hd550512@ohio.edu
In journalism, the goal is the report the truth, non-biased, straight forward truth. Well, in order to accomplish this goal, wouldn't the idea be to report on everything? You would think so, but even that can inflict bias on a story, which would lead to a tampered truth. This is because of conflicts of interest.
What is a Conflict of Interest?
Conflicts of interest come in many different forms, so many that sometimes it's confusing what is and isn't a conflict of interest.
Bribery is an obvious no in the journalism world. It should always be accepted and encouraged to go the lengths and put in the effort to find a source, but it should never be accepted to either pay or receive money from a source. By paying a source you are choosing to manipulate a story. By accepting money from a source in order to be included, you are choosing to allow a story to be manipulated by a source.
Instead of taking bribes, consider your other options. If a source offers you money, look into the story and see if it is worth telling or if you are the right person to be telling the story. Do not offer to pay a source either. Instead, interview family or friends to learn about the source and narrow in on him or her.
Another form of conflict of interest is doing a story on something you are closely related to. It could be easy to take this story as you already have all the contacts and knowledge. However, by writing this story you consequently risk writing with a biased opinion, which would tamper with the truth of the story.
Instead of taking a story with which you are closely related, you should hand the story over to another writer. You are still able to provide contacts but it is important to stay neutral with stories.
More widespread and overlooked are the cases in which the news outlet is associated with a certain company. When a news outlet writes a story related to a company in which they own or are in business with, then it would be unethical for to do a story on said company. This is because a company could have influence by threatening or putting their own people in to do the story.
Instead if a news outlet covers a story it shouldn't be a willing story for that company. It is important to cover news, but it is also important to cover stories without being biased. However, in some cases, news outlets should not choose to ignore certain cases in order to keep on good terms with a company. For instance, Fox News did not use the video of Ray Rice at first. A reason for this could be the football games that air on their channel.
Either way, in any news outlet, conflicts of interest will exist. The trick is to not let them stop you from publishing a story or encourage you to publish a story.
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