Ethics: Achieving the Expectation

Hallie Kile
hk649314@ohio.edu

As journalists, we are entrusted with a great sense of responsibility.

There seems to be a gap in what is expected of us and what is assumed, though.

We are expected to tell the truth, but we are assumed to sensationalize the ordinary. We are expected to provide hard-hitting evidence in investigative circumstances, but we are assumed to skew the results. We are expected to be unbiased, but we are assumed (by 62 percent of Americans, in fact) to lean forcibly to either the left or the right. 

With these expectations and assumptions implanted in the ideology of our society, it is more important now than ever before to uphold our ethical values as journalists. To effectively do so, it is imperative for professionals to exhibit ethical values on the job.

The most straightforward way to secure a foundation of ethical standards is to create a code of ethics, and this is relevant both for individual professionals and news outlets as a whole.

Organizational Ethics

Media organization NPR offers an entire ethics handbook on its website. Listing values such as honesty, impartiality and transparency, the news source presents its audience with a comprehensible framework of expectations for its content. With the intent to provide its audience with quality news, the outlet ensures to present material meeting "the highest standards of public service in journalism and cultural expression," as stated in its mission.

With greater than 30 million radio listeners and a website boasting nearly 37 million unique monthly viewers, National Public Radio has earned its audience by upholding the standards it notes in the handbook.

Personal Ethics

via pixabay

Just as a code of ethics can benefit media organizations, a personal framework of professionalism can serve individual members in their respective journalistic positions. As we have discussed in class, a personal code of ethics acts as an armor for young professionals in the newsroom. When faced with a particularly challenging ethical decision, journalists can streamline the decision-making process.

If running a story could benefit the lives of few and harm the lives of many, an ethical journalist will consider the weight of integrity compared to the exciting traffic of a story gone viral. If a reporter is given a lead on a groundbreaking story but knows the source may not be trustworthy, she will consider the repercussions of potential fake news rather than seek the sensationalism of a rumor that is only possibly true. By referring back to her code, a reporter will be reminded of her appreciation for the truth rather than the rash need to run a story with potentially illegitimate sources.

Ethics and the Expectation

A code of ethics, whether personal or organizational, can build the kind of integrity always expected of the media, but not often assumed. By upholding values of truth, transparency, fairness and more, we can exceed not only the assumptions, but the expectations of the world.

We are the bridge between the assumptions and expectations. We are the ones with the power to share the news in its true and unbiased entirety.