Journalism Ethics and How it Impacts Public Trust

Nolan Cramer
nc948418@ohio.edu

It is no secret that trust in "the media," has been dropping in recent years. Many people see it in their everyday lives, they go on social media and view posts that accuse outlets of promoting its own agenda or being biased against a specific political party. This leads to widespread mistrust of the journalists and outlets that are supposed to be trustworthy sources of information, responsible for keeping a watchful eye and often referred to as the "fourth estate."

The graph below from a 2019 Gallop poll shows how Americans' trust in mass media has been following a downward trend, not only in recent years, but for decades. In 2016, trust in mass media fell to the lowest percentage on record, when only 32% of those polled said they had a "great deal/fair amount" of confidence in the media.

Megan Brenan/Gallop, Inc.

This data presents a very challenging question for all journalists, "how do we convey to the public (not just our audience) that the content we produce is reliable and accurate?" There is no easy solution to this dilemma. One of the reasons for finding a solution is so daunting, is because of polarization in where people get their news from.

A study published by the Pew Research Center in early-2020 illustrated how political party affiliation goes hand-in-hand with which media outlets people consume. The study highlighted the differences in the audiences of media outlets. For example, 26% of the participants who identified themselves as Democrat/lean Democrat said they get their political news from The Washington Post, in comparison to only 8% of those considered Republican/lean Republican. The study concluded that people usually refer to outlets that align with their political beliefs and biases.

This polarization is why it is difficult for media outlets such as The Washington Post to answer the question posed earlier. It needs to figure out a way to demonstrate to the public that their content is trustworthy, accurate and neutral. Organizations such as Ad Fontes Media and "The Media Bias Chart," already list The Washington Post among the most accurate and neutral media outlets. It must now find a way to demonstrate its accuracy and reliability to the general public. This is where journalism ethics come to play.

Both individual journalists and media outlets have to make challenging decisions everyday on what to cover and how to cover certain stories. Often, these decision are not black-and-white but fall in a grey area. Journalists face these ethical questions on a daily basis, and in many cases it can be difficult for their audience to understand the logic behind certain decisions.

One way to help audiences understand why certain media outlets publish (or don't publish) certain stories or choose to cover specific events over others, is by setting a code of ethics. This is simply a list of guidelines a media outlet and their journalists follow to ensure its reporting is honest, accurate and has a neutral bias.

Steven Knowlton and Bill Reader in Moral Reasoning for Journalists, write journalists need to, "join in thoughtful discussion concerning what newspeople do, how they do it, and why."

Going back to the example of the Washington Post, it publishes an ethics policy on its website explaining how it makes certain ethical decisions. This is a good step in showing the public how it holds their journalists and content to the highest of standards. It explains the "why" that Knowlton and Reader are referring to.

Providing transparency about why certain ethical decisions are made and providing a list of ethics encourages and helps reassure public trust in an outlet.