(Credit: Reuters Institute, screenshot)

Oxford University’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism announced a call for papers from “Faculty, doctoral students and practitioners” for its September 2012 conference “Journalism Ethics: Individual, Institutional, or Cultural?”

The conference is for “media regulators, ombudsmen, practitioners, scholars,” according to the institute’s director of research Robert G. Picard.  According to Picard, “300-500 word abstracts outlining the topic, approach and theoretical bases should be submitted by April 1, 2012.”  The institute will let applicants know by April 15 if their paper has been selected.

Papers should focus on one of the following topics:

• “How do ethics and journalistic standards differ?
• “Do journalistic practices promote ethics?
• “Can you be a professional journalist without ethics?
• “Does regulation reduce ethical thinking and behaviour?
• “Do press councils and complaint commissions promote ethics or compliance?
• “Do ombudsmen and reader’s representative promote ethics or protect news organisations?
• “Is ethical thinking related to journalist’s unions or independent societies of journalists?
• ” Can news organisations be ethical or only journalists?
• ” Can ethical decision-making practices be integrated in news organizations?
• “Are journalism ethics universal or influenced by national cultures?
• ” Have historical journalism developments influenced journalism ethics?
• “Can ethical practices reduce press freedom?
• “Do ethical practices reduce public oversight of society?”

Paper abstracts should be e-mailed to the institute’s Robert Picard.