What British journalism students think about ethics and journalism

Journalism and Mass Communication Educator

Volumn 61, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 20-32

  Ball, Amanda ^a   Hanna, Mark ^b   Sanders, Karen ^b  

^a NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 85053417258     PISSN: 10776958     EISSN: 21614326     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/107769580606100105     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. For a rare example see Lee B. Becker and George Padgett, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Mass Media Ethics Course,” Journalism 8 Mass Communication Educator 33 (summer 2000): 27-39.
2. But the lack of such studies is pointed out in Jeremy Cohen, “Symposium: Journalism and Mass Communication Education at the Crossroads,” Journalism 8 Mass Communication Educator 56 (autumn 2001):4-27.
3. See, for example, Everette E. Dennis, ed., “The Making of Journalists,’’ Gannett Center Journal (2,1988).
4. Betty Medgser, Winds of Change: Challenges Confronting Journalism Education (Arlington, VA: The Freedom Forum, 1996).
5. Steven Reese, “The Progressive Potential of Journalism Education: Recasting the Professional vs. Academic Debate,” Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics (4, 1999): 70-94.
6. T. Schultz, “Does Education Matter? Characteristics of Journalists Who Went to Graduate School,” Journalism (2, 2002): 223-38.
7. Edmund B. Lambeth, Clifford G. Christians, Kenneth Fleming, and Seow Ting Lee, “Media Ethics Teaching in Century 21: Progress, Problems and Challenges,” Journalism & Mass Communication Educator (autumn 2004): 239-58.
8. These include the following studies: Oliver Boyd-Barrett, “Journalism Recruitment and Training: Problems in Professionalisation,” in Media Sociology: A Reader, ed. Jeremy Tunstall (London: Constable, 1970), 181-201.
9. Hugh Stephenson and Pierre Mory, Journalism flaining in Europe. Report for the European Journalism Training Association (Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, 1990).
10. Romy Frohlich and Christina Holtz-Bacha, “Structures of Inhomogeneity-dilemmas of Journalism Training in Europe,” in Innovation in Journalism Training. A European Perspective, ed. G.G. Kopper (Berlin: Vistas, 1993), 13-25.
11. Romy Frohlich and Christina Holtz-Bacha, eds., Journalism Education in Europe and North America. An International Comparison (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2003).
12. Hugo de Burgh, ed., Making Journalists (London: Routledge, 2005).
13. Slavo Splichal and Colin Sparks, Journalists for the 21st Century: Tendencies of Professionalisation Among First-Year Students in 22 Countries (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1994).
14. In the course of 2003, Jayson Blair’s inventions at the New York Times and Andrew Gilligan’s inaccuracies at the BBC spurred an intense debate about ethical standards in journalism.
15. David Weaver, ed., The Global Journalist: News People Around the World (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 1998).
16. See also J.W.C. Johnstone, E.J. Slawski, and W.W. Bowman, The News People: A Sociological Portrait of American Journalists and Their Work (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1976).
17. Wolfgang Donsbach, “Journalists’ Conceptions of Their Audience,” Gazette (32, 1983): 19-36.
18. R. Kocher, “Bloodhounds and Missionaries: Role Definitions of German and British journalists,” European Journal of Communication (1, 1986): 43-64.
19. See, too, David Weaver and Cleveland G. Wilhoit, The American Journalist in the 3990s: U.S. News People at the End of an Era (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1996).
20. Only 10% reported having a journalist in their close family now or in the past; 47% had previously taken a course in media studies, distributed across a wide range of qualifications gained at 16 or 18.
21. See, for example, Society of Editors, Diversity in the Newsroom. Employment of Minority Ethnic rournalists in Newspapers (Cambridge: Society of Editors, 2004).
22. See Anthony Delano and John Henningham, The News Breed: British lournalists in the 3990s (London: The London College of Printing and Distributive Trades, 1995).
23. The ten were Bournemouth, Central England, Cumbria Institute of the Arts, Liverpool John Moores, London College of Communication, Napier, Nottingham Trent, Sheffield, Sunderland, and Surrey Institute. We are very grateful to staff at these institutions, and to Stella Salvatierra (U. of Navarra) who advised on statistical analysis.
24. Journalism Training Forum, Journalists at Work. Their Views on Training, Recruitment and Conditions (London: Journalism Training Forum, 2002).
25. See the Journalism Training Forum (ZOOZ), 4.
26. Eight students who responded that they definitely did not want to pursue a journalism career were excluded from the sample of 653 because it seemed inappropriate to compare their views with journalists.
27. For example, see Lord Chancellor’s Department Payments to Witnesses consultation paper (London: Lord Chancellor’s Dept, 1996), 6.
28. Some caution is necessary in comparing these figures. UK employment statistics use the Standard Occupational Classification-used by the Journalism Training Forumwhereas the students’ survey used a previous version of this. They are broadly but not entirely equivalent. Country-wide figures are taken from the Institute of Employment Research, 2001.
29. Note that the model did not fit all categories for which it was computed. This was probably due to the dispersal of the social background data.
30. The “qualities” include the Times, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, and the Independent. The mid-range “populars” include the Daily Mail and the Express and the “red-tops,’’ the Mirror, the Sun, and the Star.
31. This does not show up clearly in the raw percentages of Table 4, which only gives results for the “extreme 1 y important” response. However, across the range of other responses the fact of having had newsroom experience was found to be statistically significant.