By Pamela K. Luecke
Reynolds Professor of Business Journalism, Washington and Lee University
We teach aspiring journalists how to report and to write, but do we teach them how to be honest? If not, should we? Can we?
Such questions haunt journalism educators in the wake of the Jayson Blair scandal. Just as most working journalists can recall a former colleague or two who cut corners, most journalism professors can think of a former student or two whose quotes seemed too perfect.
|
JOURNALISM WITHOUT SCANDAL |
|
|
In hindsight, we wonder, should we have tried harder to ferret out fabricators? As this year's students settle in, we wonder, is there one more thing we can tell them before they graduate to guarantee that they'll have moral rudders?
Some teachers dismiss such ruminations as fruitless. If students arrive at college without knowing right from wrong, they figure, there's not much we can do.
I disagree.
College students are at a highly impressionable age and their professors are, occasionally, among those who can make an impression. While students might arrive on campus with wildly different views of the world and morality, each still has the capacity to learn and to grow. We've all seen it happen; for many of us, that's why we teach.
What's more, knowing right from wrong in our profession is becoming trickier. (If you don't believe me, try getting your department to agree on a definition of plagiarism.) Journalism educators should initiate conversations about these tricky topics and help students grapple with increasingly murky concepts such as authorship, sourcing, and intellectual property.
I'm not talking about requiring an ethics course for all journalism majors, although I think that's a good idea. I'm talking about weaving discussions about professional standards and behavior into every journalism class we teach; stressing fundamentals until they become second nature; setting high expectations and holding students accountable.
In addition, journalism professors can:
- Make sure the entire journalism department is reflecting on the lessons from Jayson Blair. At your next meeting, talk to your colleagues about your curriculum. Are students receiving consistent messages about sourcing, attribution, and plagiarism? Are there standards not addressed in your curriculum that should be?
- Extend the conversation about honesty and integrity to colleagues in other departments. Journalism isn't the only field grappling with professional scandals. You'll probably find similar soul-searching in the accounting, business, and history departments, to name a few. This is an opportunity to work across silos and spark a university-wide discussion.
- Ask your alumni what journalism students should be taught about integrity and honesty. Better yet, invite alums to campus and let them tell the students themselves. Students need to hear from potential employers that most plagiarists and fabricators will be drummed from the business and find it difficult to work anywhere else again.
Lessons about right and wrong might not "take" with every student in every class, but that's nothing new for a teacher. And it's certainly not a reason not to try.
