aa384716@ohio.edu
It's no secret as technology has advanced and America as a society has changed, jouranlism has changed. With such a large focus on the 24-hour news cycle, getting information out as soon as possible to beat the competition and digital journalism, the aspects that define ethical journalism, have changed.
This has left public trust of journalists dwindling and the journalism community thinking about how to best remain ethical in the digital age.
The Poynter Institute describes in the book, "The New Ethics of Journalism," how their recommendations for ethical journalism have changed.
In the 1990s, the original ethical guidelines Poynter created were as follows:
- Seek truth and report it as fully as possible
- Act independently
- Minimize Harm
Those three things are still on Poynter's list of guidelines, but the following have been added:
- Be transparent
- Engage community as an end, rather than as a means
Poynter says that last point means journalists should have the goal of understanding the needs of the community they're serving and to make sure there's a way for community members to get in contact with them.
These ethical guidelines are mirrored, at least in part, by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association.
Ethical guidelines are great, but at the end of the day that's all they are: guidelines. It's up to each individual journalist to be ethical in their reporting, which is only easy in theory.
As an outsider, it's easy to say "why can't they name that source; I don't trust them," or "they're so biased." From the inside, it's easy to see how difficult the decision was to use an unnamed source or how hard everyone worked to make the story as fair and balanced as possible. As someone who's seen a little bit of both, I can see why it's hard to get the public to understand the journalists and vice versa, but I can also see how important it is.
Source: Arizona Public Media
The above video discusses not only how journalists should tackle ethical journalism in the digital era, but also tries to tackle where the distrust of the news media is coming from and what can be done to solve this.
Some of the solutions tie directly back to these codes of ethics. For example, being transparent is a key, in my opinion, to increasing public trust in journalism. This transparency can come in many forms, but the form I think is most effective is showing viewers/readers where and how you're getting the information you're reporting.
As discussed in a previous post, David Fahrenthold does a great job at this. If I was aware of another journalist that practices transparency in this way I'd tell you about them, but Fahrenthold's reporting is what I strive to make my reporting look like when it comes to transparency.
Source: David Fahrenthold
To see the full Tweet, which displays even better how Fahrenthold uses Twitter for transparency, and the full context behind the above picture, click here.
The bottom line is, times have changed and journalists are still adjusting, but ethics are more important than ever in the news industry.
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