Do Ethical Codes Ensure Ethical Behavior?

Juliana Croce 

julzc314@gmail.com 

 

The Codes Themselves 

When it comes to understanding the reasons behind why journalists choose to make the decisions that they do, one of the first and most important aspects I look at are the codes themselves. When it comes down to it, journalists are a main resource for consumers across the board, thus giving them power over what content we are exposed to. 

Ethical codes and guidelines have been put in place to keep journalists in check, reminding them of the important role they play in society's consumption of news and events. The ethical codes have created margins in which journalists can freely disperse information as long as they follow the guidelines. 

I personally believe that an organization, company, or government's code of ethics tells the truth about their character and values, making them vital for journalism's survival. 

Journalistic Ethics 

The ethical codes that have been put in place for journalists give them a fair chance to express their journalistic abilities, but ultimately cannot control individual actions. 

Because of the presence of bias in society's media, there is a fog over the eyes of many companies and organizations when it comes to deciding what is and isn't ethical. Each individual organization, like the PRSA, has developed a code of ethics to then put in to place guidelines that reflect the conclusions they have come to about ethics. 

According to a Medium.com article, "being accountable and transparent in journalistic work is possibly the most important principle to follow to ensure a journalist will not break any other principles." 

After doing some research on transparency and accountability myself, the argument that it is one of the most important stands true in my book. The reasoning behind this statement is because journalists can be held accountable by having to give reason and response to why they are making the choices they are making. 

As the article states, it is a critical way to ensure journalists aren't breaking transparency guidelines, and are being truthful about upholding the rest of the codes. 

Are Codes Taken Seriously? 

Taking a look at advertisers and public relations specialists in particular, I have found that in many ways those codes are not always followed the way they should be. Many times, advertisers utilize their target audience, and won't bother to cater to the possible other audiences they could be reaching. This has left room for offensive content and miscommunication in the PR world. 

Throughout the decades, there have been plenty of examples of times when advertisements have crossed and blurred ethical lines to get points across and attempt to increase visibility. Insider magazine did an article on 15 Worst Ads of the Decade which display some of the most ethically questionable ads that have ever been published this past decade. 

In the end, I would take an educational guess and say that ethical codes will continue to develop over the coming years, and will act as a gateway for journalists to deliver reliable news in hopes to increase public trust.