This paper focuses on the opinion held by journalism students of the Faculty of Communication of Seville University about the ethical standards set out in the Spanish Constitution (Article 20.1.d) and the country’s codes of conduct. The aim of this paper is to identify the ethical system of values of today’s university students, who have not yet been “contaminated” by the profession and on whom the future of journalism in Spain will ultimately depend. Although the results show that journalism students (both 1st year students and those in their final year) have embraced a fairly solid ethical system of values, they nevertheless believe that the strong influence that economic and political powers currently exert on Spanish media corporations makes it impossible for journalists to cultivate their own work ethic, consequently obliging them to conform to the “unscrupulous” demands of their bosses. Faced with this reality, the authors reflect on the need to reinforce ethical values in the lecture hall as a way of curbing, as soon as possible, the deterioration of journalism that has been detected in Spain.
