The 5 Core Values of Journalism

Debra Blackburn

db303196@ohio.edu

 

What direction is your moral compass leading you?

Where is journalism headed today and should we trust what we are hearing?  According to The Elements of Journalism,  if journalism -- the system by which citizens get news -- was being subsumed by commercialization, what would replace it?  Advertising?  Entertainment?  E-Commerce?  Propaganda?  Ideological news?  Fragmentation?

Picture source: Tattoos and Arts by Evan Hunter

 

Why we seek the news

According to The Elements of Journalism, people want to know what is happening around them and they also have a desire to know beyond their own experiences. The news is not being abandoned, people are just seeking it in other ways. Journalists were fighting the change in how news was being delivered and not recognizing the opportunities it presented to reach a broader audience. We need news to survive, bond with one another to identify our friends and enemies. Technologists have coined the term social flow of information to describe this phenomena.

                   

 Credibility

First and foremost a journalist must follow the code of ethics. They have an obligation to exercise their personal conscience. Every journalists must have some personal sense of ethics and responsibility -- a moral compass. A heavy burden lies on the organizations that broadcast news and the individuals that report the news. There is no agency regulating or policing the media. Journalism is an act of character according to The Elements of Journalism.

Culture and Diversity

The goal is to create a newsroom that more accurately represents the people ethically, racially and by gender.  President Bill Clinton said, "The local newspaper or TV station may 'look like America' but it won't think like the community and it wont understand it or be able to cover it." Diversity in the Newsroom

Conclusion

The viewer chooses the platform that delivers the media.  It is our responsibility to select an ethical news outlet and also to question the media.  Avoiding filter bubbles, exposing ourselves to other opinions when they differ from our own and fact checking will help ensure that our moral compass is leading us in the right direction.