looking through data and designing new ways to collect it, something more palpable happened that strikes right at the heart of my main question: What’s the value of strong photojournalism to a community?

For more than 41 years, the people of Jasper, Indiana, picked up the paper each Saturday to see their lives reflected in a rich, photo-driven story, affectionately referred to as the Saturday Feature in the Jasper Herald.

“Everybody knows it,” said NPPA’s Sue Morrow, who wrote about the Herald last year. “They say, ‘Oh, am I going to be the Saturday feature!’ It’s an identity,” she said. Imagine the lives touched by this long-term commitment to rich visual storytelling. Fifty-two weeks a year for more than four decades. That’s roughly 2,100 stories, give or take. (Darn it. Now, I’m back to talking numbers.)

Most importantly, the residents of Jasper, Dubois County and the surrounding areas have gotten to know each other through the beautiful images published each week.

“(The) consistently well-told in-depth stories mean a lot to the community because the stories are the community,” wrote Morrow.

Inspired by a presentation at the NPPA Flying Short Course which showed dramatic photo display on front pages, the Herald’s Saturday Feature was started by former editor and co-publisher John Rumbach and staff photographer Alan Petersime in 1979.

“Rumbach believes that part of the reason the paper has experienced a slower readership decline than most others is due to the popularity of the Saturday Feature,” wrote Morrow.

A photojournalism legacy like this doesn’t just happen. The Rumbach family has published the paper for more than 100 years. Recognized nationally for visual excellence, the Herald has offered two coveted six-month photo internships each year to young photojournalists who have gone on to great success.

Heavy rains in June 1979 submerged lowland crops in Dubois and surrounding counties. Farmer Oscar Stemle of St. Anthony could only watch as the floodwaters covered corn and soybeans. Photo by Alan Petersime.

Torsten Kjellstrand knows just how much the Herald’s Saturday Feature means to folks in the area. A photo intern, then staffer there in the mid-90s, Kjellstrand worked on a story about the hottest possible jobs in Dubois County during the summer.

He stopped at a farm south of town where the job of the day was putting up hay in the barn. “It was blistering hot and everyone on the farm was so busy,” he said. At one point, the farmer stopped him and asked ‘Oh, is this for one of those Saturday things that you guys do? I love those things! But, in the fall and in the spring when I’m working hard, I can’t get to them so I save them! Then, in the winter… I just sit and read ‘em. Every last one. I just love looking at the pictures,’ Kjellstrand recalled. “Then he talked about how he liked seeing his neighbors and all of that.”

The farmer went on, ‘Have you ever noticed that, like, if there’s two pictures next to each other, one may say one thing and one will say another thing. But if you put them together, they say something completely different?’ Kjellstrand recalled the farmer saying.

“I remember thinking, I had to have someone tell me about that in grad school before I understood ‘third effects,’ said Kjellstrand. “But here’s this guy who got it from reading the paper. This is John Rumbach, educating the community of Dubois County about visual communication.”

The farmer “was clearly not the only person to have noticed this,” said Kjellstrand. “This community has had decade after decade of sophisticated and meaningful visually-inspired local stories on their doorsteps.”

Carol Keusch checks the temperature of daughter Sandy, one of eight children adopted by Carol and husband David of Vincennes, Indiana. At left, restless daughter Amanda watches “The Brady Bunch” on TV. The family’s story covered six pages in the Feb. 8, 1986 edition of The Herald. Photo by Steve Mellon.

“It’s a special place,” wrote Washington Post Picture Editor Thomas Simonetti on the Western Kentucky University photojournalism blog. “The small newspaper has a decades-long tradition of running a Saturday weekly feature, ad-free, across the first several pages. The vibe in this small town is midwestern and polite and the people really appreciate the way the paper tells the community’s stories. Getting that internship should be a priority for every photojournalism student.” Simonetti interned in Jasper in 2009.

Word of the internship first reached Marlena Sloss when she was an undergraduate in Walla Walla, WA, then again as a grad student at Ohio University.

