Every journalist, regardless of their focus, must conduct their business in an ethical manner. In the newsrooms of today, with the presence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and the temptations it provides, one could argue a focus on ethics is even more important.
“Not only has technology continued to change, as with artificial intelligence and ever-expanding — and influential — social media, but attitudes have changed,” says ASBPE’s Ethics Committee Chair Art Aiello. “Trust in the media has eroded. Civil conversation has broken down. Add in the financial struggles that many media organizations are dealing with, and it can become tempting to cross lines that have historically been verboten.”
ASBPE is looking to grow the organization’s ethics programming with an eye for addressing challenges old and new, such as:
- Using AI in a manner that is both ethical and effective.
- Addressing the age-old separation of editorial and advertising at a time when media outlets of all stripes are struggling to keep the lights on.
- Ensuring the stories we publish are accurate and unbiased, given the epidemic of misinformation and the pressure to publish quickly across multiple media.
- How to ethically and effectively report on sensitive industry issues.
Aiello aims to build a dynamic and educational ethics committee that offers a variety of resources for B2B publishers and editors, including:
- An update to ASBPE’s official ethics guidelines, including the ethical use of AI in B2B newsrooms.
- Regular blog posts that highlight ethical issues and how journalists are addressing them.
- Case studies from ASBPE members about ethical conundrums and how they were addressed.
- Ethics “Water Cooler” discussions — 30 minutes over the lunch hour to discuss ethics-related articles or issues being addressed by journalists as a whole.
- An “Ask the Ethicist” email helpline for ASBPE members to ask about ethical concerns and get advice from the ethics committee on handling those concerns.
- B2B ethics webinars, hosted by ASBPE members, members of the ethics committee and/or outside experts to address ethical issues of interest to B2B publishers and editors.
If you are interested in joining the ethics committee, please reach out through our contact form. The ethics committee will begin meeting monthly starting in mid-April 2024 to work on its initiatives.