Date of Award
May 2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design
Committee Member
Bryan Denham
Committee Member
David Blakesley
Committee Member
Charles Starkey
Committee Member
Daniel Wueste
Abstract
Today’s student journalists are creating work in an era of rapidly changing technology. Many of them have readership or viewership numbering in the thousands, and what they write and broadcast has an effect on people. While most professional journalists have studied ethics in school or discussed the subject in the workplace, many student journalists have not even had one ethics class. Many of them are seeking guidance as they grapple with ethical issues. This research studied 214 student journalists from every region in the United States through a survey of their attitudes towards ethical situations. The study discovered how they viewed situations that are forbidden in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, as well as additional situations that are considered unethical in some circumstances by professionals. This study points out that students practicing journalism need a complete portfolio of ethics theory and experiences to make the best possible ethical decisions. It is hoped that this information can be used to design effective ethics pedagogy for student journalists, ranging from informal discussions in their work on student media, to academic courses in mass communication or journalism ethics.
Recommended Citation
Campbell, Karyn S., "Student Journalists and Mass Communication Ethics – Attitudes and Pedagogy" (2020). All Dissertations. 2586.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/2586