Later, when Sloss interned at the Washington Post, she worked with Manetti and two other former Herald photo interns, Matt McQueen and Pulitzer winner Carolyn Van Houten. “Having our shared experience from Jasper was great. The time here is very unique and very specific. I feel like I’ll always have that connection with people who have worked here.”

“I had done a whole year of internships elsewhere,” said Sloss, “but coming to Jasper it was very clear just how important these stories were to the people here. Getting to know our audience and getting things right is crucial for photography,” said Marlena Sloss, currently staff photographer at The Herald. “Accountability and access go hand in hand. People let us in. I think they really appreciate getting a closer look with the Saturday Feature and getting to hear these intimate stories about other community members,” she said.

“My first very powerful experience seeing what an impact the photos had was a story planned to be a simple feature about a woman and the cut-out yard art that she creates for holidays,” said Sloss. But the story about Marge Stenftenagel grew.

Marge Stenftenagel has been a widow for six years after her husband Si died of pancreatic cancer. Though she gets lonely, Marge is content with her life at home and pushes herself to stay active. “The kids said, ‘Why don’t you sell the place and go to town?’ and I said, ‘Are you kidding? I'd be dead in six months. I’d fall apart. I want to do the routine thing.” Marge read the newspaper on the evening of May 7 at her Jasper home.

“As I got to know her, it made sense to do something a little deeper into her life as a widow, living alone and what that was like for her,” said Sloss. “As an intern, I was trying to learn what types of stories fit with our audience. In this environment, people really matter. That hadn’t quite clicked with me before, how readers really perceive the moments in our photos.”

Sloss writes about this story on her blog: What It’s All About

Marge told me that the day the story ran, she could barely get out of church because of all the people wanting to talk with her, compliment her, and thank her for sharing her story. She has received several letters, including one from another widow she has never met. The woman’s letter said Marge’s story inspired her to get more involved in the community and to continue to find meaning in life without her husband, and that she hopes more widows follow suit. Marge also talked about how much it has meant to her personally and how much she’s cried looking at the story. It’s allowed her to reconnect with friends, receive affirmation about her artwork, and most importantly (in my opinion), empower other women in her position.

Editors and co-workers at The Herald drove home the importance of community for Sloss. “The way they think about this is so cool. I had to draw this out in a diagram,” said Sloss.

This diagram helps Sloss to reflect on the “greater purpose” of journalism. Each element affects the others, and it’s never about a single photographer, editor, or story. Everything newspapers do builds on its history with the community, its reputation and reader trust.

So, here’s the kicker about the ongoing legacy of photo storytelling at The Dubois County Herald. Last month, the Rumbach family announced the sale of the Dubois County Herald.

“It’s no secret that the newspaper industry has experienced major disruptions over the last couple of decades. More than 2,000 newspapers, large and small, but especially family-owned, community newspapers, have closed or been sold. We were fortunate that the disruptions took as long as they did to reach us.” — Excerpt of a post from Publisher, Justin Rumbach and Co-Presidents Dan Rumbach and John Rumbach, July 29, 2020

Kjellstrand’s story about the farmer reminds us that our audiences have their own timetable for consuming news, of course. It also reminds us that they do want it and they want it done well. Creating this journalism requires a commitment of time spent with the community and space to let the stories unfold.

New owners, Paxton Media Group will bring new ways of doing things for the 125-year-old newspaper. My fingers are crossed that the people in and around Jasper continue to see themselves featured in strong community journalism, like the Saturday Feature.

Next month I hope to share more about what we know about how audiences perceive photojournalism and be able to provide a preview of the RJI & NPPA testing site for photography and video.

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Study Finds That 52 Percent of ChatGPT Answers to Programming Questions Are Wrong

Ah yes. and yet..., not so smart.

In recent years, computer programmers have flocked to chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT to help them code, dealing a blow to places like Stack Overflow, which had to lay off nearly 30 percent of its staff last year.

