New Values: What does it mean?

Hannah Yang | hy135010@ohiou.edu

I think as many budding journalists are making that trek into the news industry, we will also have to think about the future as we begin to look into some of the values of journalism. What affects it and if anything, do journalists have to adapt to a changing society? A changing time?

Yet, while reading over the code of Ethics and values, I've come to the conclusion, that it really just depends on you, the journalist, to decide whether something is more important to you.While I've been over the moon trying to figure out these different stories that could have significant meaning, I've also realized that to me, being myself as a reporter is important, as is sticking by my instincts.

I got to follow my sources and really engage myself in the story
regarding ROTC programs. Though I was immersed, I still remained
objective and transparent in what I wanted to know.  Photo | Hannah Yang

There were times when I had to remember what I specifically wanted to protect in my job. What I wanted to protect in my sources, what I wanted to protect in my hopes and dreams for the future of journalism.

I remember that it's always important to be transparent, to be engaging with the community that I am reporting for. As always, report on what is true.

Times have changed and values possibly can be changed as well. However, for the most part, they maintain the same thoughts and purposes that a journalist should hold near and dear to their heart. In the readings, there were descriptions of various different values that should still be important to a variety of people.

Frankly, I believe that transparency and sticking to reporting the best to our ability remains some of the most important things that a journalist can pull away from their experiences. We must be willing to report on anything that may harm our community.

We are the watchdogs of our communities, and anything that could potentially destroy that public trust is what I think is the biggest failure of journalism. We are here to establish that trust between us and our community. We have to be transparent during times of confusing and dissension. We have to be strong and courageous to question things and getting out of our comfort zones.

I remember covering an event where the topic of mental health and suicide prevention was the main focus. Speakers of all kinds attended, including one woman who courageously shared her experiences of being admitted into rehabilitation because of her suicide attempts. I wanted to make sure that, even if it was being told in public, that it was OK to publish her name in the newspaper. She agreed.

Sometimes, our industry forgets the most important thing about news is that we must never forget those we serve, our communities, our publications, our loved ones and also ourselves. This profession, in my opinion, can never be for the faint of heart or the wary. No matter what the story is, we must be willing to protect, to be transparent and report to the best of our ability.

I covered the Stop the Silence event that sought out awareness
for mental health and suicide prevention. It was a somber event, but
filled with hope. Photo | Hannah Yang

Though an argument can be presumably be made that too much transparency can intercede our independence, I disagree. I believe that maintaining a relationship with your sources and your community is a service and that it'd be a major instigator of public trust if the various journalists began hiding what they were reporting or if they had some ulterior motive in the things they reported on.

I believe as journalists, we must be transparent with our readers because we must be able to trustworthy in their eyes. We want to exhibit several things with them, however, it's important to remember that transparency does not inhibit our ability to do our jobs and being independent but fosters the relationships we have with our communities. We cannot betray trust, but if trust is what we need within our news industry, then our values have to coincide with it.

This video is a project that ABC News Primetime used to expose different situations and how others would response to it. In these cases, however, I'm not sure this is what warrants transparency. Though this does expose different aspects of society, I feel that it is not honest because everything is staged and participants know nothing about this. I feel that being 100 percent honest with your audience is important in all aspects of journalist.

Really, values depend on situation, time as well as the individual. But, we must remember not to compromise what we strive to be.

Journalism and the People It Serves

Paola Santiago Del Castillo

Ps988612@ohio.edu

In a world where news comes at you from every angle and form of media distribution, ethical journalism has come to the highest peak of importance. News is no longer anchored to print and TV. In today’s day and age, an individual can choose to get their news anywhere, whether that be Twitter, Facebook or The New York Times. Journalists now have to strive for certain ethical values more than ever before. They also have to deal with and enhance to ongoing evolution of these values as their audience changes and grows.

Independency vs. Transparency

Journalists are taught from day one to strive for truth, no matter what. Independency teaches us to write and inform without being influenced by outside parties that waver from the truth and integrity of a story or the journalist. 

