News commentary

It’s Time for a New Look at Journalism Ethics

Columbia Journalism Review · Margaret Sullivan · last updated

It might seem like conventional wisdom among journalists that while the world around us may change, our standards do not. And certainly our ethics should not change.

We believe in accuracy. In being honest with the public. In declining favors or gifts intended to bring more favorable coverage. In protecting our sources. When I entered journalism, in the 1980s, these values were a given; when I became the public editor of the New York Times, in 2012, they were still what good journalists held tight. And now that I teach a journalism ethics class at Columbia Journalism School, these are some of the principles I try to pass along to students.

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