The Truth of the Matter

Courtney Perrett
cp160517@ohio.edu

In the era of "fake news," creating an ethical environment is key to making ethical decisions and reporting truthfully. Credibility is one of the major cornerstones of the journalism industry and it centers around journalists making ethical decisions that reflect the values of the media outlet they represent.

Journalists and PR professionals who belong to institutions like SPJ and PRSA have pledged to abide by the highest code of professional ethics, integrity and responsibility. These institutions have high standards for ethical behavior and reinforce this standard among their following. In a time when "fake news" spreads like wildfire through the news and social media, it is important to recognize that the whole point of the media is to shine a light on the truth of current events and bring that truth to the public's attention through fair and honest reporting. If people don't believe that the news media has integrity, the era of "fake news" will gain more traction and bigger problems will begin to stir within the realm of corporate journalism.

https://womensenews.org/2018/08/truth-or-loyalty-in-journalism-there-is-no-choice/

The power of disclosure is everything, but it also has a shelf life. PR specialists know that disclosing an error is a lot better than the repercussions if an honest mistake is gone undisclosed. Public relations firms and journalists spend a lot of time deliberating about whether content is ethical to publish or not. SPJ and PRSA help provide guidelines to make these decisions a little clearer.

I think this plays into the idea of creating an ethical environment where the leadership of the organization creates an ethical standard and expectations for the company. This standard is important because it sets a precedent for employees to follow when making an ethical decision. It also means that the organization can create a code of ethical guidelines and share them on their website and social media so that they're visible and easy to recognize by potential new clients.

Then we come to the epidemic of "fake news." The leadership of organizations and the government influences the way in which business is conducted and the way the news is presented. This includes the ethical responsibility the media has to the people to be transparent, even if it's uncomfortable or difficult. Unfortunately, in an age where "fake news" is so pervasive, the media is having to prove their transparency every single day. An example of this was when President Trump referred to the news media as "the real enemy of the people." Ethical leadership (or otherwise) filters down from people in powerful positions and creates an environment that disregards the importance of honesty and the integrity of the facts.

This rhetoric means that journalists have to be able to explain the process behind editorial choices to run content based on ethical decision making practices. The future and authenticity of the journalism industry depends on this.

Corporate journalism is also changing the avenues through which traditional journalism has always been communicated. According to Quartz, journalism is taking a more subtle approach to reporting by using the concept of storytelling. While this idea sounds good in theory, telling stories to readers who have none or very little faith in the integrity of the content they're consuming is neither useful nor productive. Therefore, I think it's important to create an ethical environment in both PR firms and journalism outlets because having strong ethics will keep us closer to the truth of the matter every single time.