The journalism world is often under heavy pressure from the public and media critics who say the industry should have higher ethical standards. The University’s School of Journalism and Communication is trying to change that perception.
With an endowment from Ancil Payne, the former president of King Broadcasting Co., the journalism school has sought to track down and commend those who are committed to the values of good journalism. The Payne Awards for Ethics in Journalism are intended to highlight the courageous efforts of journalists in hopes of encouraging better practices throughout the industry, journalism school Dean Tim Gleason said.
The first recipients of the annual Payne Awards — the Los Angeles Times news staff, The Union Democrat of Sonora, Calif., and two newspaper editors from Western Washington University — were honored at a banquet Wednesday during the annual Ruhl Symposium. The journalism school also presented Payne with an award for his commitment to ethics.
“I just don’t think that journalism ethics is an oxymoron,” said Payne, a native Oregonian who received a Pioneer Award from the University.
Gleason said the awards are given to those who go beyond the normal practices of journalism and treat ethics seriously.
“This award is to be given to journalists who make the right decision when its the right thing to do,” Gleason said.
Last September, the L.A. Times was involved in a controversial deal with the Staples Center, the city’s new sports arena. An agreement between the Times and Staples to split the profits of the newspaper’s Sunday magazine, which was devoted to the opening of the arena, sparked several petitions by more than 300 members of the newspaper’s staff.
The Times’ city editor, Bill Boyarsky, said he is really proud of his team.
“The staff made quite an unprecedented stand against [the Staples Center deal],” Boyarsky said. “Our journalists really believe in ethics. When I get back, I have to put out a big note because this is a big thing. It’s very moving.”
The Union Democrat, a daily circulated paper of 12,000 in Tuolumne County, Calif., followed its ethics policy closely by not using anonymous sources during the search for suspects in the Yosemite National Park murder case in February 1999. Without clear attribution, the newspaper, published by Geoff White, refused to print suspect names; many larger news organizations reported the names of the suspects.
In the end, The Union Democrat and Managing Editor Patty Fuller were able to report the identity of the real killer with solid confirmation.
“This is the biggest honor this paper’s ever seen,” Fuller said after receiving the Payne award.
The editor of Western Washington University’s The Western Front, Erin Becker, and Managing Editor Corey Lewis were subpoenaed by the police after receiving a video tape of the Animal Liberation Front vandalizing the psychology department at the Bellingham, Wash., campus. The students ultimately turned over the tape after losing their case in the Washington Superior Court.
“I now have a clear idea of what journalism ethics are and a clear sense of the importance of ethics,” Lewis said.
The Payne awards will be given annually to individual professional and student journalists in broadcasting, print or new media publishing. An award will also be given to a news organization that exhibits high ethical standards, Gleason said.
“It’s very impressive that [the journalism school] reaches out so far from Washington and down to California,” Boyarsky said. “This is a great award.”