The only problem? A team of researchers from Purdue University presented research this month at the Computer-Human Interaction conference that shows that 52 percent of programming answers generated by ChatGPT are incorrect.

That's a staggeringly large proportion for a program that people are relying on to be accurate and precise, underlining what other end users like writers and teachers are experiencing: AI platforms like ChatGPT often hallucinate totally incorrectly answers out of thin air .

For the study, the researchers looked over 517 questions in Stack Overflow and analyzed ChatGPT's attempt to answer them.

"We found that 52 percent of ChatGPT answers contain misinformation, 77 percent of the answers are more verbose than human answers, and 78 percent of the answers suffer from different degrees of inconsistency to human answers," they wrote.

Robot vs Human

The team also performed a linguistic analysis of 2,000 randomly selected ChatGPT answers and found they were "more formal and analytical" while portraying "less negative sentiment" — the sort of bland and cheery tone AI tends to produce.

What's especially troubling is that many human programmers seem to prefer the ChatGPT answers. The Purdue researchers polled 12 programmers — admittedly a small sample size — and found they preferred ChatGPT at a rate of 35 percent and didn't catch AI-generated mistakes at 39 percent.

Why is this happening? It might just be that ChatGPT is more polite than people online.

"The follow-up semi-structured interviews revealed that the polite language, articulated and text-book style answers, and comprehensiveness are some of the main reasons that made ChatGPT answers look more convincing, so the participants lowered their guard and overlooked some misinformation in ChatGPT answers," the researchers wrote.

The study demonstrates that ChatGPT still has major flaws — but that's cold comfort to people laid off from Stack Overflow or programmers who have to fix AI-generated mistakes in code.

More on OpenAI: Machine Learning Researcher Links OpenAI to Drug-Fueled Sex Parties

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Independent Media demands retraction and apology for defamatory claims in the ICFJ Journalism ‘Big Data Case Study’

I ndependent Media strongly condemns the unethical and biased research practices evident in a recent report on the online harassment faced by journalists working for the Daily Maverick. The International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) report, titled "The women journalists of South Africa's Daily Maverick: SEXUALIZED, SILENCED AND LABELED SATAN," makes false and defamatory allegations about Independent Media without any substantiation or opportunity for response.

In a blatant violation of basic research ethics, the report, which was ostensibly about the abuse faced by Daily Maverick journalists, deviated from its primary focus and singled out Independent Media for criticism, implicating our company in alleged attacks on journalists. These claims are utterly baseless and untrue. Independent Media has never condoned or engaged in the harassment of journalists. In fact, our own journalists, particularly women, have themselves been victims of such harassment.

Given the well-known hostile relations between Daily Maverick and Independent Media, the critique of Independent Media within a report focusing on Daily Maverick journalists is patently biased. While discussing the broader media environment can provide context, the focus on Independent Media raises serious questions about the impartiality of the researchers and the necessity of including our company in this particular study.

It is deeply disappointing that Prof. Julie Reid, Prof. Julie Posetti, Dr. Diana Maynard, Nabeelah Shabbir, and Don Kevin Hapal have chosen to weaponise this report as a propaganda tool, rather than contributing to a constructive dialogue on the critical issue of journalist abuse. The conduct of the ICFJ and its researchers is highly unethical, particularly the unnecessary invocation of our company's name when it is not directly relevant to the study.

We demand an immediate retraction of all claims made about Independent Media in the report, as well as a public apology to our journalists who have been unfairly maligned by association. The report's authors and affiliated institutions must clarify why Independent Media was inappropriately invoked in a study purportedly focused on a competing media company. They must also disclose any conflicts of interest, funding sources, or political motivations that may have compromised the impartiality of the research.

Independent Media stands in solidarity with all journalists who face harassment and threats for doing their work, something our journalists have experienced too, including death threats and attempts on the lives of some of our reporters.

For the record, Independent Media employs more female reporters and editors than any other media house in South Africa and has been at the forefront of pioneering award-winning gender based violence awareness campaigns, such as the Don’t Look Away Campaign. We have also been recognised for our anti-racism lobbying.

