Welcome to Journalism Ethics!

Every day, journalists must make difficult ethical choices ... on deadline. For instance:

* How much information is enough when reporting on a major breaking news story such as the recent mining tragedy?

* When should anonymous sources be used and at what point, if ever, should a promise of confidentiality be breached?

* When is it appropriate to run disturbing photos, such as those from Abu Ghraib, and when do such photos constitute sensationalism?

Public perceptions of journalistic ethics are ... well, not good. Many seem to feel the term is an oxymoron, in fact.

Americans think journalists:

* Often or sometimes use "unethical or illegal tactics to investigate a story" (88 percent).
* Often or sometimes copy "words and ideas of others in a story and pass them off as their own" (76 percent).
* Often or sometimes "make up stories and pass them off as real" (66 percent).

Assorted other public perceptions:

* Stories often or sometimes contain factual errors (anywhere from 45 to 77 percent of the public thinks this ... or more). Moreover, two-thirds of us think the media then try to cover up the mistakes they have made.
* The media are biased (78 percent according to one survey, 64 percent according to another, 59 percent according to a third ... in any case, a majority), and that bias is a major problem (58 percent).
* News organizations are not moral (61 percent), nor are they highly professional in what they do (51 percent).

As the Project for Excellence in Journalism report puts it:"People are not dismayed by disappointments in the press. They expect them."

Such attitudes have implications not just for journalists but for all of us. For example, they are reflected in skepticism about the freedoms afforded by the First Amendment, particularly freedom of the press.