The Ebb and Flow of Media Ethics

 Ann Sims | as770992@ohio.edu

Different Platforms, Different Rules

Most major media platforms have a code of ethics.  The approved ways to do things in the best interest of the story, the subject, and the publication.  Don't accept gifts, don't be politically aligned.  Uphold your profession, check for accuracy.  Be a watchdog for justice.  Uphold the truth.  Seek the opposing viewpoints too.  

The codes of ethics vary a little according to the sort of media.  The nuances of the business being conducted are coming through.  Sometimes getting coverage because of gifts is your business--you're in public relations.  So obviously they operate differently than news photographers.  

Sometimes No Rules

The Society for Professional Journalists is particularly interesting.  They have a very specific code of ethics, which boils down to seek truth, report it, and minimize harm.  The lines are becoming blurred between reporting and editorial, which seems an ethical conflict.  The SPJ  they say they can't actually enforce or investigate the code, but it does need some revising.  Journalism's right for a free press is very important and a core value.  To make journalism regulated would go against the entire spirit of American journalism.  

Instead, journalists are left to root out and counter what they are in opposition with.  

Where is the SPJ Code today?  

  

Where is the Code of Ethics for Influencers?

All of the professions whose codes of ethics we read are all from the media.  Those who take information and material and present it to the public.  It is our history in the making, our entertainment, our culture.  Our reality.  But it's being shaped and changed all the time as we take in new things every day.  

We are now in an age where we have less of a general shared culture.  Instead of the Thursday Night TV lineup, we find our own path on any one of hundreds of platforms of our choosing.  We can be a follower or a creator.  We can present ourselves with our real names and pictures or we are able to create any persona we want to.  

Who creates the content?  They've come to be known as Influencers.  This might make you imagine JoJo Siwa or someone applying makeup and talking about the products.  But today's influencers are an industry that is rising.  How would one apply or enforce such a code?  It is the same dilemma as enforcing the SPJ code--leaving it to the individual to be accountable and accurate.    

Journalism and Influencers

How are journalists and news stories perceived by the newer generations growing up in the Influencer Age?  Are they seen as something apart, or is news just part of YouTube and Instagram?  Are the lines between journalism and influencing starting to blur?  Who are the sources?  Who is being responsible?  Who is just saying inflammatory things?  Who playing on fears?  Who is helping people be informed?  

If news journalism is to be unbiased according to the RTDNA code of Ethics, how does that account for news journalism with target audiences?  I saw this meme a day or so after the Buffalo tragedy and it sparked a lot of thoughts concerning journalism ethics.  If Tucker Carlson did indeed influence Gendron to murder, what level of responsibility does Carlson have?  According to Fox News attorneys, none.  They argued in a 2020 slander lawsuit that the audience knew to treat his show with skepticism.  Is that made known?  If the intention of the show is to be taken skeptically, why isn't there a disclaimer to say that?

Ethics

You can join all the societies you want to, but ethics really comes down to you.  Trust what is right, no matter your profession.