St279916@ohio.edu
After attending an event showcasing Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, currently working at CBS News as an Executive Vice President of Strategic Professional Development, I was inspired by her words and reflected heavily on how ethics plays an important role in all journalistic work.
During her time at CBS, Ingrid has helped with various areas of culture and people, including professional development programs, mentoring, and inclusion in the workplace and throughout CBS’s news broadcasting and other media efforts.
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| https://www.cbsnews.com/team/ingrid-ciprian-matthews/ |
Although newsrooms can take down different pieces and posts from digital media sites, once journalists send out this information, it only takes one screenshot for the information to be out there forever. In our digital age, Ingrid explains that platforms are intermingling. There are large shifts happening, for example, The NY Times has print, video, digital media and more. When information is released by journalists that is of unethical standards, journalists and news brands can be tarnished in the public eye.
“Audience” Opposed to “Viewer”
I loved that Ingrid included the idea that journalists and newsrooms should not see the consumers as “viewers” but rather an “audience.” The audience is interacting with information, not just consuming and forgetting about it. News is impactful; Sometimes it harms our conscious and sometimes it uplifts it. No matter what it makes us feel, we are constantly interacting in one way or another. This distinction is important because the audience in America is changing. We can see the demographics of viewers shifting at rapid paces, in fact, according to Pew Research in September of 2019 we can see an increase of older Americans, black adults, and Americans with less education being interested in the news. Ingrid explains, “the newsroom has to be reflectant of the composition of the people in this country...We have to have diverse people in all ranks, making decisions that will ultimately impact coverage.” I could not agree more with this statement; In order to be ethical, we have to be inclusive to those who we are reporting about and the audiences we are targeting.
Citizen Journalists
Ingrid goes on to explain that in our social media and mobile technology abundant society, we are seeing a shift in the number of citizen journalists. Citizen journalists are anyone with a phone or another source of technology that can report and upload on various news issues and current events. One great question Ingrid highlighted was focused on how journalists are supposed to regain trust when it is broken between the public and newsrooms. She explains that being as transparent as possible is the best solution. This ethical practice is shown to be a standard in journalistic efforts and can include fact-checking. I believe invited people into the process is one of the best practices and efforts journalists can show to the public in order to regain trust again.
How does CBS enforce their Code of Ethics?
When asked how CBS enforces their Code of Ethics, Ingrid explains that anyone wanting to join CBS has to come in with the standards already weighing heavily on their minds. No matter where you are working in an organization, ethics is always relevant. She explains that they try to be vocal about the codes as frequently as possible and they make sure that people know these codes in person and correspondence.
Overall, Ingrid explained her fascinating story about her time at both CNN and CBS, where her work showcased how beneficial it is showcasing ethical codes to not only employees but the public as well.
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