Lesson Plan

Journalism Ethics

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet

As a journalist, would you publish everything you heard or saw? Discuss the ethics of journalism with a lesson from PBS. Young reporters imagine themselves to be the editor of their school's newspaper, and as they read five scenarios, they decide which stories they feel ethical about publishing.

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CCSS: Designed
Instructional Ideas
  • Create a poster-sized copy of the list of rules and ethics, and laminate it to hang in a journalism class
  • Encourage learners to come up with their own scenarios that question what an ethical journalist would do in that position
  • Split the class into five groups, and give one scenario to each group for a short discussion, in order to explain to the larger class

 

Classroom Considerations
  • Lesson page does not have much support for the procedures; most of the activity is on the enclosed worksheet
  • The third in a series of 10 media literacy lessons
Pros
  • Encourages thought-provoking discussion and group work
  • Great for journalism class or any philosophy or social studies class
  • Comes with the scenarios on a separate worksheet
Cons
  • None