Some broadcast journalism is outstanding. New, exciting means of electronic communication are just beyond the technological horizon. In the commercial marketplace, many public relations and advertising firms can be lauded for principled handling of ethically sensitive issues. Yet, everywhere are signs of ethical deterioration. Individual print and broadcast journalists are accused of unreasonable invasion of privacy, insensitive treatment of victims of rape and other crimes, and a host of other ethical lapses.
Opinion polls show much of the public views media performance negatively.
Journalists are regarded by many as arrogant, biased, unfair, unethical. Unarguably, there is widespread distrust of what the media do and how they do it. The writer is William S. Morris Professor of Newspaper Strategy and Management at the University of Georgia. Go to top of this page.