Journalism and ethical praxis: a thematic analysis of journalism ethics across five European countries

The importance of high-quality, ethically sound journalism in sustaining a healthy democratic and deliberative public sphere is well established. However, recent trends suggest a lack of public trust in journalism (Fink 2019. “The Biggest Challenge Facing Journalism: A Lack of Trust.” Journalism; OECD 2024. Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions—2024 Results) coupled with a range of online challenges to ethically sourced news warrant a closer look at the role that journalism ethics play in the working lives of journalists. This paper provides a thematic analysis of twenty-seven interviews with journalists in five European countries ranked consistently at the top of media freedom rankings, to explore the role of ethical frameworks and codes in their day-to-day practice. Overall, though ethical frameworks appear to play a role in the background in terms of shaping ethical behaviour, our interviewees signal that they are highly valued in terms of guiding their decisions and enhancing their brand. However, our research also highlights that there is concern about the wider communication environment and declining public trust. We suggest that this is a problem that journalism ethics bodies should address urgently given the widespread penetration of disinformation and misinformation within the news ecology and the concomitant erosion of public faith in mainstream news. The paper concludes by suggesting ways that this might be achieved.