Is European journalism possible?

Journalistic ethics is a controversial topic in communication science. A key question in this context is whether an internationally acceptable ethical framework for the media can be created. Transnationally compatible journalistic standards are a prerequisite for the avowed goal of the European Union to bring about a joint communication philosophy. From this starting point, the present work defines the quintessence of pan-European journalistic prac-tice in order to establish a common denominator of European journalistic ethics, contrasting the thereby established hypothetical normative European codex with a status-quo analysis of journalistic misconduct as dealt with by the British Press Complaints Commission.