Ethics of journalists in the opinion of students of journalism and social communication at the University of Rzeszów

Abstract

Journalism, as a form of public service, requires for the journalists to be guided by specific rules of professional ethics. The quality of journalistic messages depends on it, and thus also the way in which the recipients of these messages learn about reality. The aim of the research presented in the article was to find out the opinions of journalism students on how they perceive journalists in terms of the ethical principles they apply in their work. The research covered students of journalism and social communication at the University of Rzeszów. The results of the research shows that this assessment is relatively critical - journalists are perceived as occasionally breaking certain standards and guided by both the social interest and the pragmatical development of their own careers.