Journalism Ethics
Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists
1-866-DILEMMA
1-866-345-3662
The Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists is a free service to professional journalists in need of guidance on reaching ethical decisions while covering the news. The program is sponsored by the Chicago Headline Club Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and Loyola University Chicago Center for Ethics and Social Justice.
The strength of our program is to put journalists in contact with experts able to talk through an ethics dilemma from start to finish, allowing journalists to reach an informed decision through consultation. Questions are answered by a person trained in Journalism Ethics at Loyola University Chicago. Calls are confidential and most questions are answered within 24 hours.
It is now possible to submit queries online at the AdviceLine home page at www.ethicsadvicelineforjournalists.org. Queries are later answered through the phone.
- Listen to an interview with Casey Bukro and David Ozar about the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists
(Aired on "Mosaic", WCEV AM 1450, 9/23/03) [30 MB, MP3 format] - Listen to a short interview (7 min.) about the AdviceLine and the dilemmas that journalists face.
(Aired on "On the Media", WNYC AM 820, 2/18/05) [12 MB, MP3 format]
History
On January 22, 2001, with the support of the Chicago Headline Club (the Chicago chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists), and the Howard and Ursula Dubin Foundation, the Center for Ethics and Social Justice established the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists. Staffed by the Center, AdviceLine provides journalists from across the country with on-call ethics assistance on ethical and professional issues that arise in their daily practice of journalism.
In conjunction with launching AdviceLine, the Center's undertook a significant program of research on journalism ethics, building on the Center's established expertise in professional ethics. As a result of this work the Center was able to design and conduct a ten-week training program for the AdviceLine team that now responds to journalists' ethical inquiries.
Staff members take turns being on call for two weeks at a turn, and meet regularly with representatives of the Chicago Headline Club, to evaluate the assistance and advice that was given, in order to educate the team members and improve AdviceLine's contribution. In 2004, the staff number is expected to increase to seven staff members.
Reports on the cases discussed on AdviceLine are collected for internal education within the AdviceLine team, for training of new team members, and for scholarly publications and ethics education materials for the journalism community and more broadly for scholarly publications and ethics education.
AdviceLine's aim is not to tell callers what they ought to do. It is to help them think through the issues they are struggling with (conflicts of interest, the necessity to minimize harm, etc.) from the perspective of sound professional ethics and clear and careful ethical thinking—and in a way that takes account of everyone affected, especially the public, whom journalists are most committed to serve.
To date, almost every caller has been appreciative of the effort. Over its first eighteen months of its life, AdviceLine received more than 120 calls, involving in most cases questions posed by practicing journalists and, in a few instances, students of journalism or members of the larger community dealing with journalists.
Because of AdviceLine, the Center is gradually coming to be acknowledged as a leading source of insight and research on ethical issues in journalistic practice, as well as a resource for scholarship and for educational assistance in journalism ethics by journalism faculty in colleges and universities.
How it Works
AdviceLine's toll-free number is 866-DILEMMA (345-3662). Through a simple voice message, AdviceLine puts the caller in conversation with an ethicist specifically trained in journalism ethics. The volunteers to respond to AdviceLine are Loyola faculty in ethics and journalism and other Chicago-area experts in business and professional ethics. Their aim is to assist the caller in making ethical decisions that:
1. Are well informed by available standards of professional journalistic practice, especially the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics;
2. Take account of the perspectives of all the parties involved in the situation;
(3.) Employ clear and careful ethical thinking in reaching a decision.
Calls are usually answered within 24 hours. Queries can also be submitted online at AdviceLine's home page at www.ethicsadvicelineforjournalists.org. Queries are later answered by phone.
Contact Information
For more information on the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists, contact Courtney Stewart at cstewa1@luc.edu, 773.508.8349, or visit www.ethicsadvicelineforjournalists.org.