EDUCATION OF JOURNALISM STUDENTS AND THEIR PERCEPTION OF JOURNALISTIC ETHICS

Abstract

One of the most important subjects in the education of journalists is Journalistic EtOne of the most important subjects in the education of journalists is Journalistic Ethics. Topics in this area have become especially important since the beginning of the 21st century, because with the development of new media technologies, there have been significant changes in journalism. All over the world, the focus has shifted from quality reporting to the fastest possible publication, sensationalism and earnings. Higher education institutions that educate journalists have an obligation to convey to students the importance of adhering to ethical postulates. The aim of this research is to determine the attitudes of third and fourth year journalism students of the Department of Communication and Journalism at the Faculty of Philosophy in Nis regarding journalistic ethics related to their perceptions of this phenomenon. In accordance with the set goal, a special instrument was constructed - a questionnaire based on the five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was distributed to students during March and April 2021, and was filled out by 42 respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive and comparative statistics and SPSS 25.0. The results of the research indicate that although the studies educate a high percentage of students who understand the importance of journalistic ethics, most respondents indicate the existence of objective circumstances in which they think they could not fully adhere to ethical principles.