In today's world, ethical issues flood the airwaves and fill the news pages. But what about moral principles within the media itself?

Journalism students from local colleges attended a "Ethics and News Leadership in the Media" forum, held Oct. 30 at the Worrell Professional Center.

Over 30 people attended the day-long forum, including participants from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Winston-Salem State University, Salem College, High Point University and Wake Forest University.

Reid Ashe, president and Chief Operating Officer of Media General Inc., a news outlet that supplies daily newspapers, television stations, and online services was the keynote speaker.

Ashe was chosen to speak because of his experience with convergence, bringing mediums such as television and newspaper under one roof.

"Convergence is so hot in the industry right now, because many media outlets have branched out to include several outlets," said organizer Denise Franklin, the news director at WFDD, the university-owned National Public Radio affiliate.

A former television broadcaster, Franklin is also an adjunct instructor in communication, though she is not teaching a class this semester.

Ethics are an issue with convergence because "the reporter is asked to do twice as much work," Franklin said.

"Before (new reporters) have even had the time to hone and perfect their fundamental skills, they are asked to produce a huge amount of material," she said.

According to Franklin, in journalism, ethical behavior "includes basic skills such as fact checking, equal time É and rechecking copy.

It can be potentially a lot of pressure" if new reporters are not yet comfortable doing such tasks and yet have greater pressure to turn out more product if they are writing for both television and newsprint.

The day began with an interactive activity challenging the participants. A game show-styled exercise challenged student groups to come up with the most ethical solution to possible dilemmas.

Judges heard each groups responses and then decided the best solution for each situation.

The dilemmas were compiled from well-documented cases, some of which were published in case studies by other universities. "There's so much material out there," there was plenty to choose from, Franklin said.

The judging panel for the exercise included Jeffrey Dvorkin, National Public Radio ombudsman and former vice president of news, Anzio Williams, the assistant news director at WCNC NBC 6 in Charlotte, and Michael Hyde, university distinguished chair in communication ethics and a professor of communication.

Franklin said that by bringing "names of good stature, it will drive home how important (journalism ethics) is."

The daylong event also included a lunch where students could network with industry representatives, including the executive editor of the Winston-Salem Journal and the news director of WGHP FOX 8 in Greensboro.

"It takes students a minute to come out of their shell, so for students is was a very important opportunity to work on their own networking skills," Franklin said of the luncheon.

After lunch, students returned to a more structured classroom format, where Franklin and Jay Banks, the station manager at WFDD and former newspaper editor, lectured and went through workbook exercises.

Banks also plays a crucial role in the development of this and future conferences, primarily writing the grant work that enabled the idea to go forward.

"My role was to provide some case ideas and lead a discussion to draw out ethical issues," Banks said. "I think most students really enjoyed the opportunity to meet with the president of Media General. I think it's significant that these nationally known figures cared enough to come to Wake Forest."

According to Franklin, Ethics in Journalism is a continuing event.

She said there is already a spring event planned because of what she considers a clear interest in the community.

"We can go a lot of ways with these ethics issues É because ethical behavior is very closely intertwined with values," she said.

The program was funded by a grant from the Ethics and Leadership fund at the university, which receives money from the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation.

Banks and Franklin decided to conduct the conference.

The idea began with "a conversation about what young journalists are missing in the classroom," according to Franklin.

She said, "There's a lot of untilled ground that we can take care of," in compacted forums outside of the classroom.

Because both Banks and Franklin are in the industry and continue to attend media functions, it was easy to find the keynote speaker and panel judges; the two simply "compiled a list and whittled it down" to fit the topic and setting.

From the beginning, Franklin knew she wanted the event to be "available to all campuses" to increase the conference's diversity, allowing for different socio-economic backgrounds and a variety of upbringings.

Banks thought the conference was successful. "I'm pleased with how the conference turned out. I think it was significant that a number of different media outlets were represented and students from different campuses came to the conference."

It was important to Franklin that the seminar be open, and thus more diverse, because people today in the media "have to be multi-faceted" and become better able to report intelligently about and to diverse individuals and their various communities.