Document details

Ethical Reporting of Sensitive Topics

London; New York: Routledge (2019), xiv, 294 pp.

Contains index

ISBN 978-0-8153-4866-5 (pbk)

Signature commbox: 10-Ethics-E 2019

"Reporting on issues such as suicide, sexual abuse, or migration is a skill that is often glossed over in a journalist’s education. By combining theory and practice, this collection will correct this oversight and give journalists the expertise and understanding to report on these subjects responsibly and ethically. Contributors to this volume are an international group of journalists-turned-academics, who share their first-hand experiences and unique professional insight into best ethical journalistic practice for reporting on sensitive topics. Drawing from a range of case studies, contributors discuss the most appropriate approach to, for example, describing a shooter who has killed a group of schoolchildren or interviewing someone who has lost everything in a natural disaster. Readers are invited to consider factors which have the potential to influence the reporting of these sorts of topics, including bias, sensationalism, conflict of interest, grief, vulnerability, and ignorance of one’s own privilege." (Publisher description)
Introduction / Ann Luce, 1
I. ETHICS, RESPONSIBILITY AND SELF-CARE
1 Journalism Standards on the Job / Chris Frost, 11
2 Learning to Cope with the Tough Times / Lyn Barnes, 26
II. REPORTING SENSITIVE TOPICS
3 Reporting Child Sexual Abuse / Amanda Gearing, 49
4 Reporting Suicide / Ann Luce, 70
III. REPORTING VIOLENCE
5 Reporting Mass Shootings / Glynn Greensmith, 97
6 Reporting Urban Violence and Gangs / Mathew Charles, 115
IV. REPORTING HEALTH
7 Reporting "Critical" Health Journalism / John Lister, 137
8 Reporting on Drugs, Diets, Devices and Other Health Interventions / Kim Walsh-Childers, 156
V. REPORTING SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
9 Reporting Controversial Science / Shelley Thompson & Hilary Stepien, 179
10 Reporting Climate Change / Bob Wyss, 199
11 Reporting Natural Disasters in the Digital Age / Amanda Gearing, 214
VI. REPORTING CULTURAL, ETHNIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL DIFFERENCE
12 Reporting on "Other" Cultures / Alex Wake, 235
13 Reporting on International Migration / Jeremaiah Opiniano, 251
Conclusion: Further Hints and Tips, 274