Here you’ll find links to many resources related to media ethics.
Journalism
►Accountable Journalism – An organization that keeps a list of media ethics codes worldwide.
►Society of Professional Journalists — The mission is to promote First Amendment rights and flow of information, inspire future journalists and “foster excellence among journalists.” The website includes the group’s code of ethics and ethics study cases. Journalists can submit ethics questions.
►The Online News Association – Its “build your own ethics code” site lets you stake your own claims about specific ethical issues.
►The Radio Television Digital News Association – Here’s its code of ethics.
►Accuracy in Media — A right-leaning media criticism group founded in 1969 that “critiques botched and bungled news stories.” Often described as a counterbalance to Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting.
►Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting — A left-leaning media criticism group that describes itself as seeking “structural reform” to mass communication and limits on media conglomerates. Often described as a counterbalance to Accuracy in Media.
►Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication — It promotes teaching and scholarship for collegiate students and faculty. Scholars in its Media Ethics Division examine issues and theory.
►The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions — Center established to teach and promote ethics in the professional world. Gives information on the ethics behind journalism in several different countries and different newspapers, as well as other types of businesses.
►Columbia Journalism Review — The online companion to the magazine that examines media and seeks to “encourage and stimulate excellence in journalism in the service of a free society.”
►The Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin. Its site includes useful media ethics terms and case studies.
►Media Wise– A British independent charity supported by journalists and media lawyers. It offers media training and a website that posts articles on ethical updates and situations.
►Organization of News Ombudsmen – Better known as “O No!” this group represents people who work to hear and settle media complaints.
►Poynter Online — An institute dedicated to teaching and promoting excellence in journalism. It offers ethics articles from experts that critique online journalism, television, radio, print, etc.
►Representation – The Global Press Style guide provides insight into many cultures.
Photography and design
►National Press Photographers Association — The group’s code of ethics is included in its bylaws.
►Photography Ethics Centre – An Irish organization that offers courses in photo ethics.
►Society for News Design — The group’s code of ethics calls for accuracy, honesty, fairness, inclusiveness, and courage.
Digital media
►A short and long proposed code of ethics for bloggers and social media, by Morten Rand-Hendriksen.
►From 2007, a proposed code of ethics for bloggers by Tim O’Reilly, via Archive.org’s Wayback machine.
►The Way of Blogging Ethics: Ethical tips from marketing expert Martin Couture, and a commentary by Ethics Sage.
Public relations
►International Association of Business Communicators — Its site includes its code of ethics and code of conduct.
►PRSA — The Public Relations Society of America is a community of public relations and communications professionals who set the standards for PR excellence, leadership and understanding of PR practice. They offer in detail the code of ethics that PR professionals seek to uphold. It also has an organization for students, PRSSA.
►International Public Relations Association — Organization with a code of conduct updated in 2011.
►The Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication – Penn State is home to the center, which focuses on research and other insight into PR ethics.
►Canadian Public Relations Society – Its code of professional standards focuses on confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and social media.
►Platform Magazine — This student-written newsletter, written by University of Alabama students, has ethics as a major focus.
►PR Ethics — A collection of PR-related web links that include ethics information and ethics codes.
►Ragan’s PR Daily – Sometimes talks about ethical issues, but is more focused on public relations and marketing as it relates to social media.
►Commission on Public Relations Education – Ethics is among the focuses of this organization.
►Center for Media and Democracy – The left-leaning Center for Media and Democracy maintains a list of groups that seek to influence the public. The group’s founders have written PR-bashing books such as Toxic Sludge Is Good For You! Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry.
Advertising
►U.S. Federal Trade Commission – Know the minimum rules about advertising and marketing, and about online ads and marketing.
►Native advertising – Know the Federal Trade Commission rules on native advertising and use the Page Center’s lessons on native advertising.
►Institute for Advertising Ethics – The institute’s nine principles define minimum standards and high aspirations for advertisers.
►Advertising Age – A key trade publication has a search engine where you can find ethics-related news.
►American Marketing Association — The 40,000-member trade group for marketers has a Code of Conduct.
►Advertising Educational Foundation — A nonprofit advertising foundation whose site includes research and speeches about the industry.
►American Advertising Federation — One of the oldest national advertising trade association that promotes and protects the well-being of advertising, it is associated with the Institute for Advertising Ethics principles and and Diversity in Action.
►Better Business Bureau — Its Accreditation Standards are built on eight standards for trust.
►Children’s Advertising Review Unit – This part of the Better Business Bureau publishes advertising and privacy guidelines aimed at marketing to children.
►American Association of Advertising Agencies — The AAAA is a trade group that introduced Standards of Practice that have been updated since their 1924 introduction.
►The Association of National Advertisers – This group of some of the world’s largest advertising hosts publishes an ethics assessment checklist. Note: Registration may be required.
►CheckMyAds.org – An organization that shows how advertising helps pay people who spread disinformation online.
Entertainment
►Motion Picture Association – The trade group provides some information about its ratings system, but critics say the system is flawed and shrouded in secrecy.
►Canadian Association of Broadcasters Code — The voice of Canada’s private broadcasters, representing private radio and television stations, networks, specialty and pay-per-view services.
►Free Speech Coalition — The trade association for the adult entertainment industry has its own code of ethics.
►“Reality” entertainment – The American Advertising Federation has a white paper on the topic. A 2011 effort to create a code of ethics didn’t go far. A 2016 academic paper describes the sorts of harms that can come from “reality” programming.
►Hollywood Production Code — Also known as the Hays Code, this occasionally updated list of industry do’s and don’ts permeated entertainment ethics for decades in the United States. A PBS series offered details about the code.
►Media-focused organizations: Many groups across the political and cultural spectrum have concerns about what they see in entertainment media. They range from the conservative American Family Association’s complaints against what it sees as indecency in entertainment, to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation with its media-focused blog and Media Reference Guide.
►Sony Group – The international corporation’s ethics/compliance site includes its Code of Conduct.
Social media
►U.S. Federal Trade Commission – The FTC’s rules about endorsers and influencers are aimed at social media, with particular rules about disclosing economic interests and about transparency in customer reviews.
►Social media guidelines – by Mandy Jenkins, a longtime media expert.
►Page Center – Its site with a focus on social media ethics and issues.
►Center for Media Engagement – The University of Texas site on social/digital media ethics.
►Australia Advertising Council – Code of conduct for social media.
►Stanford Encyclopedia of Ethics – Entry on social networking and ethics.
Other Useful Sites
►Center for the Study of Ethics in Professions — The Illinois Institute of Technology’s site includes links to many codes of ethics across media (and other) disciplines.
►Looking for case studies? Try the University of Indiana’s journalism ethics cases.
►Ethics Unwrapped – The University of Texas at Austin’s site has a terrific collection of content that includes help with ethics terms, and many useful case studies.
►Ethics and Compliance Initiative — A nonprofit ethics organization dedicated to helping businesses and organizations. It offers articles and tips for students and business owners.
►Rotary International – The service club is known for its Four-Way Test, a code of ethics for members.
►Why codes of ethics may not matter – Enron Corp.’s spectacular failure in the early 2000s came because of bad behavior, despite a code of ethics. And pirates had a social contract, essentially their own codes of ethics. Having a code doesn’t necessarily make your enterprise an ethical one.
►Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law – The University of Minnesota center looks at media ethics from a variety of perspectives.
►Media Ethics magazine – A free online resource, written mostly by academics and published several times a year.
►Follow @DoingEthics on Twitter.