cl219110@ohio.edu
Code or Law?
An
ethics code and the law are two separate ideas. The law is a standard that if
you violate is usually followed with a punishment. Such as if you are caught
littering, you are fined $500. The ethics code is a different ballgame.
The
ethics code is generally a set of standards that you hold yourself to that if
you fail to follow you violate your morals and you are more than likely ashamed
of yourself for violating your principles. Although there could be a punishment
if you violate your employer’s code, I like to think of the code as your own
moralistic values that you do not go below.
Let’s
think of the law and code in terms of the game of baseball. Baseball has a set
of written rules, “the law.” “The law” includes such rules as if you have the
ball in your glove and tag a base runner not on a base then the runner is out,
if the batter accumulates three strikes, the batter is out and if the pitcher
throws four balls the batter goes to first base. But baseball has a set of
unwritten rules that I consider “the code,” lines that you just do not cross.
Two of these rules include a base runner running through the pitcher’s mound after
being called out, with the other being the pitcher throwing a pitch at the
batter’s head. You just do not do it. These two articles, from Baseball Almanac
and Yahoo! Sports, give more info and list some of these rules.
When is the line crossed? What happens
if it is crossed?
Is this crossing the line?
Courtesy of WebProNews
It
seems like the line moves every so often, but when is the line crossed? Is it
the first time you do something wrong? Do you get a warning or are you fired
after the first offense? With some of the public having trust issues with the
media, it is almost certain after your first mistrust to the public, your
reputation could be ruined. With the amount of news outlets available at the
public’s fingertips, they can easily go elsewhere for their news.
One
instance that I have seen the line crossed was when The New York Post published
a photo on page 1 of a man moments before he was hit and killed by a train. In
my opinion, putting such a picture on the front page is disturbing and can
cause emotional harm to the victim’s family. This would have crossed the line
in my ethics code. If they had published it inside the paper with prior warning
as the photo is graphic, I would have slightly okay with it and it would have
pushed my line, but page 1 is too much.
Important or not?
Is this news?
Courtesy of Rich Barnes
According
to a Pew Research survey, 68 percent of Americans feel that the media focus on
unimportant stories whereas only 28 percent feel just the opposite. I can see where
people are coming from in respect to the reporting of unimportant stories. ESPN
is violator of this issue in respect to their coverage of Tim Tebow.
Tim
Tebow is a great human being and that cannot be understated, but not everything
that he does is a story. For example, one of the stories they showed on their
mainstay show, SportsCenter, involved Tim running across the New York Jetspractice field shirtless in the rain. The story is completely irrelevant to the sports
world. Personally, I would rather see a story about an injury report, a story
about a player who is performing well for their team or highlights from a game, whether it be baseball, football, etc. News organizations need to realize that
just because someone or something is popular, the audience would rather see
something that is news instead of something that is not of relevance.
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