Joe Weiner
jw441915@ohio.edu
Sources of guidance
The NPAA's code of ethics stood out to me for its specificity. The use of non-vague rules gives a clear guideline of moral and ethical expectations. One of their rules is to give complete context to images and video. This rule seems simple to up-and-coming students of journalism, but the broader media seems to have a problem with it. The issue is easily seen with a case like the Covington High School kids in Washington D.C. Both sides used different framing of the same photographs to push their agenda.
The common threads
As each of the publications go about their ethical principles, they all share common themes or ideas.
One thing they all emphasize is the importance of the truth. Journalists should be concerned with this principal anyway, but everyday the mainstream media seems to stray from it. Most of the sites emphasize truth above all else. That is our duty as journalists, to give the people facts so they can make informed decisions. Democracy rests on the shoulders of the press. It is our duty to keep government in check, which is something I think we've strayed from.
Another thing they repeatably emphasize is the importance of minimizing harm. One ethical dilemma journalists face often is riding the line between public good and not doing harm. Theses situations can often come with stories that are conflicts of interest. I think that having balanced coverage is a big part of minimizing public harm. Balance is pertinent in this day and age.
Another pillar of modern journalism to we are called to uphold is transparency. SPJ calls on its members to be transparent in their work. It's hard to not have transparency in the digital age, as much of what we do can be traced online. Being transparent means acknowledging when we are inaccurate in reporting, and implementing story corrections in an honest and open way. Our credibility and reputations rides on the basis of honest reporting. You often see big publications reveal a story or headline only to have to make corrections once the public has processed it. The problem is that the correction never gets the same amount of attention from viewers as the initial incorrect story did. If we are willing to dump information to the public, it must be accurate on the first posting of the story.
Life will only become more gray as we age, and the truth is buried somewhere in that grey area. Our duty is to try and navigate the gray through open an honest reporting. We must now, more than ever, try and bring the truth to light.
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| NPAA's code of ethics: https://nppa.org/code-ethics |
As each of the publications go about their ethical principles, they all share common themes or ideas.
One thing they all emphasize is the importance of the truth. Journalists should be concerned with this principal anyway, but everyday the mainstream media seems to stray from it. Most of the sites emphasize truth above all else. That is our duty as journalists, to give the people facts so they can make informed decisions. Democracy rests on the shoulders of the press. It is our duty to keep government in check, which is something I think we've strayed from.
Another thing they repeatably emphasize is the importance of minimizing harm. One ethical dilemma journalists face often is riding the line between public good and not doing harm. Theses situations can often come with stories that are conflicts of interest. I think that having balanced coverage is a big part of minimizing public harm. Balance is pertinent in this day and age.
Another pillar of modern journalism to we are called to uphold is transparency. SPJ calls on its members to be transparent in their work. It's hard to not have transparency in the digital age, as much of what we do can be traced online. Being transparent means acknowledging when we are inaccurate in reporting, and implementing story corrections in an honest and open way. Our credibility and reputations rides on the basis of honest reporting. You often see big publications reveal a story or headline only to have to make corrections once the public has processed it. The problem is that the correction never gets the same amount of attention from viewers as the initial incorrect story did. If we are willing to dump information to the public, it must be accurate on the first posting of the story.
Life will only become more gray as we age, and the truth is buried somewhere in that grey area. Our duty is to try and navigate the gray through open an honest reporting. We must now, more than ever, try and bring the truth to light.
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