Reporting the Truth of Your Conflicts

Nathaniel Moore
nm372915@ohio.edu

(Photo by Brashearsinsurance.com)

In the modern world, journalism is experiencing more and more distrust from the public due to stories containing "fake news" and conflicts of interests not being disclosed. At the heart of all journalists and every media professional should be the purpose of journalism itself: to report the truth and keep those in power in check. Unfortunately, today we see more and more media professionals push the main purpose of journalism farther and farther into the back of their minds, leading to controversy and a lack of credibility not only for the journalists who share this mindset, but also the whole field of journalism in general. Ever heard of the saying, "one bad apple spoils the whole bunch?" In the field of journalism today, this saying couldn't be truer.

However, not all hope is lost, especially when it comes to conflicts of interests. When it comes to conflict of interests in a news story, the news organization should try its best to avoid assigning reporters to stories where conflicts of interests may possibly exist. This requires editors and the heads of these publications to do their research on the story topic and also the reporter. An editor must know his or her staff in order to avoid these conflicts of interests before it's too late and the news organizations loses credibility.

While it is imperative for an editor to know and understand his or her staff in order to avoid conflicts of interests, sometimes there are moments where the editor cannot research every one of his or her staff members in order to avoid this issue. In return, the responsibility ultimately falls onto the reporter to self-examine his or herself and identify his or her own conflicts of interests before and after writing the story.




As mentioned before, the main purpose of journalism is to report truth. Therefore, when writing a story to be publicized, it is essential for journalists to report their conflict of interests in order to report all of the truth that surrounds this story. Not only is it the main purpose of journalism to report truth about the public world they live in, but also to report the truth about their own conflicts of interests that exist within their work. In order for a news story to be credible, both sides of the deal (the public truth and the journalist's conflict of interests) needs to be reported in order to capture the whole story.

According to the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communications, disclosing one's conflict of interests is one of the most effective ways for a journalist to avoid present and future controversy. When a reporter discloses his or her conflict of interests, he or she is fulfilling their end of the "journalism bargain" by reporting the whole story and being honest with the public. In some cases, despite a journalist disclosing his or her conflicts of interests, some of the public will still believe the story is biased and lacks credibility. However, this sort of worst-case scenario is better than the reporter not disclosing his or her conflicts interests at all, creating a total lack of credibility if and when the public becomes the one to have to disclose the reporter's conflicts of interests. While a minority of the public may go against a reporter's disclosure, all of the public will go against a reporter's dishonesty.

While it may seem like it today, not all hope is lost for journalists and the world of journalism. The world is always going to have stories that need to be reported on in order for the public to know about the world around them. Nonetheless, it is essential for journalists to conduct their main purpose of reporting the truth and, just like any other profession, to be honest with their boss and own selves when it comes to conflicts of interests. Even though a reporter's conflict of interests may be overlooked my the majority or may acquire an audience's empathy, it still doesn't change the fact a journalist's job is to be unbiased towards a story in order to find the complete, truthful package.

If practices of nondisclosure and dishonesty continue, then so will the public's trust in journalism. In order to combat this increase in skepticism by the public and put today's journalism back on the right path, it is important journalists report the whole truth behind the story, including their own conflicts of interests. Without fulfilling both ends of the journalism bargain and identifying all pieces of truth, journalism will never complete the puzzle of gaining back the public's trust when it comes to information surrounding the world we live in today.