Ethics for Television Researchers and Associate Producers

Book excerpt: This book is a complete guide for television and podcast researchers and associate producers in how to research, interview, and write pitches and research packs ethically, while maintaining a balance of both the documentary style of factual content with more commercial and entertainment values. From inclusion, balancing an interview slate, framing issues, people, and events to approaching and interviewing sources, this book is a how-to guide in both researching for documentary programs as well as provide ethical scaffoldings to do it. As researchers are the front-line workers in documentary series, it is essential to maintain integrity, and the book is a definitive guide to the chaotic process. While there are many books on journalism ethics, there are few on documentary series, such as true crime. As a former journalist and researcher who worked for a true crime series, the author is well placed to discuss considerations in documentary series. This book is ideally suited to fit any Media Studies, Journalism or TV/Film Production course, as well as being a practical handbook for people working in the industry.