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A Content Analysis of Ethical Statements Within Journalistic Codes of Conduct A Content Analysis of Ethical Statements within Journalistic Codes of Conduct A thesis presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University and the Institute for Communication and Media Studies of Leipzig University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degrees Master of Science in Journalism (Ohio University), Master of Arts in Global Mass Communication (Leipzig University) David B. D. Neri August 2020 © 2020 David B. D. Neri. All Rights Reserved. This thesis titled A Content Analysis of Ethical Statements within Journalistic Codes of Conduct by DAVID B. D. NERI has been approved for the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, the Scripps College of Communication, and the Institute for Communication and Media Studies by Bernhard S. Debatin Professor of Journalism of The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Scott Titsworth Dean, Scripps College of Communication, Ohio University Christian Pieter Hoffman Director, Institute for Communication and Media Studies, Leipzig University ii Abstract NERI, DAVID B. D., M.S., Journalism; M.A., Global Mass Communication, August 2020 3755338 A Content Analysis of Ethical Statements within Journalistic Codes of Ethics Director of Thesis: Bernhard S. Debatin Committee Members: Bill Reader, Rosanna Planer Although previous research has been targeted at the aspects of journalistic cultures within nations through the views of their population, such as the multinational Worlds of Journalism Study (2019), other avenues of study can offer a new perspective on these differences. To this end, the study provides a comparison of journalistic codes of ethics. Such codes (while differing in structure, implementation, and reach) share a common purpose in providing and defining standards of ethical action within the field of journalism. By making note of what standards are discussed within journalistic codes of ethics with national reach, and in what manner the ethical rationale is constructed and defended within said ethical codes, the study aims to provide insight into the similarities and differences of the journalistic cultures in which they are set. The study found that the 25 ethical codes examined discussed over 100 distinct generalized ethical situations, the documents often stretched beyond outlining the practice of ethical journalism. The codes of ethics were also found to primarily make use of deontological and virtue-based justifications, although examples of the other selected ethical frameworks were found in small numbers. Additionally, both the deontological and virtue-based justifications iii occurred dominantly within the examined codes of ethics with such frequency as to be considered ethical norms within the standards set by the study. In both cases, the findings provide a means to critique and point to ways these ethical codes could be improved in order to better relate to both the journalists they hope to guide and the public they hope to educate while laying the groundwork for similar examinations in the future. iv Dedication To my mother Mary Elizabeth Todd, my father David E. Neri and my brother Kevin A. R. Neri for their unwavering support, without which this thesis would not have been completed. v Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge and thank the members of my research committee for their advice, suggested research avenues and especially criticisms that were essential in bringing this thesis to its current state. I would also like to specifically thank my committee chair Bernhard Debatin for his guidance and suggestions concerning the philosophical systems used within this thesis. vi Table of Contents Page Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Dedication ........................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. vi List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Background, Literature Review and Research Questions ................................. 4 Literature Review: Codes of Ethics ................................................................................ 4 Literature Review: Ethical Frameworks ....................................................................... 10 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 3: Method ............................................................................................................ 37 Code of Ethics Selection ............................................................................................... 37 Establishing Order of Examination ............................................................................... 38 Data Saturation ............................................................................................................. 40 Methods of Examination ............................................................................................... 43 Chapter 4: Results ............................................................................................................. 48 Results concerning the Categories of Action ................................................................ 49 Results Regarding the Categories of Influence ............................................................. 57 Chapter 5: Discussion ....................................................................................................... 66 Analysis of Results ....................................................................................................... 66 Clarification of Results ................................................................................................. 70 vii Limiting Factors and Potential Complications ............................................................. 71 Future Recommendations ............................................................................................. 73 Chapter 6: Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 77 Utility of Method .......................................................................................................... 77 Utility of Results ........................................................................................................... 78 Works Cited ...................................................................................................................... 83 List of Examined Codes .................................................................................................... 95 Appendix A: Descriptive Characteristics for Selected Journalistic Codes ....................... 99 Appendix B: List of Categorization Related Data for Selected Journalistic Codes ....... 103 Appendix C: List of Generalized ethical situation categories and their designation # ... 105 Appendix D: Ethical Justification percentages by code and influencers found .............. 115 viii List of Tables Page Table 1: List of Frameworks with Justification Descriptions ........................................... 46 Table 2: Descritption of Content Super-catagories and Number of Catagories ............... 50 Table 3: Ethical Justification Makeup and Influncers by Code ........................................ 58 Table 4: List and Number of Influnced Codes by Justification Framework..................... 64 ix Chapter 1: Introduction Within the broader academic discussion on the intersection of journalism ethics and the culture of journalism, several studies have focused both on potential multinational commonalities of ethical journalism and their cultural differences (Deuze, 2002; Hafez, 2002; Sanders et al., 2008). In a prominent example, the Worlds of Journalism Study, Hanitzsch and a number of other researchers (2019) interviewed more than 27,500 journalists —living and working in 67 different nations around the globe— about the importance of various aspects of journalism ethics and practice. The examination’s results also highlight the potential utility of comparisons on perceived and promoted journalistic ethics on the global level as a productive approach for academic study. Although the large-scale collection of the expressed views of the journalists does allow researchers to examine aspects of a nation’s journalistic culture, this method is not the only means of doing so. Aspects of macro-cultural journalism (that is to say, the dominant mores of journalism within a culture) also appear within the more formal representations of journalism ethics, such as codified texts of norms and values produced within the nation in question (Hafez, 2002). Of course, the writers of those codes of ethics are by no means inventing ethical modes of thought; instead, code creators take cues from firmly established normative frameworks that have influenced the practice and perception of modern journalism. Not meant to compete with one another for a singular interpretation, the frameworks instead offer a means to examine moral issues within the field of journalism and arrive at an ethical course of action. 1 With these aspects in mind, the study examines
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