Lesson Plan
Journalists Code of Ethics
Students evaluate three recent news stories for adherence to the standards expected of journalists in their daily work.
Get even more great free content!
This content contains copyrighted material that requires a free NewseumED account.
Registration is fast, easy, and comes with 100% free access to our vast collection of videos, artifacts, interactive content, and more.
Sign Up
?
NewseumED is provided as a free educational resource and contains copyrighted material. Registration is required for full access. Signing up is simple and free.
With a free NewseumED account, you can:
- Watch timely and informative videos
- Access expertly crafted lesson plans
- Download an array of classroom resources
- and much more!
Duration
30-60 minutes
Topic(s)
- Current Events
- Journalism
Grade(s)
- 6-12
- Individually, or as a class, read the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.
- Have each student pick three recent stories with photographs from newspapers, magazines or online news sites. (If the assignment is done outside of class, students could include television news.)
- Read and analyze each story for whether it complies with ethical standards in the SPJ Code of Ethics.
- Write a paragraph about each story explaining how it shows standards being implemented or shows a lack of standards. Be specific. Make sure to attach the news stories or story sources to the evaluations.
- Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics (download), one per student
- Newspapers, magazines or online access to news websites
Have students share their findings and look for similarities. Then ask:
- Did most stories and photographs follow the code of ethics?
- Was it difficult to find examples that violated the standards?
- Which standards, if any, were violated most often? Why do you think that is?
- Why is it important for journalists to maintain standards?
-
Common Core State Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6
Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. -
Common Core State Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.9
Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
-
National Council of Teachers of English: NCTE.12
Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
