Black, Steele and Barney, "Journalistic Decision-making Guidelines"
Notable for trying to involve people of diverse perspectives in the decision-making process
SOURCE FOR THE PROCEDURE
Black, Jay, Bob Steele and Ralph Barney. "Making Ethical Decisions." Doing Ethics in Journalism: A Handbook with Case Studies. 3rd edition. New York: Allyn and Bacon, 1999: 51-63.
National Public Radio used an earlier version of these questions in a 1995 episode of "Independence and Integrity";
see
http://www.npr.org/hotnews/ethics2.htm.
THE PROCEDURE ITSELF
- What do I know? What do I need to know?
- What is my journalistic purpose?
- What are my ethical concerns?
- What organizational policies and professional guidelines should I consider?
- How can I include other people, with different perspectives and diverse ideas, in the decision making process?
- Who are the stakeholders?
- What are their motivations?
- Which are legitimate?
- What if the roles were reversed? How would I feel if I were in the shoes of one of the stakeholders?
- What are the possible consequences of my actions?
- Short term?
- Long term?
- What are my alternatives to maximize my truth-telling responsibility and minimize harm?
- Can I clearly and fully justify my thinking and my decision?
- To the stakeholders?
- To the public?
WALT'S CHECKLIST
The same checklist was applied to all procedures.
- This method is most useful when the DECISION-MAKER ...
- has easy access to advisors, consultants or role-players [stesp 5 and 10a]
- has keen insight into human motivation [step 6a]
- has plenty of time for investigation and analysis
- is skilled in causal or consequential reasoning [step 8]
- This method is most useful in a SITUATION ...
- that will change little over time
- where the decision-maker is also a stakeholder
- This method is most useful when STAKEHOLDERS ...
- share ethical codes or policies [step 4]
- share ethical principles [step 9]
