The American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Kellie Hwang reports on a study by my collegue Phil Meyer (and students including Robin Roger and Gabriel Dance) called “Newspaper Ethics in the New Century.”

Tidbits include:

Editors are more assertive and have more influence on the business side today, while publishers are interfering less with news coverage.

72 percent of newspapers have an anonymous source policy, and 54 percent have recently revamped their policy. 81 percent of anonymous sources are used when there is a ‘clear and overriding public interest in information that cannot be obtained in any other way.’

16 percent increase of female editors since 1982.

Blogs are becoming more influential in newsrooms and editors are much more willing to experiment.

There is little indication that the drive for profit has led to a general decline in ethical standards.