The 5Cs of News Media and Minimizing Harm

Professor H. Fred Garcia identifies the 5Cs that can often be found in news stories: conflict, contradiction, controversy, colorful language, and a cast of characters. 

When applied to the study of religion news, the 5Cs explain why many reports about religion focus on the most polemic, extreme, and sensational stories. Consequently, when religion reporters perpetuate the 5Cs method, the public can be misled to think that the most controversial circumstances represent a religious community. Journalists have an ethical responsibility to ensure the media does not spread stereotypes about religion and paints religious people and leaders to be mere caricatures of their most extreme selves. 

The faculty at ReligionAndPublicLife.org train journalists to report on religion accurately. Our curricula grounds journalists in understanding the methods and frameworks for religious-literate journalism and academically rigorously and intellectually honest approaches to religion reporting. 

Some journalists may falsely operate from the idea that religion reporting must always be critical and that their investigation must reveal something controversial to be newsworthy. This assumption can often come from the idea that religion report is not the religion communication––journalists who write about religion in public life have different motives than marketing and public relations specialists who communicate about their religious communities. In this context, some journalists may fall into a dualistic notion that news is reporting on what’s bad and public relations is communicating on what’s good––the “truth” versus “the spin.”

The truth is that journalists have an ethical responsibility to minimize harm and understand their civic duty to promote the public understanding of religion. Understanding need not imply agreement. Understanding is a practice of meaning-making. Journalists have a particular duty to make meaning about religion and not allow the 5 Cs to fuel a demeaning culture that divides people and breeds mistrust.

Journalistic Ethics

In this context, ReligionAndPublicLife.org reminds religion reporters to uphold their profession’s code of ethics, with particular attention to minimizing harm. 

Code of Ethics: Section II. Minimize Harm

Society of Professional Journalists

Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues, and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect. Journalists should: 

1. Balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness. 
2. Show compassion for those who may be affected by news coverage. Use heightened sensitivity when dealing with juveniles, victims of sex crimes, and sources or subjects who are inexperienced or unable to give consent. Consider cultural differences in approach and treatment. 
3. Recognize that legal access to information differs from an ethical justification to publish or broadcast. 
4. Realize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than public figures and others who seek power, influence or attention. Weigh the consequences of publishing or broadcasting personal information. 
5. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity, even if others do. 
6. Balance a suspect’s right to a fair trial with the public’s right to know. 
7. Consider the implications of identifying criminal suspects before they face legal charges. Consider the long-term implications of the extended reach and permanence of publication. Provide updated and more complete information as appropriate.