Adapting Journalism Ethics to Contemporary Challenges

The evolution of journalism practice has accelerated the reorganization of self-regulation bodies, the renewal of ethical standards (Puertas (2) the interconnectedness between these transformations and shifts in professional identities; and (3) the similarities and differences among press councils in French-speaking Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec, and France. Our theoretical framework draws from journalism ethics, metajournalistic discourse and professional identities. Additionally, we incorporate a comparative dimension rooted in literature on journalistic cultures and media systems (Hallin Hanitzsch et al., 2019). We adopt the three-level ethical analysis (Cornu, 2009, pp.117-118) to articulate descriptive, normative and reflective ethics. This framework facilitates reflection on journalistic values as truth, balance, accuracy (Elliot, 2020), objectivity, immediacy and public service (Deuze, 2005). Ethical values and norms help journalists identify as members of a community (Hanitzsch Singer, 2015). Self-regulation shapes the professional identity of journalists (Ruellan, 2011, p. 25) and serves not only to set boundaries (Carlson, 2016; Singer, 2015) but also as a mechanism for the profession to defend itself against criticism (Deuze, 2005). Our research, mixing abductive and inductive methods (Reichertz, 2013), involves: (1) thematic analysis of ethical norms within each press council; (2) an analysis of the structures of each council; (3) semi-structured interviews with members of self-regulation bodies members. We conduct these phases biennially to track changes. The literature in Journalism Studies explores individual journalist ethics, future challenges for media councils (Harder, 2021) and ethical codes (Lauk, 2021). Our study aims to bridge all these dimensions by analyzing the evolutions of journalism ethics and professional identities within the perspective of press councils. Additionally, we adopt a comparative approach, conducting an in-depth analysis of press councils in four French-speaking countries. Our data collection has concluded. We have analyzed one-third of our text sample and initiated the first wave of semi-structured interviews with press council members. Initial findings suggest that press councils are broadening ethical standards to encompass social media, indicating a shift in journalistic identity towards prioritizing communicative intent over formal professional status (Rotili, 2022). Norms about scientific journalism in France and media coverage of violence against women in French-speaking Belgium illustrate an expansion of social responsibility boundaries for journalists, echoing Singer's (2015) argument regarding the adaptation of journalistic values to digitalization.