Stay True to Your Ethics and the Readers will Come

Ethan Gates
eg330214@ohio.edu



Photo via IZ Quotes

The Battle

Journalists have always been the ultimate liaison between the public and organizations, corporations, and government entities. In the old days, we were the only bridge to the public from these conglomerations. We let that power go to our heads. In recent years, the trust has been lost to the media through various outlets. More notably, we live with an administration that is constantly attacking the press, exclaiming "fake news" every chance it has. This constant battle has worn thin on many journalists, calling into question why should we continue to uphold our values?

Our Defense

We will always be facing constant pressure from the public questioning the validity of each and every story we publish, but that comes with the territory of choosing to be the people responsible for informing the public. Our first obligation, as reporters, should always be to the truth. Truth should never be something that is neglected or overlooked in attempts to get the most page views, or get the most retweets because of some misguided headline. In this battle to maintain our credibility, that is our strongest asset to outlast this constant onslaught against us. Showing a constant drive to produce the most truthful content is the safest route to ensure a clean conscience in an era of fear-mongering headlines and "fake news" click-bait.

The Fight

Our ethical responsibility will always be to the public, regardless of how much trust they put in us. At heart, we provide society with what they need to know, so it's up to us to ensure they receive the best we can give them. Which has become increasingly hard recently because of how fragmented and diverse media content has become. With Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, user-generated content is taking on new responsibilities with self-proclaim excellence. But as we have seen in the past, user-generated content does not hold itself to the journalistic values we do and could result in way more damage than good. "In an age when it is easier than ever before to publish first and check later...the new norms tend toward action rather than contemplation (p.283)", as stated in the Elements of Journalism, we are faced with an environment where "skepticism and deliberation may be a form of personal conscience (p.283)." Our work must supercede our status as a journalist, but our work needs to live up to the standards of journalism.

We Will Win

We fight daily for the attention of our readers, which has led to some nasty tactics employed by easily-debunked, uncredible sites. In this fight for attention, you must decide if your integrity and your ethics are easily traded for a few hits on a poorly-cut video. Accepting that each story will never directly appeal to the masses is imperative to understanding limits. Focus your work on truly satisfying the group you seek to inform; the reader will be much more grateful for an honest piece with viable information than a slam piece with no credible sources. In this constant fight for attention, I would rather be standing with my head held high, knowing I had done right by the people, when the smoke clears.