ka100211@ohio.edu
“Journalists’ credibility has fallen precipitously in the minds of the public,” according to Steven Knowlton and Bill Reader, authors of Moral Reasoning for Journalists. Confirming this statement, a survey taken by Gallup in 2012, states that 60% of Americans say they have little or no trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. As a journalist, I am concerned for the future of journalism if this is true.
With all of the various formats and technical devices for gathering news, it’s easier now, more than ever, for people to stay current with the events going on throughout the day. However, people can receive limited information when they only receive news from a single source. Many people get comfortable with one particular source of news because they like the style and political slant in which the news is reported. It’s important for the everyday citizen to do his or her own homework to find a credible news source that covers all angles of the story.
Two key reasons why journalists may not always follow ethics are sensationalism and money. Any time the focus is to sell an idea or product, it’s not news. People often confuse docudramas, politically-inspired programs, and infotainment as factual news. There is a difference between reporting the news and tabloid journalism; one requires a factual, objective reporting and the latter does not adhere to the same principles. Journalists need to consider what we can do to get people to trust us again.
While “a society functions, even minimally, only if most members of that society obey its’ rules voluntarily,” likewise, journalists must maintain integrity for journalism to work. Unfortunately, there is no doctrine stating how journalism should be run or a rulebook clearly defining the rules, except that reporting the truth is our mantra. According to Sociology, we know that when social norms within a society are broken, there will be consequences. Reporting the truth should be the social norm in journalism everywhere. If not, this could lead to ethical egoism. Ethical egoism is when journalists lose sight of the core value of telling the truth and instead makes decisions based upon the greatest good for themselves. Even if one journalist fails to report the news fully, accurately and fairly, we all suffer in lack of integrity and lose the trust of our audience. Losing the trust of our audience eventually means the extinction of journalism. It’s important to remember that our job as journalists is to educate the public to help them make decisions in their everyday lives.
According to the Preamble of the Society of Professional Journalists, "the duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues." Should we fail to report the truth, and consider the story from every angle, we fail the public and we fail one another. Even though, currently, more than half of the American population distrusts the media as a whole, journalists can change this by reporting all sides of the truth and maintaining integrity at all times.
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