The State of Journalism Today

Greg Schultz

gs711420@ohio.edu

 

 

Like most know, journalism is meant to have ethical integrity and give people the opportunity to express their opinion, but also be truthful, accurate with the information they put out, and have accountability. But it seems that in today's world and our current day in age, we can sometimes forget the basic ethical responsibilities we are given.

 

But with everything in this world, things start to develop and things change over time. Obviously with the use of social media and people having the ability to access internet at all times, sometimes the wrong information can be put out. I do think that journalism gets more hate than it should simply because they are not the ones that are always putting out false information. It can really be anybody though, some people will put information out just for clicks and a quick buck.

  

 

With the use of social media there is so much opinion going around and people giving their versions of "facts", it can get really messy. So I do think that journalism is only going to become tougher as time goes by due to the fact there are so many different voices.

There are some ethical guidelines that should be in place when it comes to journalism.

• Professional journalism associations, individual news organizations, and journalists themselves often have their own "code of ethics;" however, most share these basic principles:  truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness, and public accountability. 
• Many journalists also abide by the principle of "limitation of harm" which means that they have a responsibility to not harm others while reporting a story.  This is one major difference between professional journalists reporting for "reputable" news organizations as opposed to fringe news sources and fake news creators. 

As long as journalism strives to stick to its roots with honesty, integrity, devotion, and truthfulness, it can continue to grow. But they have to follow the ethical guidelines and not only make pieces due to their opinion on the matter, but to give information as the main focus.