Can a television show teach students ethics of journalism? Laveda J. Peterlin of the University of Saint Mary Leavenworth and Jonathan Peters of the University of Georgia, examined the “The Newsroom” as a way to introduce ethical concepts in teaching.

The authors analysed 10 episodes of the series and detected parts where basic principles of journalism ethics were dealt with.

A course using the the show should implement a discussion prior to viewing, introduce the concepts in the episode, give sufficient time for viewing the episode, followed by class time to discuss the episode, the authors list.

“The show’s close marriage of reality and fiction makes it effective for teaching journalism ethics”, Peterlin and Peters conclude. Although not every show could fit the purposes of teaching, “The Newsroom”, due to its accuracy and well-written narrative, would work well.

The article “Teaching Journalism Ethics Through “The Newsroom”” was published in Journalism & Mass Communication Educator and is available on the publisher’s website (free abstract).

Picture: untitled by Pawel Kadysz, license CC0 1.0