ETHICAL ORIENTATION AND PROFESSIONAL DILEMMAS: ATTITUDES OF JOURNALISM STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Abstract

A survey among 243 undergraduate and graduate journalism students at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia, was conducted to gain insight into their stances on the most important ethical problems in contemporary journalism, their ethical orientation and reasonings on the use of controversial methods in reporting. The research was set to explore the potential differences among students of different levels of study and working experience as well as between journalism students and journalists (comparison with the results of the “Worlds of Journalism Study” for Croatia). The results show no significant differences between undergraduate and graduate students nor between those with and without experience in the media regarding their stances towards the use of controversial methods in reporting, but differences were found between journalism students and journalists regarding their ethical orientation. Journalism students find identity disclosure and sensationalism to be the most severe ethical issues of contemporary journalism.