We have spoken up and out against corruption too.

We are not afraid to speak out when the truth matters, such as now. We cannot accept the unethical practice of making grave accusations without evidence or due process.

The ICFJ and the report's authors have failed in their basic duty of care as researchers.

We therefore call on the ICFJ, the research team, and their affiliated institutions to address these lapses transparently and take immediate corrective action. Failure to do so would further undermine the credibility of the study and compound the harm done to Independent Media and our journalists.

Independent Media remains committed to the highest standards of journalism ethics and to the safety and well-being of all journalists. We will continue to advocate for fair and responsible research practices in the study of these vital issues.

While the report is dressed in a cloak of "independence" through the use of researchers and academia, we believe that this "independence" was merely a cover to legitimise the ongoing propaganda attacks against Independent Media.

Independent Media

30 May 2024

Better News: Efforts to serve GenZ increase revenue and engagement It's All Journalism

Society & Culture

Executive editor Kayla Green recently wrote Better News case studies about these two initiatives to serve younger audiences. She discusses them both with host Michael O’Connell on this week’s Better News podcast. Read more about Athlete of the Week and Sumter Next Generation on BetterNews.org. The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the IAJ podcast, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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LIVE UPDATES: Chad Daybell found guilty on all counts, penalty phase begins

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRIAL LIVE Please excuse the typos. These are live updates from the courtroom.

3:24 p.m. Court has concluded for the day and will resume tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. There will be no courtroom insider tonight.

3:23 p.m. It is presumed that no statutory aggravating circumstance exists for Chad at this point. The state has to prove that there is at least one.

3:22 p.m. Boyce reminds jurors not to make a decision based on what the majority of them believe.

3:21 p.m. Boyce explains that jurors need to use all evidence presented in the case when deciding the sentence.

3:19 p.m. Before the death penalty can be considered, the state must prove at least one aggravating factor. Those can include:

At the time the murder was committed, the defendant also committed another murder
The defendant exhibited utter disregard for human life
The murder was committed during another serious crime
The murder was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity

3:17 p.m. Boyce will be reading preliminary instructions, and witnesses will begin tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m.

3:16 p.m. Boyce says we are beginning the ‘capital sentencing phase.’ This will determine whether Chad Daybell will face life in prison or the death penalty.

3:14 p.m. The jurors have been seated.

3:12 p.m. Chad Daybell has been brought back into the courtroom. He is showing no emotion. Jurors are being brought back in.

3:11 p.m. Judge Boyce is back on the bench.

3:09 p.m. Attorneys are back in the courtroom.

3:00 p.m. Kaitlyn Hart with EastIdahoNews.com, I’m taking over for Nate as we begin the penalty phase for Chad Daybell after he was found guilty on all counts almost an hour ago. The public was just let back into the courtroom.

2:12 p.m. Taking an hour recess and then the sentencing phase of the trial will begin. I will be live outside shortly.

2:08 p.m. Clerk reads the verdict as Daybell stands:

COUNT 1 – conspiracy first degree murder Tylee — GUILTY COUNT 2 – first degree murder Tylee — GUILTY COUNT 3 – conspiracy first degree murder JJ – GUILTY COUNT 4 – first degree murder JJ – GUILTY COUNT 5 – conspiracy first degree murder Tammy — GUILTY COUNT 6 – first degree murder Tammy — GUILTY COUNT 7 – insurance fraud — GUILTY COUNT 9 – insurance fraud – GUILTY

2:07 p.m. Jury floor person confirms the jury has reached a verdict. It is handed to Judge Boyce. He reviews it and says all counts have been properly marked.

2:05 p.m. Jurors are in the courtroom. 12 jurors, 7 alternates. Boyce reminds everyone about the courtroom conduct order. Clerk calls a roll call of the jury.

2:04 p.m. “The court has been advised that the jury has reached a verdict,” Boyce says.

