Courtesy of linarecord.com |
By Kate Schroeder
As my evening comes to close, and it's
time to dive into my first ethics blog post, I find it difficult to
formulate an innovative response to Monday's readings about the
current plagiarism fiasco in the world of journalism. There is
obvious concern that plagiarism has become a huge problem,
discrediting professional journalists and tarnishing the career as a
whole. From an NPR
intern plagiarizing about an alleged execution,
to the Boston Globe publishing a plagiarized article, our ethical
standards are being compromised. Instead of continuing the discussion
of whether there is a problem or not, I think it is important to find
its source.
The real question is; who is to blame
for this laziness in accuracy, this disregard for the
ethics code? Craig Silverman blames the
newsroom in, “Journalism's Summer of Sin marked by plagiarism,
fabrication, obfuscation” and Lori Robertson blames culture of the
journalism business itself in “Confronting the Culture." I find
that the blame falls on the education of our young journalists.
Yes, there are new pressures out there
inciting journalists young and old to cheat their way to the top. The
way the world is consuming news media is changing, but that does not
mean that the ethics code should be taken lightly. The discussion of
ethics in our profession should be taught with more vigor and
enthusiasm. Similarly, professors should emphasize quality over quantity for great journalism.
As stated Robertson’s article, when
talking to a group of journalists at Georgetown University, students
were more concerned with getting their stories on the front page
instead of worrying about the ethical standards. But who can blame some students when all they have been
taught in the classroom and as interns is to be cut throat and
competitive, no matter what the costs?
And with that added pressure from what
is expected of them in school the more pressure there is to take
shortcuts. Deni Elliot, a professor of media ethics at the University
of South Florida, St. Petersburg, said the journalism industry
promotes cheating. She believes, “Things that award the exact
quote … that sends a message that that's what ultimately matters.
The more pressure that is put on journalists to produce more, faster,
quicker, cheaper, the more the industry encourages cutting corners,
which is just another way of saying cheating.”
Along with the pressure to cheat,
there is also the importance of stressing ethical practices in
college. We are lucky enough to be apart of a program where
professors invest their time to build solid ethical journalism
students. However, without this foundation, it's easy to loose your
balance throughout your journalistic career. The newsroom is changing
and there is less time and money to teach young journalists on the
job. Catherine Manegold, former New York Times reporter, conquers
that, “unless they're bringing with them a strong core sense of
ethics, their own personal sense of ethics … it can be a real mess
for young people to navigate.”
This is why I believe it is
imperative for young journalists to understand the ethical boundaries
that define their profession before they go out into the working
world. Then maybe they won't have to learn from their mistakes on the
importance of honest reporting and maintaining ethical standards.
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