Journalism and Ethics

Ella Umbarger 

eu594318@ohio.edu 

    Ethics and displaying ethical behavior is very important when it comes to journalism. You need to make sure you hold others and yourself accountable. Many employers look for employees with strong ethics. Having your own personal code of ethics and learning the professional codes of ethics can help.

    
 There are so many professional ethical codes available. The SPJ code of ethics provides a great . Their main principles are Seek Truth and Report It, Minimize Harm, Act Independently, and Be Accountable and Transparent. Under each principle it says what a journalist should do. While working on my case study I found myself referring back to the SPJ code of ethics constantly. 

    The PRSA code of ethics helps provide public relations with a handy guide . Their professional values are advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty, and fairness. PRSA also has a PRSA code provisions of conduct The provisions are free flow of information, Competition, Disclosure of Information, Safeguarding Confidences, Conflicts of Interest, and Enhancing the Profession. Each provision goes over the intent, guidelines, and examples of improper conduct under the provision. Using the information PRSA has provided can help you in ethical dilemmas.  

Image by abc.net.au

      We all have our own personal codes of ethics that we can rely on. Whether it is our own moral codes or religion. Before learning professional codes of ethics, I used my own moral code to make decisions.

     When I had to do our case study last week I got an insight into having to make a difficult ethical decision. The case study showed a real-life situation and had me make a decision and explain my thought process of the decision. I also had to identify the stakeholders in the situation and my ethical obligation to each. 

    

    Balancing ethical obligations with what I should do as a journalist was very difficult and it was a learning experience. I wanted to report the truth but I wanted to make sure I was not going against any of my ethical obligations to the stakeholders.

     

    Trust between the public and journalists has always been an issue. There has been a growing lack of trust in recent years. An ethical question that has come up more and more is using consumer data. Advertisers use this data to create advertising campaigns. People now have growing concerns about the privacy of their data. The data is helpful but is that information more important than users' privacy.