According to a story written by Associated Press reporter, journalists are more ethical than the average person. "Recent research by Wilkins and Renita Coleman of Louisiana State University may provide some vindication for members of a profession that’s taken a beating in recent years with high-profile blunders," writes reporter Matt Sedensky.
Researchers surveyed 30,000 people, representing a variety of professions. The data showed "journalists are significantly more ethical than the average adult, eclipsed only by seminarians, doctors and medical students," writes Sedensky. The study also showed no difference between print or broadcast reporters, men and women, or between managers and the rank and file, he writes. The findings conflict with public perception of journalists.
"A Gallup poll of 1,015 people taken in November showed that only 23 percent of the public rated the ethical standards of TV reporters as high or very high," writes Sedensky. "For newspaper reporters, it was 21 percent."