2:02 p.m. Judge Boyce is on the bench. He is logging onto his computer and says it will be a moment to get started.

1:59 p.m. Chad Daybell just walked in. He’s wearing a blue checkered dress shirt with a yellow tie. Prior is whispering to him.

1:56 p.m. Attorneys are walking back in the courtroom. The room is packed. 67 state witnesses, 11 defense witnesses, 6 rebuttal witnesses, 8 weeks of testimony, 12 jurors, 6 hours of deliberations and we are here. Minutes away from the verdict being announced.

1:51 p.m. The attorneys have left the courtroom to go meet with Judge Boyce. Court reporter is in her seat and the lady who runs the live video feed is at her desk.

1:50 p.m. John Prior just walked in the courtroom. He’s chatting and smiling with the prosecution team: Rob Wood, Lindsey Blake, Ingrid Batey and Rocky Wixom.

1:46 p.m. Bailiff reminds everyone to turn off their phones and noise making devices.

1:42 p.m. Law enforcement officers continue to file in the courtroom. Lots of chatter among people in their seats. John Prior and Chad Daybell are not in the courtroom yet.

1:30 p.m. Lori Vallow Daybell’s verdict was read at 1:03 p.m. on May 12, 2023. Watch her verdict here. Chad Daybell’s verdict will be read at 2 p.m. on May 30, 2024.

1:27 p.m. Jury deliberated for 5 hours 54 minutes (give or take a few minutes).

1:25 p.m. Several police officers and other investigators are in the courtroom. Every single seat in this courtroom will be filled.

1:22 p.m. In the courtroom: Larry and Kay Woodcock, Heather and Matt Daybell, Ron Douglas (Tammy Daybell’s father), Samatha Gwilliam (Tammy’s sister) and her husband Jason, Mike Douglas (Tammy’s brother). Other family members are also here.

1:10 p.m. A verdict has been reached. It will be read at 2 p.m. I am in the courtroom.

11:07 a.m. The judge will add the instruction to the others and the jurors will take it back with them to the jury room. Jurors are dismissed. Prior asks if there will be a 30 minute warning when a verdict has been reached. Boyce says yes. Chad, wearing an ankle monitor, stands up and is waiting to be escorted out.

11:04 a.m. Jury is seated. Boyce reads the additional instruction. It has to do with count six of the indictment – the first degree murder of Tammy Daybell.

11:01 a.m. Boyce says the new instruction – #42 – has been drafted and the judge will now read it to the jury. Defense and prosecution have no objection to having the new instruction read.

11 a.m. Boyce is on the bench. He says the court received a jury question. The jurors identified a missing instruction and Boyce spoke about it with the attorneys. The court has drafted a missing instruction.

10:56 a.m. We are back in the courtroom. Chad Daybell and John Prior are sitting at the defense table and prosecutors are at their table. Unclear if Judge Boyce will publicly address what just happened.

10:50 a.m. Everyone who was in the courtroom in now in the hallway. We have no idea what is happening inside the courtroom but it remains closed to the public.

10:17 a.m. We were just told this will be a closed hearing. We were asked to leave the courtroom and there will not be a livestream.

10:11 a.m. John Prior just walked in.

10:07 a.m. Prosecutors Rob Wood, Ingrid Batey and Rocky Wixom just walked in. Larry Woodcock is in the courtroom – so are Jason Gwilliam, Samantha Gwilliam’s husband, and Mike Douglas, Tammy Daybell’s brother.

10:05 a.m. We are back in the courtroom. The jury has been deliberating since 8 a.m. We are about to go on the record for a procedural matter – NOT a verdict. Chad Daybell is sitting alone at the defense table. John Prior and the prosecutors are not in the courtroom yet. Standby for news.

