The well-received textbook by Page Center Legacy Scholar Gene Foreman, titled The Ethical Journalist: Making Responsible Decisions in the Pursuit of News, (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009) received another positive notice in the summer 2010 issue of Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly.

Igor Shapiro, a professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, wrote, “...Readers’ tendency to oversimplify ethical methods will be challenged by Gene Foreman’s The Ethical Journalist, which I find more complex and engaging than other texts, and which will, therefore, become the first ethics text I can comfortably prescribe – for both graduate and undergraduate classes.”

“The Ethical Journalist’s greatest strength is a novel approach to methodological content,” notes Shapiro. “Instead of squeezing approaches to decision making into an introductory foundations chapter, Foreman devotes eight highly readable chapters to laying methodological groundwork, illustrated richly with real-life illustrations featuring named journalists. Rather than fixating on moral lapses, he sheds light on how exemplary reporters, editors, and photographers tackle the difficulty – but not impossibility – of making ethical choices. Where too many others content themselves either with just-the-facts or a rush to judgment, Foreman presents cases analytically; choices are not divided into right and wrong, but readers are invited to engage with critical questions about them.”

He concludes: “The book’s tone is thoughtful but forthright, its style clear but engaging, its stance fair but unabashed. It’s obviously written by a practiced craftsman who is passionate about his work, and curious about its dilemmas. I think my students will enjoy it and learn from it.”

The Arthur W. Page Center in the Penn State College of Communications provided support for Gene Foreman’s book. Foreman served for eight years as the first Foster Professor in the college after his retirement from The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1998. He is still a visiting professor.

He managed The Inquirer newsroom for more than 25 years under various titles. In total, he spent 41 years in newspaper journalism. Foreman was president of the Associated Press Managing Editors in 1990 and was a board member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors from 1995 to 1998. In 1998 he received a career achievement award from the Philadelphia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

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