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Journalism in today's society is omnipresent. It is in print, online, radio, television, etc. Because of this there is often a question of what makes an individual a journalist. Is it as simple as writing down one's thoughts about current events and the news? In general, a journalist's job is to report the news to the public in an accurate and honest way. This translates differently from each journalist. However, journalists cannot just say whatever they would like. They need to keep in mind specific codes of ethics that, whether their publication deems them mandatory or not, should always be considered when reporting to remain honest and unbiased.
Truth
Journalists should always actively seek the truth and report it. With personal bias, honesty becomes increasingly less commonplace. Journalists often manipulate information in order to swing the story in a different way, relative to their personal bias. The public has a right to the truth, and manipulating a story is incredibly misleading and unethical.
A major form of dishonesty in journalism is withholding information. The public's right to the truth is to the whole truth, not select portions picked by the journalist to make the story more "interesting." While there may be time constraints on the story, all pertinent information crucial to the public should be reported. The desire to have the "breaking" story first should not be more important than truthfully reporting a story in its entirety.
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| A perfect example of withholding information and acting in a way that disregards a code of ethics is the movie Nightcrawler (2014). The station manager is so desperate for ratings and monetary gain she blatantly picks and chooses what information to "break" to the public, information that was already questionably unethical in nature to begin with. She is more concerned with her station that the public's right to truth. |
It is important to actively respect the intelligence of one's audience. Journalists should not attempt to fool their audience in any way. It is important to differentiate between editorial content and paid-for advertising, as the ASME guidelines seek to ensure. Give the audience more credit than attempts at manipulation. Journalists should also clearly label opinion and commentary in a story, so as not to falsely present a story as fact. Additionally, audiences are well-aware when a journalist has made a mistake in his or her reporting. Simply acknowledge the mistake and correctly fix it instead of trying to hoodwink the audience into believing it was just a technical error. Journalists should own up to their actions to gain audience's respect.
Act Independently
Journalists should be wary of accepting any type of compensation or gifts from a party he or she interviewed. This could influence one's report and create a bias where there was not originally one. A journalist's responsibility is to the public, not their wallet. Additionally, journalists should strive to avoid political or business involvements that may compromise their journalistic independence.
As journalism and its definition expands in today's society, basic ethical practices should not be overlooked. It's just as important, if not more-so, to commit to the public's right to knowledge and the truth. Journalists need to always bear in mind ethical values to ensure integrity, independence and trust. Do not let outside factors affect the true key goal of journalism: to fairly and accurately report the full truth to the public.
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