Transparency teaches us to reveal the clockwork of story to further establish credibility. Some journalists think that transparency is getting out of hand and is used as a means to bandage rather than heal splotchy journalism. Yet transparency works with indecency in that it serves to establish a standard for journalistic credibility. 

In this way transparency and independency urges us, as journalists, to focus on informing the public as clearly as possible, and it encourages the public to read on and trust that the information they are getting is accurate.

Engaging the Community

(Not to be confused with community journalism, or journalism with a focus on a specific community rather than national or international news.) In the marketplace of ideas, information is transient and free-flowing. Therefore, it makes sense that the community which receives information should have an important role in its making. 

This is not to say that journalists should ignore the value of independency but rather that they should consider the needs, interests and goals of the public they are serving. After all, our duty as journalists is to the public.

In the age of digital media, the public creates a community for themselves by commenting on, liking or up-voting what they read and view on the Internet. It is our job as journalists to pay close attention to these communities as they help improve our methods of research, distribution and communication. We can only know how to interact with our audience if we immerse ourselves in it and if we make it our goal to further improve community ties and bonds through ethical journalism.

 

Photo Credit: Ebony 

The public is no longer looking for a cut and dry story. They want interactivity and connections to other news sources. Their thirst for knowledge has never been bigger and because news belongs to the public, it is a journalist’s job to serve the public. 

Using transparency should no longer be seen as detrimental but as a means to serve the community and provide that instant gratification of information and interactivity that our public craves. Engaging the community is not only in the best interest of the journalist but of the community itself. Without and news sources that they can rely on, where else can we expect our public to inform themselves?

Ethics Adaptability

Sam Schooler
ss521013@ohio.edu

In "The New Ethics of Journalism," Kelly McBride and Tom Rosenstiel discuss the changing face of journalism as something journalists need to be able to adapt to and grow with. As technology improves, people have increased ways of sharing information almost instantaneously, and in an era where the touch of a button can mean a mistake in validity or a split-second slip of a journalist’s good judgment, McBride and Rosenstiel suggest an improved code of ethics.

Out with the old, in with the new? Not quite. The suggested code keeps the original “golden three”--seek the truth and report it fully, minimize harm and act independently — and builds upon them, adding “be transparent” and “engage community as an end rather than a means.”

http://socialwebthing.com/2013/08/a-lesson-in-radical-transparency/

With the constant shift of technology and the constant shift in the way people consume news, McBride and Rosenstiel insist that journalists remain hooked into the community for which they’re reporting.

Truth is still the goal, of course—in journalism, truth is always the goal. The old code isn’t so much “old” as it is transformable: it can be added to as needed to encompass how journalism interacts with the world, and how journalists should walk in it.

Steve Buttry’s review of McBride and Rosenstiel’s book praises it as a high-standard manual of journalistic etiquette but suggests giving journalists-in-training specific, situational advice. 

Is this a good idea? Journalists nowadays are trained for the digital world—we’re digital natives, people who have grown up using advanced technology and who will continue to adapt as new technology improves not only the news media but the functioning of almost every part of our world.

With this expansion comes a harsher environment, so does Buttry have a point? Should our journalists be trained to better understand situations that could occur because of technological advances? It certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing to have journalists prepared for specific situations, but at the same time, it’s nearly impossible to train fledgling journalists for every difficult situation they will encounter.

Difficult situations, McBride and Rosenstiel advise, should be handled with transparency. Even more so now than ever before, news sources and journalists should strive to be transparent. Sources should be indicated and named as much as possible. Journalists should be transparent themselves — with the Internet, it’s as easy to make up a story as it is to fact-check.

Stephen J.A. Ward of MediaShift warns journalists off potential over-transparency, however. He argues that when transparency is over-commodified, it can distort other important ethics of journalism and be more harmful than positive. He gives an example: In “old” journalism, a reporter may say, “I am biased, but I am honest and transparent,” whereas, he argues, in modern journalism, a journalist often comes up with reasons to justify their biases.

Whether you subscribe to all these ideas, any of them or none of them, it’s impossible to deny that journalism is changing. It is a shifting beast, and in order to practice it to the best of our ability, journalists must maintain a strong core of ethics—adaptability included.

