July 24, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — "There is a history of deception in the American news media, including prominent examples of reporters fabricating articles, stealing information, shilling for political and corporate interests, and impersonating everyone from police officers to mental patients," writes the Chicago News Cooperative's James Warren. In his column, which is published in today's New York Times, Warren notes, "For sure, deception can be justified if an overriding public interest is served and the deceit is the sole means to discern wrongdoing, said Robert Steele, a journalism ethics expert at DePauw University and the Poynter Institute who is consulting with National Public Radio as it re-examines its ethical standards in light of the recent, politically charged brouhahas there."
The backdrop for Warren's piece is the Chicago TimeLine Theatre's recent revival of The Front Page, a 1928 play that examines the sometimes-shady journalistic practices of that era.
Read the essay -- "Hildy Johnon Would Have Happily Hacked" -- at the Times' website.
Bob Steele , a 1969 graduate of DePauw, is Phyllis W. Nicholas Director of the University's Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics and Distinguished Professor of Journalism Ethics. One of America's leading experts on media ethics, he was cited in this recent story.