Music Journalism: Where is the Ethical Line?

Maddie Fisher

mf909217@ohio.edu

Image source: Pixabay

    

It's no secret that the entertainment industry is riddled with corruption. In the music world, corruption has directly impacted the public perception of artists and the sales of albums, concert tickets, and merchandise. So how does that long-standing issue continue to impact the music and journalism industries?

Some would argue that the music industry has built-in conflicts of interest. With offers of free merchandise, music, dinners, shows, or even trips from musicians' PR teams, journalists have a huge danger of forming a bias toward or against specific musicians. Some journalists even befriend the subjects they are supposed to be writing about. In any other sector of journalism, that would be deemed unacceptable. However, in music journalism, it is almost the norm. 

According to the SPJ Code of Ethics, journalists are held accountable for upholding these values when faced with conflicts of interest:

- "Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it. Use sources whenever possible."

- "Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts."

- "Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel, and special treatment, and avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility."

- "Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; do not pay for access to news. Instead, identify content provided by outside sources, whether paid or not."

- "Deny favored treatment to advertisers, donors or any other special interests, and resist internal and external pressure to influence coverage."

- "Expose unethical conduct in journalism, including within their organizations."

- "Abide by the same high standards they expect of others."

Though it would be ideal for all journalists to uphold those values, music journalists often make exceptions or blatantly disregard them. For example, some perks are considered "essential evils," and the information derived from the kickbacks is too valuable to refuse. 

Since corruption is by no means new to the entertainment industry, and it will likely never entirely disappear, journalists must figure out where their ethical lines are and how to operate around them. Every journalist is their person and will operate by their ethical codes. To end the cycle of corruption, someone has to make a change. Educating emerging journalists about the long-term impacts of these conflicts on all stakeholders may be the first step. From there, we must have faith that new generations of journalists will want to transform the dynamic to offer the world fairer, more truthful information.