Transforming Journalism Ethics

Alex Westerh
aw366209@ohio.edu
--

Journalism has transformed more over the last decade than any other period in time, leaving questions about the future unanswered. The line of ethical decision making has been blurred by the advent of the Internet and the ease of publishing. Now everyone can produce their own content and act as their own publisher and editors as well. What is more alarming is this can be done anonymously.

No longer does someone have to be accountable to what they pass off as information. Many modern day bloggers are paid for favorable reviews. Others have a bias and are not transparent with their affiliations. Some blatantly lie.

Image courtesy of leadershipcloseup.com

Despite this grime fact, all is not lost. There is still a place in journalism for good ethical decision making to support good journalism. The basic fundamentals such as truth, transparency and minimizing harm can all be applied to the new era of journalism. The line between “true journalists” and bloggers will continue to blur as time goes on, but no matter who is producing news content, one must hold themselves responsible to their actions.

The public will always seek good journalism, no matter its form. Whether online or in print truth and accuracy will always matter. Those trained in journalism ethics will have a foot up on accurate reporting and thus become more successful promoting good journalism. The people must lead the way in proper journalism ethics.

In 2009, Tim O’Reilly, Harvard graduate and founder of O’Reilly Media, a company that publishes books and websites, took a stab at establishing a blogger’s code of ethics. This code established seven main principles that have much overlap with many professional journalism organization’s code of ethics.

1. Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
2. Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
3. Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
4. Don't feed the trolls.
5. Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
6. If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so.
7. Don't say anything online that you wouldn't say in person.

However, it rests with the public as a whole to demand and support good ethical journalism. I have faith that the values of truth and transparency will take root in the 21st Century. There is an medium between clinging to old values and resisting progress and throwing away all morals as suggested by some.

Ethics Face Lift

Kate Schroeder
ks460910@ohio.edu
@kschroeds7

Call me the poster child for the new era of journalism. On one hand I am dreaming of The New York Times, and on the other I am worried about coming up with the perfect tweet or vamping up my online profile. Either I am hearing about how journalism is a dying field or I am being lectured on how to make the perfect blog. Certainly the world of journalism is changing rapidly and we dancing around trying to decide what direction to take it. Do we stick to the same old principles or do we make them new and trendy? What are good ethical practices in this day and age and what are not?

With a changing field, revising the journalism code of ethics is extremely important for future success. Out with the old and in with the new! It's time for a face lift! We are no longer in the glory days of Walter Cronkite or print journalism powerhouses. We are in an era where news is going digital. Where everyone can be a journalist. Where Twitter is the new 6 o'clock news. (USA Today article on Twitter as the 21^st Century news outlet.)

Competition between professional journalists is an all out war. Not only are we competing against the neighboring news organizations, but all the bloggers and Twitter handles on the Internet. This makes it imperative to define ourselves by ethical guidelines relevant to the changing world of journalism around us. This is best accomplished by highlighting the importance of engaging the community as an end rather than as a means, which is stated in this week's readings.

Although I agree with this installment, I would go beyond just engaging the community to label this principle as “serving the community." The change from, “minimizing harm” to “serving the community” would give a different tone to our ethics principles. It emphasizes the impact we have on the public and brings our attention to making the best decisions for the community rather than selfish ones.

To me, minimizing harm does not initiate a call to action. Rather it is a yellow stoplight. It alerts you to slow down, but how many people do you know who actually do that? It could also be interpreted in different ways. What is harmful to some might not be to others and most likely you will always harm someone. It also does not define who you are serving or give specific perimeters to follow.

Serving and engaging the community requires professional journalists to collaborate more, which eliminates bias. It requires us to understand the community's needs allowing us to be a voice between the public and the government. It opens the doors for important discussions across the whole community instead of the sealed doors of a conference room at the station. As a main principal, it is the glue that holds all of our guiding principles together. It holds us accountable for our actions and reactions. It helps us be better journalists and it defines where journalism falls in the new era.

