Stephen J. Adler
Director, Ethics and Journalism Initiative
Stephen J. Adler has led national and global newsrooms for more than two decades, most recently as editor-in-chief of Reuters.
A global advocate for free speech and journalism ethics, Adler is board chair of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and a board member and immediate past chair at the Columbia Journalism Review. He is on the advisory council of Physicians for Human Rights.
Was It Unethical Not to Cover Biden’s Apparent Decline?
Story selection isn’t covered prominently in most newsroom ethics codes, but what we do or don’t choose to publish is a matter of journalistic ethics as much as anything else. With the publication of Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, we are re-posting Director Stephen J. Adler’s 2024 article on the ethical implications of the media’s failure to cover Biden’s decline when it first became apparent. Beyond criticizing the press, Adler provides useful guidelines for journalists going forward.
Letter from the Director, Stephen J. Adler
June 13, 2024 Welcome to ethicsandjournalism.org, the website of NYU’s new Ethics & Journalism Initiative. Here you’ll find newsroom ethics codes, AI guidelines, a compendium of best practices, topical discussions, and the most useful ethics articles and papers that we can produce or collect. The goal is to help journalists, whether experienced or just starting […]