Developing Your Moral Compass

Sierra Heilman
sierraheilman19@gmail.com


We've heard stories of past reporters who have flat out lied, fabricated stories, and did things that were just morally wrong. We've taken classes and read books about how to report and do it in the right way. That foundation is good to have, but how will we react when we get out in the real world? Will we think back to the situations we've learned about and base our decisions on that? Maybe, but most of the time we'll react based on our feelings. Feelings are one thing that helps direct our moral compass and ultimately turn us into the unique journalist that we'll become. Whether someone is going into public relations and making decisions based on their client or working for a newspaper and writing stories based on that newspaper, we'll all have decisions to make. How will we make the right ones?

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What is the Code of Ethics?
First, understanding our client and company's code of ethics is important. Usually, there is a foundation set up so the message or story we are trying to publish can be done ethically. A solution that would help both parties be aware of what is expected is to have meetings outlining the code of ethics. This would ensure that we as public relations professionals and reporters have a sense of how to go about getting information, crafting our message or story and publishing it. If we're unsure or feel our morals are being questioned in the process, it's important to revisit the code of ethics and speak up.

Know Our Values
The Institute for Public Relations lists many ways ethics and public relations intersect, but I believe these tips are beneficial in any form of journalism. One of their tips is to know our values. Throughout life, we are introduced to different situations and how we feel and react is based on our past experiences and preconceived morals. Therefore, understanding our limits and what we will and will not do in our career is essential to feeling internally satisfied by our work. When our pieces are constantly being published for the world to see, it is up to us to make sure we're going to be proud of it and, in the worst-case scenario, defend it. In the end, knowing a few core values that are important to us and sticking to them is the best things we can do for ourselves.

Broaden Our Experiences
To complement the previous point, if we've experienced too little, then we could have a very narrow moral compass. Something to consider when making decisions is to broaden our experiences. Understanding how our actions and words could affect other cultures, races, groups, etc. is a great way to understand more about ourselves. Underlying biases and prejudices are real and should not be present when doing anything relating to journalism. The more educated we become, the better decisions we will make in our careers.

Feed Our Environment
It's as true as it was when we were younger as it is now—we are who we hang out with. Finding a positive, free-thinking environment where we feel free to ask questions and leaders encourage conversations for finding collective solutions can be the biggest difference in forming our moral compass. Our environment puts out what we feed it, which means if our environment is fruitful, it will benefit us. We should not settle with an environment that shuts down our concerns and compromises what we individually believe in. We won't grow and ultimately be put into situations that could compromise our moral compass.

Many things can develop our moral compass and help us be better ethical decision-makers. Whether it's within ourselves or the structure of the company we work for, it's a crucial part of good journalism. As we go through life and understand the world around us, staying true to our values and staying internally satisfied in our work will make us unique and in some cases, invaluable.