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The media is facing sharp criticism for it's coverage of "celebrity" instead of serious issues, and newspapers are losing readers and revenue to internet news sites. Some journalists say the solution is a stronger commitment to ethics.

Dr. Stephen Ward, professor of Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, knows the public is cynical about the media, but he believes that journalists have a higher calling: to promote the good of humanity.  In order to do that, Ward says the profession needs to create a updated code of ethics—one that recognizes that what journalists write at home will not only impact their fellow citizens, but people all over the world.

“Unless reported properly, North American readers may fail to understand the causes of violence around the world, biased reports may insight ethnic groups to attack each other, in times of insecurity a narrow-minded patriotic news media can amplify the view of leaders who stampede populations into war and the removal of civil rights. It is not a violation in my view of any reasonable form of patriotism to hold one’s country of higher standards.”

Ward spoke over the weekend at Quinnipiac University in Hamden.  He also told the students that the cold war between bloggers and mainstream journalists is a waste of time:

“Right now we go to conferences where the two square off and accuse each other of not being real journalists when in fact it’s a false debate. The real debate is are we abiding by standards of good journalism in any format, and what are the new and inventive ways we can use the new media to tell those stories.”

He says the challenge is to develop a system of ethics that will apply to a variety of cultures and media types.  Ward plans to create a global center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.