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Chapter 1 of Moral Reasoning for Journalist teaches us that ethics are seen all around us in everyday life. From deciding when to speed down the road just to make it to work in time, to deciding whether it is right or wrong to post that news story, ethics make the world go round. Journalist ethics also take an important place in the world.
Journalism today is seen as "biased" or "shallow". Many think Journalists are unethical, but as journalists we have the responsibility to report fair and unbiased news to the public. Who is to blame for this "unethical behavior"? Where did this idea of "ethics" even come from?
Is it our fault?
As journalists, we hold our selves to a very high standard of reporting fair and unbiased facts. So how is it that we, as journalists, are told we aren't even a real profession? Chapter 1 talks about how we can put blame on things like money, political bias, Spinmeisters, and tabloid journalism. At the end of the day though, we are still seen as the bad guy.
Money will always drive people to do unethical things, and political bias puts journalists in the crossfire between what is ethical and what is not. Tabloid journalism is used for entertainment and not to report the facts. Spinmeisters paint a picture so only their client will look good.
We, as journalists, have the duty to use our ethical reasoning, and prove these stereotypes about journalism wrong. Aidan White, the creator of the Ethical Journalism Network, explains to us why we need ethics in journalism.
Where did it begin?
Lets take a walk down memory lane to figure out what the history
of ethics really is. The Greeks provided the foundation for ethics. They believed in using ethics as one of the branches of philosophy. They focused on what really was the good and the bad.
The Middle Ages showed us the beginning of strong religions used as political forces. These forces taught the "thou shalt not". The Renaissance brought the printing press, challenging the ancient regime and allowing others to read their writings.
The Greeks idea of teleology taught others that we know the consequences of the good and bad actions we do. John Mill started utilitarianism, the philosophy of determining what is good or bad based on the consequences of what is being done or said.
In 1962, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) , came out with their first code of ethics. These ethics are guidelines to writers for what is seen as professional right or wrong and they continue to grow today. Click here to see the newest code of ethics.
What does it mean to be "good"?
In the article the question is posed "What is good?" and that really got me thinking. Does being good mean different things to different people? Does doing good just mean helping others?
Aristotle argued that good is synonymous with excellence. I believe being "good" means knowing the difference between wrong and right, and deciding to do the right thing, because you know its the correct thing to do.
I asked the smartest person I know, my mother, this same question of "what is good", and this is her response:
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