Ethics 101

It appears that journalists are not as unethical as most people perceive them to be. According to a Gallup poll taken last November, only 21% of the public considers journalists to be ethical. This perception is contradicted by a new study just conducted which used the Defining Issues Test to rate the different professions on the ethical quality of their reasoning. It seems that journalists scored near the top, right behind seminarians/philosphers and med students and practicing physicians (that's reassuring). Not that this will alter the public's perception at all, but journalists can now point to an actual study when they say they're being maligned. No word on where lawyers or politicians scored. But junior high students scored the lowest, below prison inmates! To those of us who have taught at the junior high level, it tells us nothing new. But it's reassuring to know that somewhere between junior high and a professional career our youth are learning something about ethics.