Objectifying Interest

Elizabeth Raber
er198613@ohio.edu

If you're a journalist confronted with the death of two local girls and have an opportunity to speak at the funeral, do you? If you're a public relations professional who is enamored by the environment and your firm just signed an oil company, what do you do? If the broadcasting station you work for is bought out by a major sports owner, what do you do?

Source: WordCloud

Ethical decisions are embedded in the everyday responsibilities held by media professionals. To do what's right and hold yourself, your colleagues and organization, to the same standards can pose challenges effecting how you do your job; moreover, how you live. For example, what if you, a reporter, are dating or married to a government official? How does this compromise your job and biases?

There is no step-by-step hand book for any situation one could face working as a journalist, public relations professional or digital marketer... or even just everyday business practices one could be involved with. Some of the hardest interpersonal questioning someone can do is determining the situation and uncovering personal biases to find self interest.

Personal interest is putting yourself and your affairs before your responsibility to others—whether that be to your job, a relationship or other value. Your agenda is altered by selfishness.

There are ways to help guide decisions and decipher right from wrong. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) both have codes that we can all follow in our professions to help us act diligently—aiming to be virtuous.

SPJ states in its Ethical Code to act independently, and more specifically, listed first under this value, to "avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived." I would like to emphasize the "perceived" conflict of interest because one should be aware that even if think you're acting morally, with respect and honor, there is a possibility of it being perceived in a different way. In addition to SPJ's ethical guidelines, the organization also provides case studies to demonstrate ethical dilemmas—open to debate and discussion.

PRSA states in its Code Provisions of Conduct, that professionals must "build trust with the public by avoiding or ending situations that put one's personal or professional interests in conflict with society's interests." In the same document, they talk about perception of conflict of interest with clients and the company. You can read the rest of the Code Provisions of Conduct and sign an Ethics Pledge.

As media professionals we need to take these learning opportunities and guidelines to realize our responsibility we have to our professions, ourselves, coworkers and employers. No longer is it acceptable to slide under the rug and dodge consequences. Journalists are not only the watch dogs of the government, but also of their peers in the industry. For example, Stephen Glass's fabricated stories were discovered by Adam Penenberg, a peer at Forbes.

Anyone with the responsibility of implementing virtuous decisions in their every day work needs to understand the importance of objectifying their personal interests—wipe all biases and preferences for a personal gain. The job of a journalist is to serve the public and let them make their own decisions. One needs to be carful because if you're letting the public make their own decisions about you and your work, you could be the topic of their next conversation.