SUBMIT A CORRECTION

Netanyahu says Rafah camp strike was a ‘tragic mistake.’ Experts weigh in on what happened

Amna Nawaz Amna Nawaz

Dan Sagalyn Dan Sagalyn

Zeba Warsi Zeba Warsi

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Israeli airstrike on Rafah tent camp kills 45, triggers new wave of condemnation

Israel's airstrike on a tent camp in Rafah killed scores of civilians and led to more global outcry. To discuss how it happened and its wider significance, Amna Nawaz spoke with Noura Erakat, an associate professor at Rutgers University and a human rights lawyer, and retired Israeli Col. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, a senior research fellow at the Israel Institute for National Security Studies.

Read the Full Transcript

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Amna Nawaz:

We return now to the Israeli airstrike in Rafah yesterday which killed scores of civilians, what we know about how it happened and its wider significance.

We get two views.

First, Noura Erakat is associate professor at Rutgers University and a human rights lawyer.

Noura, welcome, and thanks for joining us.

As you heard, we have reported earlier, Prime Minister Netanyahu says this was a tragic mistake and Israeli officials will investigate. What questions do you want to see answered from that investigation and do you think you will get those answers?

Noura Erakat, Rutgers University:

What we saw yesterday was the asphyxiation and the burning to death of civilians by the plastic tents that are meant to shelter them. That means that they died in agony. Not only have they been put through a genocide, but, even in their death, they are put through indescribable pain and suffering.

At this point, we need to be asking questions about the systematic nature of Israel's campaign, which the ICJ has said is plausibly genocide. It is the duty to prevent genocide, not to punish it.

After the third ICJ decision now demanding an immediate cease-fire, why does this operation continue, knowing full well that Hamas cannot be defeated militarily and that, in the outcome, now some 40,000 civilians, 13,000 of them children, who have been killed, all the hospitals destroyed, all the universities destroyed, 80 percent of the population sheltering in the south with no safe zone?

Israel says that it's going after the last stronghold of Hamas there. And they also point out Hamas continues to launch missiles into Israel. They continue to hide behind civilians.

They also argue that a high death toll serves Hamas. Do you agree with that?

Noura Erakat:

Does anybody actually believe this? The only nuclear power in the Middle East, the 11th most significant military power in the world, 234 days, all the arsenal and impunity, and has not been able to diminish Hamas' military power?

Hamas was launching rockets from the very area that Israel said that it had cleared out. American intelligence officials have been telling us from the beginning that Israel cannot defeat Hamas militarily. We, as advocates and as scholars, have been insisting that you cannot defeat Hamas militarily, that it is part of the national and political fabric of Palestinians, and that they must be engaged with diplomatically.

And yet, even after 234 days, this staggering civilian death toll, Israel nowhere closer to defeating Hamas.

You're mentioning the Hamas, of course, the political wing, you say there is part of the political fabric of the Palestinian movement.

And I wonder how you think of it from the Jewish perspective, when they say this is a force that has called for the end of the Jewish state. How could you ask those seven million Jews in Israel to find a way to live alongside Hamas? What would you say to that?

This is not an objection from Jewish people around the world. This is an objection from Zionists, be they Jewish Zionists, be they American Zionists, be they Christian Zionists, even if they are Muslim Zionists.

They believe in a state that it is exclusively a Jewish demographic majority, at the expense of an indigenous population whose land must be taken from them and who must be constantly dispossessed and forced into exile.

This equation, in and of itself, is unsustainable, has been determined as a form of apartheid by human rights legacy organizations like Human Rights Watch, as well as Israeli human rights organizations like B'Tselem.

Apartheid is a regime by which law and policy is used in order to maintain the racial superiority of one group over another. It is only through that thorough dehumanization of the racial other that this genocide is possible, that it has been accepted that babies be burnt alive in plastic tents for their displacement, who are suffering from a famine without access to hospitals and burn units, where we can still be asking the question about whose safety is now at risk and should be prioritized.

That is Noura Erakat, human rights lawyer, associate professor at Rutgers University.

Noura, thank you for your time.

Thank you for having me.

We now turn to retired Israeli Colonel Pnina Sharvit Baruch. She was a legal adviser to the Israel Defense Forces and is now a senior research fellow at the Israel Institute for National Security Studies.

