Can Journalists Escape Conflict of Interest?

Avery Ovens

ao138618@ohio.edu

averyovenss@gmail.com

  

https://sfmagazine.com/post-entry/december-2020-resolving-conflicts-of-interest/

    Conflict of interest is a huge ethical issue when it comes to journalists or those who practice public relations. When a conflict of roles is brought to the public's attention, it can cause major concerns regarding their impartiality. These professionals may struggle to define the line between professional interests and personal interests putting them in difficult positions to act on the right thing to do. The right thing to do is avoid these situations at all costs and if unable to do so, disclose it as soon as possible. This helps save face and build trust with clients, employers, and the public. 

https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet02-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/5c1270dbb5a74/2401437?X-Blackboard-Expiration=1634407200000&X-Blackboard-Signature=XAbEN2Ukz0DW%2F0Psn5wpZgQ53ArEd8j53GdqDRVKUvM%3D&X-Blackboard-Client-Id=100342&response-cache-control=private%2C%20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Common%2520PR%2520Conflicts.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20211016T120000Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PL5SJBSTP6%2F20211016%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=e4848d590b6564d4033baf26ee0be38b11c47659851ed75ddfabaf0a22287a9f    

    Sometimes, journalists have a harder time deciding if something is considered a conflict of interest. When reporting on something seeking only the truth, journalists may also agree on the report to be morally right in their own personal beliefs. Does one need to explain why they feel the way they do when reporting on something their values align with? No journalist is un-biased, it is impossible but to admit this may be the right thing to do to correctly do their job and act ethically. People enter this profession to report on things they feel passionate towards but learning to avoid bias by seeing all parts of a story and taking personal feelings out helps to maintain fairness to their readers even on something they truly care about. Being transparent about personal feelings within the report also can help to reject bias in a story. 

http://greatlakesecho.org/2010/03/06/reporting-with-a-bias-for-a-clean-environment/#

    Things get even harder when reporting on something that aligns with personal beliefs when a family member or loved one is involved in the story. It would be bias to continue to report because the public would automatically reject the coverage even if it is only the truth simply because of the relation between the members of story and the reporter. Not allowing a situation like this to occur would be the best thing to do and the only way to do that as a reporter would be to step away from the job and find something completely different to cover while letting someone completely uninvolved in the situation cover the truth. Family loyalty is a known principle and reporting on a loved one would be a major conflict of interest that cannot be escaped by any means.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/media-administration-deal-with-conflicts/2013/06/12/e6f98314-ca2e-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html

    Overall, journalists face this ethical issue in many ways. Sometimes being transparent and honest about their personal beliefs and values will be enough to still report on a story. But sometimes if a journalist has too close of a relationship to someone in the story, it is better to not report at all and leave it to someone else to capture the truth because it may be too difficult for the audience and the journalist to see it for themselves. Conflict of interest is very tricky in the media but being aware and finding the best solution to each issue with the main priority of fairness to the audience will always be the best resolutions.