Megan Gordin
mg525717@ohio.edu
As journalists and as people, we are required to have a moral compass, or a set of ethical guidelines, which we follow every day. It is our responsibility as journalists to think ethically in both our personal and professional lives. One of the most important values we must follow is the ability to respect others with differing opinions from our own.
Tom Rosenstiel and Bill Kovach, authors of The Elements of Journalism, summed up perfectly why diversity in the news so important: "Only in a setting in which all can bring their diverse viewpoints to bear can the news have any chance of accurately anticipating and reflecting the increasingly diverse perspective and needs of American culture." In today's ever-changing America, which becomes more and more polarized seemingly by the day, differing opinions are no longer valued, but instead attacked. How can we ensure that Americans are able to express themselves and their own opinions freely, without fear of backlash?
According to this Psychology Today report written by Glenn Geher, PhD, many Americans are continuously surrounded by like-minded individuals and do not expose themselves to other points of view, leading to a separation of people based mainly on their political affiliations. Polarized news sources, such as CNN and Fox News, allow individuals to remain in their bubbles of like-mindedness while consuming news. This has led to the polarization of issues which should not be political at all.
The responsibility of ensuring a fair and honest report falls into the laps of journalists, and it is important that journalists keep their reporting as neutral as possible in order to foster a safe environment for consumers of news. This is tricky, however, because every journalist -- like every human being -- has implicit, underlying biases. In this PBS NewsHour report, Betsy Mason explains how our implicit biases guide our everyday thinking about different groups of people. Mason also explained that while it is easy to recognize our implicit biases, it is hard to change them. As ethical journalists, we need to understand our own implicit biases and how they influence our thinking about every topic we report on, and we must actively learn how to work around these biases. We need to understand the disparities and challenges that other Americans face in their everyday lives when we report on tough issues.
When reporting, we as journalists need to understand how our work can affect our readers. We need to apply our moral compasses and use our conscience in order to display a fair and balanced news story.
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