Honors Theses
Date of Award
2007
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Journalism
First Advisor
Kathleen Wickham
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Ethics arguably are a nexus to good journalism; thus, without a clearly-mandated ethics code that helps one differentiate between objectivity and bias as well as detachment and empathy, media practitioners fail in their basic journalistic obligation to providing readers with the information that they need to live well-informed, free, and self-governing lives. Furthermore, objectivity and detachment are two journalistic elements under constant public scrutiny for their surfeit of related ethical faux pas committed regularly by American journalists. Particularly in the practice of public journalism- a method for framing stories that is based on increased community input and unconventional techniques to humanizing stories- these two values are being breached by its practitioners, some argue. The purpose of this thesis was to explore not only the presence and implementation of ethics codes in Mississippi’s newsrooms but also how these codes pertain to the practice of objectivity, detachment, and, consequently, public journalism is this thesis’ central goal. A survey was mailed twice to each of the 89 weekly and 24 daily Mississippi newspapers, in hopes of obtaining a 50% rate of response. Furthermore, the 23-question survey composed to provide answers to the specific research questions, which pertained to the implementation, prevalence, and significance of ethics codes in the state’s newsrooms, the value of objectivity and detachment as outlined in these codes, and the practice and pervasiveness of public journalism, particularly as it related to the two values. The study found that 86 percent of respondents stated not having a newsroom ethics code, and it appears that most respondents believed that the public journalism being practiced by nearly 78 percent of respondents does not necessarily serve as a precursor for the endangerment of the journalistic values of detachment and objectivity. These results demonstrate that although only one in 10 respondents has an ethics code, over half felt that they are very important, and eight in 10 respondents agreed that the two values are not diluted when public journalism is practiced.
Recommended Citation
Breaux, Kimberly Anne, "The Thou Shalts of Journalism: A Study of the Significance of Ethics Codes as They Correlate to the Journalistic Values of Objectivity and Detachment and the Practice of Public Journalism by Mississippi Newspapers" (2007). Honors Theses. 1956.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1956
Accessibility Status
Searchable text