Thursday, November 30, 2017

New Aged Journalism

Colleen Howard
ch960014@ohio.edu


 
http://www.thedroneinfo.com/2015/05/07/drone-journalism-is-it-a-first-amendment-right/


A major issue in the world of journalism is how to balance your personal ethics with the ethics of the company as you attempt to navigate through a career in this field. One of those ethical issues that you may encounter along the way is commonly known as click bait. A way to lure in readers with false or limited headline writing. Another dilemma that you may encounter along the way is drone journalism. Which is a form of journalism on the rise yet its ethical complication lay in the mass amount of information they can provide.

Click bait is a form of headline writing that alludes the reader to the information in the story while withholding major themes in the piece. Using catchy headlines or inciting blurbs to lure readers into your piece is ethically wrong and for most readers turns them away. According to the SPJ codes, if you use click bait headlines it can be viewed as a lack of transparency. This has been a recurring issue for a couple of years now. Facebook a few years back in a Washington Post article even urged that they wanted to see less. If there are less click bait tactics than users are more likely to see content they approve of and that is Facebook's sole goal.

The other ethical dilemma that you may encounter in the field as you take on your career is drone journalism. Just when you think technology can’t control us more we receive ideas such as drone journalism. The impact that this form could have is massive however, there is a conflict that you could run into if implicated. The drones are able to capture everything, but how much is too much? The Professional Society of Drone Journalism has the answers for you. They claim it is the new wave of immersive journalism. While that may be true the ethical conflict that privacy may be a stakeholder in these pieces is too risky and therefore should be dealt with care.

So, whether it is technological advances taking over or a new wave of headline writing, journalists should always act with care when approaching such things. Just as they would a piece of information for their news outlet they should investigate the stakeholders in these new aged forms. By making sure that the advances in the world of journalism maintain your company’s ethical standards and more importantly your own you are saving yourself from selling out in a sense. A journalist should be open to new things, but be wary of the ethical connections that may occur.

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