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Ethics for Editors: How to Manage and Advise on Ethical Issues

$50.00

Ethics for Editors: How to Manage and Advise on Ethical Issues

This 90-minute, self-directed course will give you an elevated view of the ethics involved in editing, from providing managerial guidance for writers to spotting and solving sticky situations in communications. This course was updated in November 2023. It can be taken independently or as part of the Poynter/ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing.

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Overview

  • This self-directed course will take about 90 minutes to complete.
  • Take this course independently or as part of the ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing.
  • Consider how to handle ethical dilemmas big and small.
  • Get access to a roundup of professional writing and publication ethical codes.
  • Learn to relate your own personal ethics through the lens of your employers’ standards.
  • Examine how communications organizations use internal tools to make ethical decisions.
  • Understand how conflicts of interest impact you, your reputation and your organization.
  • Walk through case studies from across industries.
  • Practice dealing with different dilemmas and how they could be addressed.

$50.00

SKU: POSDC05-23 Learning Path: Tags: , ,

Learning Outcomes

In this course you will:

  • Understand the editor’s role in spotting ethical dilemmas.
  • Develop skills to lead writers down ethical paths.
  • Gain comprehension around specific questions to ask about ethical quandaries.
  • Develop a checklist to ensure transparency.
  • Assess internal standards and reference materials to synthesize with your own values.

$50.00

Overview

  • This self-directed course will take about 90 minutes to complete.
  • Take this course independently or as part of the ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing.
  • Consider how to handle ethical dilemmas big and small.
  • Get access to a roundup of professional writing and publication ethical codes.
  • Learn to relate your own personal ethics through the lens of your employers’ standards.
  • Examine how communications organizations use internal tools to make ethical decisions.
  • Understand how conflicts of interest impact you, your reputation and your organization.
  • Walk through case studies from across industries.
  • Practice dealing with different dilemmas and how they could be addressed.

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In her long journalistic career covering everything from local news to the White House, POLITICO editor Anita Kumar has experienced and managed her fair share of ethical dilemmas. In this new course from Poynter, part of the ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing, Kumar and other communications professionals outline the important ethical decisions that editors are most likely to face and make.

Should journalists accept gifts? Should travel writers accept free lodging? Should you write a book about a company your brother works for?

In this one-hour, self-directed course, part of the ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing, you’ll get an elevated look at the thinking and processes that go into best practices around ethical decisions for published work. 

You’ll consider the tools already at your disposal internally, learn how to converse with writers and colleagues to establish rapport and an informal advice committee when you need it, plus get two hefty checklists to use regularly: questions to ask when faced with an ethical conundrum or issues of transparency.

Get great at understanding and doing ethics in this course.

General information

This is a self-directed course; you may work through it at your own pace. It should take about 1-2 hours to finish.

This course consists of a series of videos, text lessons, and pop-up activities that test your knowledge. Activities within the course have right and wrong answers, but these activities are for practice only and will not impact your completion of the course.

To complete each course, you must pass a test at the end that consists of 10 questions. You will have 20 minutes to complete each course test once they have begun. You must answer at least eight of the 10 questions correctly to gain a score of 80% or higher to pass the course and get credit toward the certificate.

You are allowed three attempts to pass the evaluation at the end of each course. 

If you are still unable to pass the evaluation with an 80% or better after three attempts, please contact our customer service department at info@poynter.org.

This course is part of the Poynter/ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing, though it can be taken on its own, independently of the certificate. The certificate consists of seven courses, seven end-of-course tests and an overall final assessment covering material from all seven courses.

To earn the Intermediate Certificate, you must pass a final assessment at the end of all seven courses. 

The certificate’s final assessment consists of 30 questions drawn from material throughout all seven courses. You will have one hour to complete this final certificate assessment and three chances to pass with an 80% or better.

If you are still unable to pass the final assessment with an 80% or better after three attempts, please contact our customer service department at info@poynter.org.

We recommend that before starting the Intermediate Certificate, you first complete the Poynter/ACEs Introductory Editing Certificate, though it is not a prerequisite.

Questions?

If you need assistance, email us at info@poynter.org.

Once you enroll in this online course, you can start any time and take the lessons on your own schedule.

The course outline is as follows:

Ethics tools for editors

  • Standards
  • Stylebooks
  • Industry groups
  • Your own expertise

Common ethical quandaries and how to handle them

  • Conflicts of Interest
  • Gifts, travel and lodging, and extracurriculars
  • Guidelines for making ethical decisions

Ongoing considerations

  • Language
  • Transparency
  • Bias
  • Social Media
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion
  • Relationship building

Who should enroll

This course is designed for editors — or anyone working with words for a living — to better understand the basics of professional communications ethics. It is perfect for people who manage and lead writers, but it was also built for students with a willingness to expand on their understanding of ethical situations across multiple industries.

There are no prerequisites for this course. We recommend, however, that if you are taking this course as part of the ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing, that you first complete the Poynter/ACES Introductory Certificate in Editing.

Instructors

  • Anita Kumar
    Anita Kumar serves as senior managing editor, standards, ethics and content of POLITICO
    Anita Kumar serves as senior managing editor, standards, ethics and content of POLITICO, working across the newsroom to produce ambitious journalism from inception to publication...
    Read More

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