SPJ campaign promotes ethics in journalism

By Taylor M. Smith IV

The mug shots stare out from the "Wall of Shame" posters along the Coliseum halls: Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, Jack Kelley. They are among the most infamous names in recent journalism - plagiarists, fabricators and fakers.

They and 14 other sometimes lesser-known names, along with the dates and details of their transgressions, warn curious students: "Don't be the next."

The journalism school's chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists produced the posters and related fliers to drive home the point that in this fishbowl world of the Internet, bloggers and instant news, ethics is paramount and a career-ending lie is likey to be found out.

The SPJ board responded to a challenge by Patricia McNeely, head of the print and broadcast journalism sequence, who approached Dr. Shirley Staples Carter, the school's director, about creating a school-endorsed campaign on ethics. The result was SPJ's spring project to remind and educate students about the importance of ethics in their professional careers and everyday lives.

The ideas for the fliers and posters placed around the J-School and the campus came from an ethics committee of vice president-elect Brian Davis, Stephanie Warren, Drew Brooks and secretary-elect Kelly Cavanaugh. They worked with chapter adviser Ernest Wiggins and Garen Cansler, a visual arts specialist and graduate student in the school.

The committee's vision and Cansler's skill became several small fliers conveying the simple messages that spoke to students: "Plagiarism is cheating" and "cheating is lying."

But it was the large posters -- inspired by the work of the journalism watchdogs at regrettheerror.com and designed by Cansler -- describing the offenses of people like Blair, formerly of the New York Times, and Glass, formerly of the New Republic, that grabbed students' attention.

"I was given a chronological list of the offenses and the offenders. In order to show that these are real things that have happened to real people in real jobs, I put a face with the name. " Cansler said. "Unethical behavior is something that needs to be addressed before students enter the professional workplace."

The posters hang in the school's lobby and on two other halls.

"The fact that it is shown visually like that is great," said Carter. "It is a way to connect to students, making them stop and think, and that is what you want them to do."

Among those wowed by the Wall of Shame was a visitor from the Freedom Forum Newseum near Washington. "After seeing it, he thought it was so profound," Carter said.

Founded as Sigma Delta Chi in 1909, SPJ isn't straying far from its mission to keep the dialogue on ethics open to all issues related to journalism and journalism education. The bylaws of the national organization, one of the largest professional journalism organizations in the nation, include a code of ethics that must be sworn to by incoming members at chapters that conduct initiations.

With headline cases such as the collapses of Enron and MCI and the lobbyist scandal in Washington, ethics has become a concern across society, but it takes on more seriousness when journalists, the ones reporting on those ethical breaches. fabricate stories or commit sloppy reporting.

"When it happens to us, it has greater impact because of the trust factor, the credibility factor," Carter said.

McNeely said she thinks discussing ethics is even more important for current journalism students because they increasingly are using the Internet to gather information. "They think the information on the Internet is free and anyone can use it," she said.

With readily available information at the touch of a button, people can almost instantly become original authors. But journalists still work to a higher credibility standard because their work often remains as the public record -- an imprint in the public consciousness. With the ability to tap into a well of information and the stress and responsibility of timeliness in a 24-hours news cycle, McNeely said, it is quality of content that is taking a hit, and if students don't learn now to make ethical decisions, their careers may be in jeopardy.

"If we don't learn the definition of plagiarism now, then they may learn one day working in the media," McNeely said.

Along with the posters and fliers, SPJ has emphasized ethics in the profession with programming that included a January meeting on media mistakes and one in March on media diversity and the coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

"This campaign will be a significant way to ensure that tomorrow's journalists understand plagiarism and never make flagrant ethical violations," McNeely said.

Taylor M. Smith IV is a second year print journalism student from Walterboro, South Carolina. Recently elected president of the Society of Professional Journalists (term to begin Fall 2006), Taylor is also a former news editor of The Gamecock and current producer of WUSC News (90.5 FM).