Ethical Standards of French and U.S. Newspaper Journalists

This study compares findings from the author's survey of 310 French newspaper journalists in France with a simultaneous survey done in the United States. In both studies, journalists replied to the same battery of questions about ethical standards in reporting. Results provide evidence of shared values among French journalists and, to a much lesser extent, between French and U.S. journalists. The highest agreement was found in support of keeping a promise of source confidentiality. French results further indicated support for the notion that journalists differentiate between the justification of active and passive deception. The study calls for polling of nonjournalists in similar future studies to aid in sorting out cultural from occupational differences and similarities.