Turkish journalists are invited to participate in a six-week online course, entitled “Introduction to Ethics of Digital Journalism.” Deadline to apply is September 24.

The course, which will run from October 1 to November 12 in Turkish, will discuss the ethical challenges digital journalists face, and provide guidelines and ethical decision-making models to help media practitioners make sense of this new universe of information.

During the six weeks, the participants will take a closer look at the many advantages of digital journalism.

Among the questions the course will tackle are:

• Do our readers on the web deserve the same standards of accuracy and fact-based reporting as print readers?
• Or does online journalism require different standards?
• Breaking news is delivered to global audiences faster than ever, but how often are we getting it right?
• What happens to accuracy, verification and attribution when speed and competition become determining factors?

Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:

• Blog using journalistic standards
• Report a fast-breaking story accurately in real time
• Edit digital photos and video without manipulating facts
• Understand the editorial ethics of social networks
• Use crowd-sourcing as a reporting tool
• Use online search techniques for investigative reporting
• Develop policies and ethics codes for the digital age

The curriculum of the course is written by Sherry Ricchiardi, an award-winning senior writer for American Journalism Review, specializing in international issues, and a professor at the Indiana University School of Journalism. Media ethics, investigative reporting, journalism and trauma issues are among her specialties.

She has worked as a media trainer around the world, including in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Yemen, Indonesia and Colombia. Her assignments for AJR have taken her to the Balkans, West Africa, Central Asia and the Philippines.

Following the course, ICFJ will bring together in Istanbul 18 of the best participants for a three-day workshop. Criteria will be active participation in the online courses and discussion forums, quality of assignments, and written support from participants’ editors to ensure that the knowledge and codes developed during the workshop will be carried over into the newsroom.

At the workshop, the group will work together to further develop ethics codes for their news organizations and a broader one for all of Turkish media. Two trainers, one international and one a prominent Turkish journalist, will lead the workshop, so that the training offers both a Turkish and global perspective.

By building on the work begun in the online courses, the workshop will help cement that learning and achieve development of detailed codes of ethics. ICFJ’s partner, Media Dernegi, will continue to promote the codes – as well as their further development – for the industry.

To apply, click here.

For more information, please contact the project’s local director, Baris Soydan, at [email protected].