Ethics and Journalism

Ethics are important in every area of life. In class, ethics was described as "the aspects, effects, and moral dilemma of diversity in the newsroom."


In a lot of my classes lately, ethics and integrity have been discussed. There will be points in all of our lives in which we will have to have our ethics tested and may have to defy those above us in order to do what we know is right. As said in the presentation, exercising conscience is not easy. As journalists, we will have to work in an environment where the manager of the newsroom has the final say. However, that does not mean that we need to sit back idly and allow all of his or her decisions be made based off of their opinion alone. 


There is a quote by President Gordon B. Hinckley that I really love. It says, "Wrong is still wrong even if everyone's doing it. Right is still right even if no one's doing it." While this can be applied to a lot of different scenarios, I think journalists' should apply it to their work and ethics as well. We cannot compromise what we know is right for the sake of getting a story. 


I really liked the quote in The Mind of a Journalist that said, "[Journalists] are dealing in nonfiction rather than fiction . . . You must always remember that you never make anything up." Sometimes it might be easy to make up a quote, or add an embellishment to a story, just to make it more appealing to the audience. This is NOT ethical in any way, shape or form. In the end, stories that lie will be made known, and the career of that journalist will be compromised and tainted. 


The media has such a huge influence on how the majority of citizens think and feel. For this fact alone, it is important for journalists to display a high level of ethics in what they do and say, because much of society is relying on what they say. While I don't believe that people should entirely base their beliefs on what they hear on the radio, tv, or through print mediums, a lot do. 


Newsrooms should have diversity and everyone should be able to express their opinion. As long as these opinions are based off of truth, it is good. But when certain opinions start getting pushed away, and the influence of not so ethical means start to come into play, problems arise. There needs to be communication within the newsroom, to, in a sense, seperate the wheat from the tares and create an environment where the best information gets out. 




Here are some good links pertaining to ethics in journalism:




Online Journalism Ethics--Sometimes people feel like because it's online, they can be less ethical. Far too many times, people will post things online that they would never dare say in person. This is not ethical at all. Online journalists should follow the same ethics as those reporting for newspapers or tv stations. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns8sv6kMIOk


Basic rules all journalists should follow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv-J_ArEJ8w


Code of Ethics for Professional Journalists: 
http://www.spj.org/ethics.asp


Ethics and Diversity: 
http://www.poynter.org/subject.asp?id=32