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In a time of falling trust in the news media, it is vital journalists do not engage in news-gathering methods that further harm their credibility. Thanks to the rise of social media, misinformation and disinformation are rampant. Trust in news matters, so we can tell fact from fiction. Without it, democracy suffers.
We offer a six-point checklist for journalists (and the audience) to test if deception and betrayal are warranted.
In our new book, “Undercover Reporting, Deception and Betrayal in Journalism,” we ask whether deception is ever an acceptable method for journalists to use. In other words, is it ever okay to lie to a target to get a story?
We find it can be ethically justifiable under very specific conditions. We offer a six-point checklist for journalists (and the audience) to test if deception and betrayal are warranted.
Deception is one of the most common ethical problems in journalism. It ranges in seriousness from misrepresentation to the use of undercover reporting.
In fact, it is so common that some argue it is inherent in what journalists do. The late American writer and journalist Janet Malcolm, for instance, in her renowned book “The Journalist and the Murderer,” said in her opening paragraph:
Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself [sic] to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a kind of confidence man, preyi ..
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