mp385915@ohio.edu
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines truth as "the body of real things, events and facts." To journalists, truth is one of the most important terms in the business. Without truth, good journalism couldn't exist. Many journalism codes emphasize the importance of truth. The Radio Television Digital News Association code of ethic's first guiding principal is "truth and accuracy above all," which pretty much sums up how important truth is to them.
Other journalism codes that focus on truth are SPJ, NPPA, ONA, ASME, and PRSA. These organizations believe journalists should retain their integrity by telling the truth to the best of their ability in their own writing. Different forms of media rely on their journalists to be truthful so the public believe them to be a credible source of information.
When publications publish pieces that are false, and the journalist responsible doesn't take accountability, the public lose trust in that publication and believe it to be less truthful. The worst part of untruthful journalism is when a competing publication catches it first. For this reason alone, journalists should follow journalism codes of ethics. People say all press is good press, but no publication wants a competitor writing a story on how their publication doesn't tell the truth.
When reading these codes of ethics I couldn't stop thinking about former journalist Stephen Glass and the movie "Shattered Glass." Maybe I just love this movie because I love journalism or because Hayden Christensen was incredibly dreamy at this point in his life, but the movie is based on a true story.
The real life event that the movie is based on happened in 1998 when Stephen Glass, a reporter for The New Republic, was caught fabricating many of his articles. He had been doing this for a three-year span and all the articles were already published. Glass made up quotes, sources and created stereotypes of certain political groups. His stories were exciting and entertaining but inevitably he was caught and fired.
When this news was leaked to the public, The New Republic had a huge mess to clean up. It was later reported that 27 of the 41 stories published by Glass were fake or fabricated in some way. With this many fabricated stories the public probably lost trust in The New Republic. This is an extreme example, but an example that shows the harm of not valuing truth above all.
Journalists are under more pressure now then they ever have been to tell the truth. With so much fake news chit-chat, people want to be able to believe reporters and the sources they give. People are scared and have distrust in the media. The public are on the same level of importance with the truth. What is journalism without an audience, and there is no audience if the information is lies.
It is important to follow these codes of ethics because it makes people better, more trustworthy journalists and allows journalists to hold on to their integrity. And if you aren't going to follow the codes, at least try to uphold and tell the truth above all else.
And if you haven't watched "Shattered Glass," do yourself a favor and watch it.
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