Abstract

This chapter explores whether journalists across the globe share any universal ethical values by drawing on existing theoretical and empirical discussions on journalistic ethical values. We outline key discussions in scholarship on universal journalism ethics, critical debates that have expressed skepticism and questioned the desirability of a universal framework, and empirical studies on ethics across journalism cultures. Using data from the Worlds of Journalism Study, a global survey of more than 25,000 journalists from 67 countries, this chapter explores journalists’ ethical orientations and their responses to various ethical problems, drawing on Forsyth’s work on moral ideologies. The chapter highlights differences and similarities across countries when it comes to journalists’ ethical orientations and justifications of certain controversial news-gathering practices, and argues that although there is some consensus on universal ethical principles, there is also considerable variation across socio-geographical regions, indicating hybrid journalism cultures. We conclude that although some universal ethical norms and practices are valued by journalists globally, to a larger extent, these are shaped by local conditions.