Now more than ever has it become apparent that as the way news is being reported on modernizes, a complete dissolution in media ethics has taken place. This has caused many modern-day media consumers to perceive the words "ethics" and "journalism" to be polar opposites, almost the antithesis of one another. In reality, being ethical within the journalistic field is paramount and at the core of what makes the press in the United States so free. But many individuals judgments have become clouded by things such as political bias. Just take the ever-present ideological battle between FOX News and CNN where the ammunition fired isn't hot lead but condemnation for each other's perceived bias to a specific political party.
What has truly eroded the public trust in media outlets being ethical in their reporting is a combination between the speed of modern technology and the profits that lie on the other side of the publish button. In a world where many cable news networks and online newspapers have taken it upon themselves to cut ethical corners and sacrifice "good journalism for good ratings", you can't blame many people for the way they feel about journalists and media conglomerates today.
Trust in the media has hit all-time lows in recent years. In a Gallup poll taken just last September, forty-five percent of individuals that took part cited the fact that things like "inaccuracy, bias, "fake news" and alternative facts"" helped fuel their distrust.
Person grasping for air amidst all the news (Source: Washington Post)
This distrust is only made worse by the advancement of many social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook and the clout they receive online. This rapid advancement in technology has seen platforms like Twitter become many peoples primary news outlet, but this has come at a cost. Many platforms, Twitter included, have begun to use algorithms that put people face to face with the type views they detest. Although these algorithms are used primarily to reduce "political polarization", it can actually make people "become even more wedded in their own" biases according to the New York Times.
So where do all these modern media institutions leave the state of ethics in journalism? It leaves ethics in a precarious position. The more major media companies cut corners, focus solely on the profit or continue to have a major political bias the more we will see a tumbling in the numbers of people trusting the news. This is where ethics and sound moral reasoning play a vital role in the survival of journalism. With these tools and codes of ethics laid out by organizations such as the Society of Professional Journalists, there will start to be a revival in trust between the journalist and the consumer. And that's exactly what this nation needs at the moment, trust. Trust that they are getting the right news, not tainted by the same things that have soured it in the first place.
And this trust is paramount because many journalistic practices that have become "the norm" according to the reading, are not necessarily ready to be either accepted or rejected by news consumers today. Journalism is an ever-flowing and changing profession, just as news and the way it is reported constantly changes as society changes. Ethics are absolutely vital to the survival of journalism and form the bedrock of trust between the journalist and the consumer. With no ethics, with no guiding moral principle, the world of journalism would turn into a Hobbesian dystopia, dominated by fear and selfishness. Now more than ever we need ethics.
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