The Evolution of Ethics and Transcending Truth

Olivia Usitalo
ou813610@ohio.edu   


In their book titled “New Guiding Principles for a New Era of Journalism," Kelly McBride and Tom Rosenstiel describe the evolving world of moral and ethical decision making as apart of the media and news. With journalism entering a “digital age” where the Internet, social media and other computer-mediated communications have become the prominent forms of content curation and reporting, some typical ethical codes must be rearranged to better fit with society’s viewpoints today.

Even though certain codes are being rearranged, some are concretely permanent. McBride/Rosenstiel say that “journalists... cannot give up dedication to truth and accuracy on behalf of the public, but they must find new ways to fulfill that commitment” (1).

The authors speak about the differential forms of journalism in society, and how it can pose great risks to society as a whole, affecting the individual and the economical. Because of new technology, journalism is no longer a select field of reporters and writers. Journalism has expanded into the public; anyone can comment and report something newsworthy.

With the news being so much more open, reliable journalism is left vulnerable to corruption. McBride/Rosenstiel write that “without [reliable journalism] democracy fails... the powerful will become less accountable... the public will be more at risk” (2). They then list the new set of “Guiding Principles of Journalists” as follows:

1. Seek truth and report it as fully as possible
2. Be transparent 
3. Engage community as an end, rather than as a means.

Although truth still stands as the main priority and ultimate goal, many become confused with the definition of what “truth” actually entails. According to McBride/Rosenstiel, “where we once argued for independence, we now advocate transparency... the test is in how journalism is produced, not necessarily who produces it” (4).

Being a “transparent journalist” will drive those in the media to be as honest as they could be; it calls for “intellectual honesty and integrity in every step of their work” (5). A public that recognizes the transparent honesty of journalists will emulate those ethical values in their own use of journalism- whether it be through traditional methods or social media.
   
As with all change, the media must consistently improve itself in order to stay relevant in a constantly evolving society. Technology is only going continue to integrate itself in the world, and it is up to journalists to adopt a flexible code of ethics that can transcend that change.

Tradition Dies Hard

Kayla Welch
kwelch938@yahoo.com

It should come as no surprise when people in today's society talk about the use of print media declining and the social network "takeover." Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, etc. are becoming more and more popular with people and are dominating the ways for information to be obtained.

This domination is making journalists adapt and change with the times. Journalists are now finding ways to access their readers/viewers. More and more newspapers are being published online in which readers can access and subscribe, as it is quicker and easily accessible to people who may be working or on the go. A big example of this is The New York Times, in which you are quickly able to become a digital subscriber.

It all starts as simple as Facebook, in which advertisements are selectively placed on your sidebar as you're browsing. Ever notice that these advertisements adhere to your own personal interests? Facebook goes into your account settings for certain interests and 'likes' you may have and publishes advertisements on the sidebar to gain your interest to click on them, thus directing you to their website.

Another social network taking over is Twitter. Many young people and companies are starting to use Twitter more to publicize their brand and their name, however Twitter has many downfalls against print media and the news.

There are many false stories or stories that people publish thinking they have all their facts straight, when in reality are not completely correct. The story spreads, more people believe it is 100 percent factual, and the cycle continues to spread. This is leading to an increasing distrust in mainstream media and the journalists who report the news.

Then there is the question of who is a journalist. As social networking increases, it seems easy for absolutely anyone to classify themselves as a reporter or a journalist. Does simply taking a picture on Instagram makes one a photographer, publishing a blog on Xanga makes you a journalist, and taking a video of yourself makes you a reporter?

It is hard to distinguish a "real" journalist from one who "claims" to be one, especially when many people go to school for years for that title. There has clearly not just been a transformation of information, but a transformation of power to the people who feel they are entitled as a journalist. 

Social networking and the improvements in the world wide web have dramatically transformed journalism and the news. Many people say that in the future there will not even be a need for people to go to school to become a journalist, however, I do not agree with this.

Just because mainstream media is transforming into less print media and more visual and social, I feel the need for journalists will always be around in our society. People will continually be intrigued by what is going on in the world, and it is important for "real" journalists to get the truth out there. Without the truth and ethical codes being followed by college-educated reporters, there is no telling what stories could be out there that people could believe.

Tradition dies hard, but it will be interesting to see where the future in expanding social media will lead us.