The Code of Ethics in the Journalism World

Jeremy Lin
Jl402214@ohio.edu

Many may wonder, are there general guidelines that journalists live by? The society of professional journalists developed a code of ethics that journalists should follow in order for them achieve success in today's media world. According to Spj.org there are 4 concepts that journalists should live by in the code of ethics, concepts consist of "Seek truth and report it", "minimize harm", "act independently", and "be Accountable and Transparent". 

While the code of ethics that SPJ may be a broad overview of what journalists should follow when publishing their writing every new network has their own code of ethics and general guidelines that their journalists must follow.

The NPPA has their code of ethics that they hold their journalist to in the sense of a visual journalist. While these guidelines are not too different from those from the SPJ.

An important aspect of ethics in the journalism world is importance of context. The biggest downfall of a journalist's writing is the lack of detail in one's story. This is problem that we see too often in popular news websites and on television. The lack of detail and neglecting to provide the full extent of the story can be very crippling to the story as a whole. Leaving out key details of a story can really skew the perspective of the reader/viewer.

As stated in the SPJ.org "Seek truth and report it", as a journalist it is absolutely crucial to keep in mind that you as a journalist you must cater to the people you are providing the information or story not your personal opinion on the topic. Anything that can come off as biased in a certain way can often touch on a sensitive topic that can often be detrimental to the public eye which can ultimately damage ones writing as a whole.

Touching on the concepts of "be accountable and transparent" and "minimize harm". As stated before, as a journalist you are completely accountable for the stories that are published as well as your public image on social media, This has become a serious issue for many young journalist that often become careless on their social media accounts and often for that they are a journalist in many aspects of their life outside of the stories that they may publish. If an individual were to compose a tweet on their twitter account about their stance on a current event and their followers and follow their published stories, this usually causes a ripple effect. 

More likely than not everyone one has seen a case where a journalist had made remarks on their social media that has a large following that had been seen as insensitive or negative to the public eye. But in terms of the stories that journalist report, the concept of "minimize harm" becomes very important. While a story may follow "seek the truth and report it" Journalist must be cautious of the material being released and where the source is coming from.

In today’s society the general public can see a lot about a person who is often in the public eye such as a popular journalist. Neglecting to consider ethics codes can ultimately be very detrimental to ones career in the field of journalism.