Sun joins project to study journalism ethics

Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2002 | 10:55 a.m.

The Las Vegas Sun on Tuesday announced a partnership with the American Society of Newspaper Editors to examine ways to incorporate ethical considerations at all stages of newsroom decision-making.

William F. Woo, former editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and now a journalism professor at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, is leading the project.

He said the partnership hopes to create a model for ethical decision-making in the newspaper industry.

"No one has ever done anything like this, as far as I know," said Woo, a nationally recognized writer and speaker. "This is to see if this idea can work."

The program, which will run through 2003, will explore a number of issues facing the media and will concentrate on three key aspects of journalism -- accuracy, fairness and source-reporter relationships. It will culminate with a report issued to ASNE in 2004. Woo said the project's findings could then be taken and used at other newspapers.

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