Media Ethics

Rating:
Summary: Think like Fink
Review: Hello there, old lady!

Having sat through not one but TWO fink classes, I couldn't help but notice your name and email. Whether you are fink himself or one of his proteges, here's to you!

For those of you not fortunate enough to learn from this man first-hand, grab your chance to learn from him now. I learned more in his two classes (newspaper management and public affairs reporting) than I did in any other.

Fink hasn't just read about the issues: he's lived them.

Rating:
Summary: Best course I took in college. Period.
Review: Moreso than the drive of deadlines and the thrill of a daily byline, the thing that most attracted me to newspaper journalism was the reasoning behind it.

Why were we reporting what we did? Why did we put it at the top of 1A? Could we have covered it another way? Did we keep our objectivity intact, or is our coverage slanted? Could this get us sued ... and should it?

The public doesn't understand, sometimes. When they hear the title of this book, they make jokes about "Media Ethics" being an oxymoron, but it's not. Reporters, editors and newspaper owners (broadcasters, too, I suppose) find themselves in complicated ethical situations everyday, asking yourself what the right thing to do is.

When you're working day-to-day under heavy pressure, sometimes a reporter isn't sure which questions to ask himself.

This book gives you a guideline. It asks the important questions.

Rating:
Summary: A profound influence upon my life as a journalist
Review: Using case studies and personal examples to drive the message forward, "Media Ethics" by Conrad C. Fink proves that there's more to this newspaper business than just the bottom line.

The book examines ethics in journalism from a variety of perspectives, ranging from that of the individual journalist to that of the variety of media in general.

With shareholder expectation infringing upon the news judgment of newspapers all across the country, it's good to know that a guide of this sort exists for those journalists serious about performing a public service.