Jayson Blair Case Prompts New Look at Teaching Ethics

When Florida A&M University's new School of Journalism and Graphic Communication is completed, ethics will be in the curriculum. But where? (Art credit: Architect's rendering)

"Jayson knew the rules," wrote Thomas Kunkel, the dean of the University of Maryland School of Journalism, where disgraced New York Times reporter Jayson Blair was taught the craft.

Thomas Kunkel

"He knew the rules when he was here, too. Does that mean we did everything we could with Jayson when we had him? Of course not. That is probably true of every student here. But again, it must be said that no program in the country stresses professional ethics more than we do or takes a harder line on integrity."

In that May 12 letter "to our Journalism students, alumni and friends," Kunkel went on to list some ways the subject is taught in Maryland's curriculum:

"We deal with it extensively in J100, the orientation course. There are specific ethics modules in every section of J201 (beginning reporting), J202 (beginning editing) and J320 (advanced reporting). We now require of all our students a separate three-credit course, J300, on journalism ethics.

"And our standardized grading methods reflect industry standards. As you alumni will remember—perhaps with a shudder—any fact error (up to and including the misspelling of a proper name) triggers an automatic F for the assignment.

"And any confirmed case of plagiarism or fabrication triggers an automatic F for the course AND a recommendation by the dean to the Honor Council of expulsion for that student."

The Jayson Blair scandal is leading to a re-examination of how ethics is taught in college journalism programs, including at HBCUs. The American Society of Newspaper Editors is looking at how journalism schools deal with ethics education to see if there are gaps in the curricula, even though some say the problems of a Jayson Blair had nothing to do with what was or wasn't taught in ethics courses.

The re-examination comes just as several Florida A&M University professors in the journalism school have proposed to eliminate its separate ethics class, integrating ethics into another course.

James Hawkins, who teaches the media ethics course at FAMU, has opposed that idea.

"There are many issues of an ethical nature that journalism students should be aware of -- privacy, conflicts of interest, use of anonymous sources, misrepresentation, misinformation -- all of these are ethical issues," said Hawkins, also the journalism division chair at FAMU. "My personal opinion is that [intermingling the class with another one] would not be in the best interest of our students."

The proposal is still in the suggestion stage.

No one disputes that journalism ethics should be taught. Nearly everyone would agree with Teresa Styles, chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at North Carolina A & T State University in Greensboro, N.C., who says, "A journalistic ethic should be a foundation for journalism instruction in this day and age of plagiarism, fabricated sources and quotes."

The questions are how, when, and whether college is too late a time to try to teach fundamental issues of right and wrong that go beyond journalism.

"Sometimes I get students who have taken pictures they've found on computers from classes that were [given] a few years ago," said Terry Kennedy, the director of the graduate mass communication program at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La.

"Unfortunately, I've had too many experiences in my classes with various forms of academic dishonesty," adds Pearl Stewart, the director of career development services at FAMU, which is in Tallahassee, Fla. She said the acts range from plagiarism to "making up quotes and scenarios to cheating on tests. It happens every semester."

These students are easy enough to weed out. They get an automatic F, said Stewart. Then they "go away, because when I discuss it with them I bring the evidence with me. The solution is to make sure there are severe consequences."

Bruce dePyssler, a professor at North Carolina Central University and adviser of the Campus Echo, NCCU's campus publication, says that with plagiarism and cheating, "there are larger issues, starting with child rearing, and what happens in grade schools. One of the assumptions is that people don't have the information, but most people know what they're doing is wrong. It's not a matter of being provided with the information; it's having the foundation to say, 'I'm not going to do that.'

"You can do what you can" in the classrooms, he said.

Beyond the cheating, there are nuanced, professional issues, such as the use of anonymous sources, conflicts of interest and the like, that a journalism curriculum is expected to address. But when?

Naeemah Khabir, a senior journalism student at FAMU, says she thinks students should have classes dealing with ethics earlier.

"The media ethics class should be required of sophomores," said Khabir, 21, whose school gives the ethics class as a requirement for senior level journalism students. "It should tell you at the beginning that these are the rules and ethics that we live by, write by and report by."

DePyssler said while ethics is formally taught in classroom situations, the best way to learn what is right and wrong is to put the teachings to work in a real-life environment.

"If somebody does something screwball and everybody on the staff gangs up on them, that's a stronger learning experience," he said. "Having your peers and editor make a big deal out of what you've done, rather than hearing it in class and regurgitating it on the test. [Ethics is] definitely taught better in the practice."

Khabir urged that something positive come out of the hand-wringing over the recent journalism scandals.

"Classes at HBCUs should talk about it openly," she said. "Even if it has to be an all-school colloquium, it needs to be discussed. Stop trying to hide it under the table.

"Are you going to wait until one of your students goes out in the field?" she asked. "Jayson Blair could have gone to FAMU."

Marlon A. Walker is a student at Florida A&M University who writes for The Famuan.

Posted June 4, 2003