Reaching for Ethics Online

Kiley Landuskykl290311@ohio.edu

The Issue with Online Journalism
The news has inevitably become plastered online and most other traditional media outlets are dwindling. This means that there are unclear boundaries between news, advertising, entertainment and whatever else goes online (so, everything?). It seems that no one is really sure how to approach this dilemma. Can you really make anyone a professional journalist or deem someone an unprofessional journalist? Probably not, but some people think they may have a basic outline to tackling this issue of blurred lines in the media.

A Proposed Solution

Stephen J.A. Ward writes for the University of Wisconsin Center for Journalism Ethics in his piece, “Digital Media Ethics.” He has developed a world in which journalists are guided and ranked in a system called “layered journalism.” His basic explanation of this idea states, “Layered journalism brings together different forms of journalism and different types of journalists to produce a multi-media offering of professional-styled news and analysis combined with citizen journalism and interactive chat.” Sounds great doesn’t it?

Yeah, this idea sounds like it’ll solve a lot but how will it be done? Ward does a good job at describing the roles and ranks of this new system, but this is the part I’m critical of, “There will be editors or ‘community producers’ charged with going out to neighborhoods to help citizens use media to produce their own stories.” Does he really think that there will be a paid market for these little helpers blessing the citizens of the world with journalistic integrity and honesty? I certainly don’t have all the answers or a crystal ball, but I’m not foreseeing large sums people awakened by the SPJ Code of Ethics or a lesson on how to practice journalism responsibly AND THEN immediately changing their contributions to the news. The wheels are turning, but there’s no surefire solution quite yet.

Can headlines be regulated?

We have yet to find a way to regulate the media in a way that does not limit objectionable ways of attracting readers. The concept I’m about to introduce is not unlike embedded advertisements where headlines or links are disguised as something newsworthy, but are really just sparkle-covered things trying to get chosen among all the other craft supplies, regardless if they have any use.

“Trolling” is a technique that newspapers as prestigious as the New York Times use to lure their audiences in. Kira Goldenberg, a writer for The Columbia Journalism Review discusses trolling headlines in her article, “Stop Trolling Your Readers.” “The headlines are infuriating enough that people will pass them along, write aggregated “takes” about their fury, and maybe even settle in for an afternoon hate-read at the original URL. Whether the stories’ content actually reflects their headlines is largely inconsequential,” she says.

I’ll be honest. I’ve fallen into the trap of trolling. It’s so easy. You think because the source seems reliable and assimilates or dissimilates with your personal beliefs that it’s a good idea to get really energized about the topic and then take flight after the first couple paragraphs and post the article to Facebook. Don’t do it. You’ll look back and the facts may be totally distorted. More people should know this. And by more I mean the majority of my Facebook friends.

So what’s gonna happen?

My guess is not a whole lot for now except more and more deceptive and minimally factual content taken as genuine, truthful journalism while ethical journalism will be well regarded by those with a good filter for crappy “news.” The good thing is that these cogs are turning in journalists’ minds, scraping for a way to make their efforts distinguished from citizen journalism. I have hope that good journalists will succeed no matter the heavy fog of online content in front of their eyes.

Abby Martin thinks the rise of alternative media on the internet has resulted in loss of confidence in the news.