5 ways to Identify Ethics in Media and Your Good SENSE

In preparation for my PRSA NCC webinar last week, with colleague and friend, Martin Waxman, I wanted to create a simple Infographic for participants to evaluate their Ethics in media and Good Judgment. As you read this article, ask yourself, "Is my Good SENSE always present in my media interactions?"

Here's why ... Today, the best intentioned professionals stay true to their values, and use these values as a guide to decision-making, communications, and their related conduct. However, when challenged with an ever-changing media landscape, the fast-paced nature of social media, advancing technology, including marketing automation and artificial intelligence, your Ethics, values and Good SENSE are constantly tested. You’re challenged each time you decide to engage with the media, and when you want to share news and information with your network, whether for personal or professional use.

The Good SENSE Infographic illustrates five ways your can test your Ethics and Good judgment. Each simple step helps you to apply your Good SENSE with the media and social media posts through any channel or community.?

Good SENSE stands for:?

S - Be aware of Sensational news and information.

E - Evaluate headlines, journalists, and experts more closely.

N - Determine whether the Numbers are?accurate, specific and not the "outliers."

S - Research the Source or the URL further, and don’t take anything for face value.

E - Always Engage with more questions to understand and to challenge all sides of what is reported.

Each part of the Infographic requires you to dig deeper, to question and think carefully, and to be more proactive prior to sharing. Sinan Aral, the author of The Hype Machine, mentioned and questioned whether people are biased because of what they're choosing to share, or they’re just lazy when it comes to verifying news and information before they share. Either way, evaluating your Good SENSE is important for the sharing process.

Let's breakdown Good SENSE a little more:

Spotting Sensational means ...?Being aware of what defines a sensational news story, whether you are writing them or using them as a part of your communications outreach. Always investigate the coverage further to make sure whatever is being reported is corroborated by different reputable sources. Sensational news is not written objectively, and is filled with bias, opinion, exaggeration and manipulated facts.

Taking time to Evaluate means …?Recognizing the amount of “fake news” that surrounds you in your echo chambers. It’s time to take?a closer look at the journalist or the writer of an article. Does this person have editorial credentials. Distinguish the difference between news reporter and opinion writer. As for an article's headline, make sure the headline matches the story, otherwise you might have a clickbait situation. In addition, evaluating the experts cited requires names, credentials, studies, and affiliations included in the article and linked over these additional resources.?

Looking at the Numbers means ...?The numbers and the statistics matter. Are they specific or vague? Do they come from scientific studies and from reputable institutions? The data is only as good as the source of the research. Do the numbers appear accurate or are they outliers? If a statistic is far off base, and stands out on its own (outside of a normal range of statistics), it could be an outlier and needs further research and verification.

Uncovering the Source means … You should dig deeper into?the source of the news you are sharing. Did you check the URL? There are authentic news sites and then there are fake news. For example, abcnews.com.co is not an actual ABC News website. An authentic ABC news URL is https://abcnews.go.com/.?For a growing list of fake news sites you can go here. Also, the Berkeley Library, at the University of California has a website dedicated to learning about Real News, Fake News, and Fact Checkers, so you can check the authenticity of the news before you share.?

When you Engage in conversations about the media this means …?You should engage by asking more questions and moving beyond the "tip of the nose perspective" as mentioned in Superforecasting by Dan Gardner and Philip Tetlock. Getting to the heart of news and what’s real (even if you don’t like what you’re seeing or hearing) is to ask more questions and to dig more deeply. When you do, you’re more likely to get to the good judgment and good SENSE, so you can properly share news and information.

There is a lot of talk about Ethics and the media, and how your good judgment or Good SENSE will guide you. How are you using your Good SENSE to help with your research, writing, interviewing, reporting and sharing news with your network?

If you want to learn more about ethics in media, then feel free to check out my new book, Answers for Ethical Marketers here.