The Codes of Ethical Journalism

Michael Roth

michaeljoroth@gmail.com

 

Maintaining a journalistic code for all media members is essential for the public to maintain knowledge of what is happening around them. Before the formal ethics code that was formally introduced in 1923, there were lots of examples of what Donald Trump would call today, 'fake news'.

Since the inception of the code, journalism has seen massive improvements within the industry by promoting truth, integrity and gaining public trust.

Many current codes of ethics emphasize similar characteristics for all of their journalists. For example, PRSA includes advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty and fairness. A few of these words might not be typically associated with ethics, but expertise is very important for a journalist to have if he/she will gain trust from their readers.

RTDNA follows a similar pattern, of recognizing the importance of making ethical decisions while on the job. This can include writing, photography, design, anchoring, etc that require study, diligence and practice.

Both of these groups are emphasizing the importance of making ethical decisions to follow the code, but also giving the reporters freedom to work for themselves and make the ethical decision that they think is best.

Picture credits: Kristen Rock

                           

Ethical codes do not have a rule-book for every problem that you will encounter as a journalist, it is essential to practice as much as possible to ensure that when the time comes that you are faced with an ethical dilemma, you are ready to make the correct decision.

For example, a writer for The Post omitted the name of a co-organizer of the Your Move protest. Multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against that person were brought to The Post’s attention and these actions do not align with their publication's ethics. I found this decision interesting because including the name of the organizer would not be supporting his allegations of sexual misconduct, it would be giving readers a full view of the story.

Another ethical dilemma that must be considered by journalists is reporting information about probable suspects in legal cases. This article showed how a wrong suspect was identified in a terror attack at Westminster. Should journalists be confident about spreading information leaked to them by police departments that could be factually incorrect? Consider the Richard Jewell case, where he had to fight through tons of emotional trauma after his name was dragged by the media for their suspected involvement in the Atlanta Olympics bombing. While spreading information about a suspect could lead to the authorities finding the person of interest quicker, it might also tarnish the reputation of an innocent bystander.

All of these questions and more can be aided by the code of ethics, but it is up to the individual reporters and producers to decide which decisions to make and which information to withhold from the public.