Alexis Bartolomucci
ab395310@ohio.edu
Moral Reasoning for Journalists by Steven Knowlton and Bill Reader approaches journalism and ethics by giving several situations that can be understood by anyone, no matter if you're a journalism major or not. There are certain standards and obligations that a journalist has to abide by to make for an acceptable piece of work.
Ethics
The idea of what is ethical and what isn't is constantly changing. A journalist cannot always stick to what society thinks is ethical since it doesn't remain the same for more than a certain amount of time. Also, society as a whole doesn't agree on what is considered ethical and what isn't. Ethics aren't facts that can be determined by research and different studies; they are opinions that can be backed up by information but aren't completely reliable. Several journalists have compiled a set of ethic codes that give them some type of guideline to follow. Shows like The Colbert Report are challenging ethics because when Stephen Colbert is discussing different situations in the news, especially politics, he doesn't generally take into consideration what he says and if it will offend anyone or push the norms of today's society. He gets the point across in what he wants to say and is also very blunt about it.
Media
Media plays a large role in journalism today because it is a large source in how news and information is being delivered to an audience. You can get information from your phone and several apps, along with iPads, computers and television. The information people receive on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook can't always be relied on because anyone can make things up and post it on the Internet. There have been multiple cases where a person has created a rumor that people have believed because it went viral on social media, and there are the numerous occasions where the person has actually created some type of misleading graphic to back up their false information.
Bias
No matter how hard anyone tries, bias will always be there. With any input someone has there will be some type of bias in the material, some more than others. Many people point out Fox as being one of the more biased news stations. Depending on who you are and what kind of studies people are conducting, there will be a bias as to which news stations is actually more biased. News isn't meant to entertain people, although that is what it is starting to become. It's meant to get important information out to the world. Like the chapter said, entertainment news is becoming more important than social issues and things that are going on around the world. As a news anchor or reporter it's your job to not be biased, but it's not something that can be completely eliminated no matter how much someone tries.
It's hard for journalists to determine whether or not what they're posting is ethical and how it could be interpreted by the various types of people that are in the audience. They try to please everyone with their delivery, what they're reporting and how they report it. Not everyone will be pleased, and I believe that it is in the journalists best interest to report what would be more beneficial to the country as a whole and not just separate groups. It's hard to tell what will happen in the journalism world because it is always changing.
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Moral Reasoning for Journalists by Steven Knowlton and Bill Reader approaches journalism and ethics by giving several situations that can be understood by anyone, no matter if you're a journalism major or not. There are certain standards and obligations that a journalist has to abide by to make for an acceptable piece of work.
Ethics
The idea of what is ethical and what isn't is constantly changing. A journalist cannot always stick to what society thinks is ethical since it doesn't remain the same for more than a certain amount of time. Also, society as a whole doesn't agree on what is considered ethical and what isn't. Ethics aren't facts that can be determined by research and different studies; they are opinions that can be backed up by information but aren't completely reliable. Several journalists have compiled a set of ethic codes that give them some type of guideline to follow. Shows like The Colbert Report are challenging ethics because when Stephen Colbert is discussing different situations in the news, especially politics, he doesn't generally take into consideration what he says and if it will offend anyone or push the norms of today's society. He gets the point across in what he wants to say and is also very blunt about it.
Media
Media plays a large role in journalism today because it is a large source in how news and information is being delivered to an audience. You can get information from your phone and several apps, along with iPads, computers and television. The information people receive on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook can't always be relied on because anyone can make things up and post it on the Internet. There have been multiple cases where a person has created a rumor that people have believed because it went viral on social media, and there are the numerous occasions where the person has actually created some type of misleading graphic to back up their false information.
Bias
No matter how hard anyone tries, bias will always be there. With any input someone has there will be some type of bias in the material, some more than others. Many people point out Fox as being one of the more biased news stations. Depending on who you are and what kind of studies people are conducting, there will be a bias as to which news stations is actually more biased. News isn't meant to entertain people, although that is what it is starting to become. It's meant to get important information out to the world. Like the chapter said, entertainment news is becoming more important than social issues and things that are going on around the world. As a news anchor or reporter it's your job to not be biased, but it's not something that can be completely eliminated no matter how much someone tries.
It's hard for journalists to determine whether or not what they're posting is ethical and how it could be interpreted by the various types of people that are in the audience. They try to please everyone with their delivery, what they're reporting and how they report it. Not everyone will be pleased, and I believe that it is in the journalists best interest to report what would be more beneficial to the country as a whole and not just separate groups. It's hard to tell what will happen in the journalism world because it is always changing.
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