The Journalist-Community Dynamic: An Important New Age Principle

By: Elise Hammond
eh233614@ohio.edu

The question that journalists are trying to answer in today's digital landscape is what are the best principles of journalism? Are they the same as they were twenty years ago? Should they be? And if not, how should they change so that important core values are not sacrificed?

The answer is that journalistic core values should stay the same.  The ideals that make journalism what it is -- like truth, accuracy, and integrity-- should always be applied, but the principles and code that details how to apply these values needs to change with the times. As the way journalists tell stories adapts, so should the practical and instructional applications of journalistic values.

Community as a Principle

One principle that is changing with journalism is the idea of community.  The way journalists value and use the community needs to change in two ways.  First, the community needs to become more aware and responsible when interacting with news.  It is their responsibility to be informed and realize when news is ethical and when it is not.  Journalists also play a role in this dynamic.  It is their job as professionals to distinguish themselves and their decisions as ethical.  In a world where anyone can make and post news, this dynamic between the community and journalists in regard to knowing and creating ethical content is important.  It is the foundation that will lead to credibility and trust long-term: something the news business has been working hard to establish.

Courtesy: sciencemag.org

The second way the principle of community is changing is in how it relates to "minimizing harm."  In The New Ethics of Journalism, the authors argue in the older set of principles minimizing harm was its own section.  But in the new set, it falls under the larger umbrella of engaging the community.  This is a significant shift because the language used in the principles reflects a change in the relationship between journalists and their community.  Journalism today needs to engage their audience.  The original principles were written with a sense distance between journalism and the community, when in reality, there is no distance.  Journalism and the community are intertwined because anyone can publish content online.  With things like crowdsourcing and social media, the line between journalists and the people they serve is not as distinct as it used to be.

Minimizing Harm

The difference between professional journalists and people posting online is the principle of minimizing harm.  The practice of thinking about the consequences of publishing a story is a principle that is only required of professional journalists.  It is a principle that professional journalists should follow regardless of how stories are being told.  Citizens have no obligation to consider the value of minimizing harm.

The relationship between journalists and their community is critical.  Both the community and journalists will benefit from a practice of transparency and engagement.  Prioritizing community as a principle of ethical journalism in the new age will lead to credibility and trust.  If journalists are producing news in ways they can explain and defend, therefore being transparent, ethical decision making will be easier.  When journalists are actively working to be transparent with their community, they are considering alternatives to minimize harm.  When they are faced with an ethical dilemma, they will already know how to act.  While being transparent, they have thought about decisions they have made so far, who they affect, and how their community feels.  A healthy journalist-community relationship will benefit both parties.