Journalism Ethics Profs Question Paper�s Actions

If reporters are going to use unorthodox and possibly illegal methods
to gain information, they should have a very compelling reason to do
so, journalism ethics experts said today.

Media experts are now
examining the actions of five Intelligencer Journal reporters who
repeatedly accessed a restricted law enforcement Web site for
information about criminal investigations.

“I believe in
rigorous watchdog journalism, in which journalists hold government
officials accountable,” said Bob Steele, an ethics expert with the
Poynter Institute, a Florida school for journalists. “That includes
aggressively and ethically seeking information that may not be easily
obtainable.

“But if we use methods that take us into secure
offices, files, computers, Web sites, the threshold for justification
is very high,” he said.
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