UCO Media Ethics Conference
OCT 12-13, 2011

ETHICS 2011 was a breakthrough conference at UCO. The discussion of ethics, as it relates to our jobs as journalists, PR professionals and mass communications specialists is as important today as it ever was.

The focus on breaking news and how we respond is a critical one.

We began planning the conference about the same time as the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and the early, unconfirmed and inaccurate reports of her death. One reporter from the Associated Press, Dave Espo, decided not to report that piece of information because it was not rock-solid.

It's that kind of ethical decision-making under fire that was discussed during the conference. It happens every day, whether we are journalists or PR professionals.

Thanks to the University of Central Oklahoma, The Oklahoman, the Ethics and Excellence Foundation, the Mid-America Press Institute and the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation for their support of this conference.