Ethical Journalism

Ethical Journalism is a fundamental journalistic principle, and is defined in the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists as: (Always) seeking truth and reporting it, minimizing harm, acting independently, and being accountable and transparent. This article concerns the current practical application of ethical-journalism. For information concerning the history and theory of the topic, please see: Journalism ethics and standards.
Current ethical standards of journalism challenged
Recently some have questioned the "survivability" of ethical-journalism within America. On Nov. 2, 2016, in an article titled, "Requiem for Responsible Journalism," the Washington Times offered the opinion that "the media (no longer) preserves the distinction between fact and fiction." On Feb. 16, 2017 US president Donald Trump asserted that the news media was no longer practicing ethical-journalism, claiming that instead, by what he perceived to be the news media's unfairly biased reports against him, the news media has now made itself the "enemy of the American people."
In Mr. Trump's assertion that the news media has become the "enemy of America," he singled out the New York Times, CNN and NBC, exclaiming that these news organizations had become "SICK!"
Current news media practices and status
According to the New York Times' '"Handbook of Ethics," "Our (the New York Times') greatest strength is the authority and reputation of The Times. We must do nothing that would undermine or dilute it and everything possible to enhance it.” In pursuit of the maintenance of its own ethical journalistic standards, The New York Times sometimes runs news stories such as, "How Fake News Goes Viral: A Case Study." In response to Mr. Trump's assertion that the "sick" (unethical) behavior of the New York Times has now caused it to be "failing," in recent interviews on CNBC, New York Times CEO Mark Thompson has pointed out that to the contrary, the reporting of the recent year's election cycle has caused the paper's subscribership to jump to an all time record of 3 million and that the paper remains profitable, despite its recent transitions into the world of digital publishing.
Historical views
In a recent interview with former US president George W. Bush, the former president said, "Power can be very addictive. And it can be corrosive. And it's important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power.” American founding father, Thomas Jefferson, when speaking of his preference for either an imperfect news media, or an imperfect government, once stated: "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

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