Digest | Week of July 7, 2025 - Ethics and Journalism

An Elderly Lawmaker’s Staff Keeps Walking Back Things She Tells Reporters. Should They Keep Quoting Her?

July 7, 2025 | Michael Schaffer | POLITICO

As media continues to reckon with questions over coverage of Joe Biden's decline, POLITICO's Michael Schaffer discusses the ethics of story selection in "the age of gerontocracy."

Thousands saw a story that two girls were rescued from a tree in the Texas flood. It was fake.

July 7, 2025 | Loreben Tuquero and Angela Fu | Poynter

What one viral story can teach us about the importance of thorough and ethical sourcing, particularly in real-time climate reporting.

Times Mamdani Article Using Hacked Documents from White Supremacist Draws Outcry

July 5, 2025 | Liam Scott | Columbia Journalism Review

Liam Scott's deep dive into the recent controversy over The New York Times's reporting on mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, including its treatment of hacked documents, offers perspectives from the Times, Mamdani, and ethics experts on the newsroom's decision-making.

Law360 mandates reporters use AI “bias” detection on all stories

July 1, 2025 | Andrew Deck | Nieman Lab

The decision to make use of the AI "bias indicator" mandatory in a range of use cases including "headline drafting, story tagging, and 'article refinement and editing,'" comes after an executive at Law360’s parent company accused criticized its coverage of the Trump administration. Editorial staffers are pushing back.