So, Pnina, as you heard, Prime Minister Netanyahu said the civilian deaths were a tragic mistake in this strike. It was also a mistake, you will remember, when an aid convoy from World Central Kitchen was hit, killing seven. And one of the biggest questions people have is why one of the best-funded and best trained militaries in the world keeps making these deadly mistakes.

What would you say to that?

Pnina Sharvit Baruch, Institute for National Security Studies: This is a terrible situation.

We are — we are trapped in this war threatening us in Israel, and we are being attacked from all sides. It feels to us an existential threat. So we know we look strong. We are strong, but the threats are huge. The whole issue of Rafah, why is Rafah important, is because this is the land border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

And we know that they get from there their supply. There are tunnels going underneath, a lot of tunnels in Rafah.

But I should point out that it was the ICJ ruling just last week…

Pnina Sharvit Baruch:

… that ordered Israel to halt its military offensive in Rafah, as you're pointing out, which is a critical point there.

So how was this military strike in Rafah not in violation of that order?

Well, the order didn't say that Israel must halt its operations in Gaza.

What the order said — and I will quote it — is that Israel must halt its military offensive and any other action in Rafah which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about a physical destruction in whole or in part.

This is limited to what is covered by the Genocide Convention. Israel is not carrying out a genocide.

I'm reading the same text you are.

It says, "The state of Israel shall immediately halt its military offensive," as you just read there, "that could bring about physical destruction in whole or in part."

This — 45 civilians were killed. That is physical destruction in whole or in part, is it not?

Yes, but genocide has the element of intent.

And the idea here was that Israel has to do what it can to avoid destruction. And, indeed, what happened here is a tragedy. But, again, what has to be checked is whether — how did it happen? Israel, at least according to what the initial explanation, is that it was using accurate ammunition, and perhaps there was something that — some fire that broke out.

Civilians get killed. It is terrible. It is tragic, but it doesn't necessarily mean that there is an intention. It definitely doesn't mean that there's a genocidal intention.

Pnina, as you have heard, some will argue that, look, Hamas is inseparable from the Palestinian national movement that sprang from oppression, from a lack of freedom, those are conditions that persist for Palestinians today, and that killing every last fighter of Hamas right now won't eliminate that.

What do you say to that?

I think we have to beat the Hamas, at least the — again, the military structure of the Hamas.

If the Hamas continues to control the Gaza Strip, that means not only that Israel lost the war, and this is very dangerous, because Iran is looking, our other enemies. It is really dangerous for Israel. But it also means that there will be no prospects of peace. Hamas is opposed to peace.

As I hear also other speakers, when they are talking about no Zionist entity, that means no state of Israel. This is not about ending the occupation and finding a peaceful resolution for conflict. I have been a peace activist. I'm trying to reach a resolution. I meet Palestinians.

And I hope that the moderate Palestinians don't go after this notion that Israel has no right to exist. And that is what Hamas is promoting. So, if Hamas remains in power, there will be never a peaceful resolution of the conflict, and both Israelis and Palestinians will pay the price.

That is retired Israeli Colonel Pnina Sharvit Baruch now with the Israel Institute for National Security Studies.

Pnina, thank you for your time. We appreciate it.

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Quill: Lets Do Better: 2023s egregious breaches in journalism ethics

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The Case for Media Impact

Table of Contents

Media Impact

Impact in a Historical Context

Media and Impact: Why Are We (Still) Talking About It?

ICIJ: Global Collaboration for Maximum Impact

Impact Theory

Media, Impact, and Politics: Easy Allies in the Early Days

Measuring Impact in Other Fields

Impact and Metrics in Information and Communication Worlds

ICIJ Case Study

Strategizing for Impact

Challenges and Learnings

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The New Ethics of Journalism Principles for the 21st Century

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Doing Democracy Right or Doing Right by Democracy

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Quill: Lets Do Better: 2023s egregious breaches in journalism ethics