"with great power comes great responsibility"

 Jacob Smith
 js615311@ohio.edu


“With great power comes great responsibility!”, something we hear all the time. Now as someone interested in both journalism and public relations it’s something I begin to remind myself more and more. As journalist you owe people the truth and the same for some in the PR industry. We communicate important messages to the public that help make decisions for our society. That’s where the power comes from for those in these industries, they have a big influence on the people and because of that they owe them the unbiased truth. Because of this power journalist and those in PR are faced with ethical issues on a daily basis. Today in these industries, with advancements in the internet and technology there are ethical issues that haven’t been dealt with before, there are many ways now to fool the, deny them of the truth.
  
 A surprising example of this is a practice called Astroturfing, before reading about it on, theguardian.com , I had never heard of it. Essentially, it is the practice of making it appear as if a grassroots participant is supporting the message of a masked sponsor or organization. In other words, there are people pretending to be other people online voicing their support for any number of companies or organizations. These people, called an astrotufer, manage the accounts of these fake personas. An astroturfer isn’t just managing one account its multiple accounts, in some cases 70. Along with this, advances in technology has allowed for the sponsor of any given message to use “persona management software”, programs that can can help to multiple the operating power of an astroturfer. These programs can make elaborate profiles for people on Facebook, creating phone numbers, emails, pictures and posts. Everything a person would have if they’ve been on Facebook for many years. It’s a creepy practice that I am sure i’ve fallen victim too, how could you know?
  
Another example are video news releases, also known as VNRs. These are video segments made to look like real news reports but are actually segments created by a corporation, government agency or other organization to promote their given message. These are then given to new producers to air on their daily segments with their audience having no idea that it was a sponsored message and who it was sponsored by. Stacy Woelfel shows us in her article, “Full Disclosure”, that an average viewer wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
  
VNRs are very similar in some ways to the practice of sponsoring journalist. Journalists being paid to write about an issue or promote some sort of message and accepting payment for it. According to USA TODAY’s article contracts involving journalist sponsorships are common. Its an easy way to make money and the news gets brought to you, you report the message and make a whole year’s salary. But your audience doesn’t know that you’re being payed to report that message, they don’t know that there may be other opinions out there, more truthful ones. If the news was being reported the way corporations and organizations wanted it too, it wouldn’t be the truth.
    These new ways of fooling the public are ruining the trust they have in journalists and those in PR. People in these industries need to hold their codes of ethics above all else that’s the only way people will get the truth the need to continue our free society. These industries must build back the public trust and show them that they are there to help them and only them. That our with the power that we have the responsibility is to the people.