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Ethic Codes in Our Modern World
Many companies today use social media to reach out to their audiences. It's increasingly becoming the most popular way to grab the attention of possible consumers. But are these companies, government entities, or organizations really following the code of ethics that advertisers and public relations professionals are supposed to live by?
Image courtesy of The Wall Street Journal
One of PRSA's main principles in its code of ethics is:
This means that journalists are to follow truth and accuracy when reporting a story. Honestly, I believe journalists have ignored this principle and have started selling stories for entertainment rather than reporting the facts to the people who depend on the news to understand what's happening in the world right now. It seems like every story you hear on the news anymore is falsified in one aspect or another. Most TV programs also are biased towards one political spectrum, therefore, the public relations professionals working for the station, stretch the truth to make their side look better. I often wonder if what I'm actually seeing on the news or reading in my Twitter feed is actually accurate and not just propaganda created by the media.
The first principle of the AAF is similar to the truth principle of PRSA. It states:
This explains that everyone who works within the media is supposed to provide accuracy and truth to their reporting. They owe it to the public to report factual evidence so the public can know what is going on throughout the world. Like I said before, I honestly don't believe advertisers and public relations professionals are following these rules. There are thousands of stories that are written everyday and they all seem to have different evidence to back up their opinions, so it's impossible to know what to believe.
Opinions are another thing that shouldn't be involved in journalism. The role of a journalist is to inform.
Not to say all principles of the code of ethics within the AAF and PRSA are not being followed correctly, but in my opinion, it seems like nowadays journalists care more about selling the story and getting people wrapped up in drama rather than exposing hard-hitting truth to the public. Journalists were meant to inform people about anything and everything and it seems like a lot of that has been lost in translation in the modern times of today.
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