Personal Code of Ethics

I have learned a lot over the semester about what journalism is. Quite honestly when I signed up for the class I thought of journalists in a rather stereotypical way; however, now I understand the different methods and issues surrounding the profession.
    I think that good journalism can only be achieved when the journalist is first loyal to the pubic. I think that it is very easy for journalists to forget who they are writing for and also who they are writing to.
    In most great stories there was this one common theme. Loyalty to the public. The watergate scandal was an important case because it showed the public just how corrupt Nixon had become. It meant something to the public and it was an important story. It wasn’t just shocking or career changing. It was important information that the public needed to know.
    On the other hand, I think that journalists often get caught up in finding the biggest most shocking story and they forget that the public needs correct, current, and complete information about a lot of things, not just the big stories.
    Journalists tend to use anonymous quotes when dealing with these big issues. I understand that sometimes this method is needed if the sources life or livelihood is in danger; however, this in most often not why they are used. It seems like they are used because it’s easier to get people to talk when they aren’t held responsible for what they say and what information they’re giving out.
    I am not a journalism major. I’m taking this class for my minor. The thing that I will take away from this class is what kind of media consumer I want to be.
    I think in most cases people take what they hear on TV or read in the newspaper at face value. They assume that it is completely true just because it was in the paper. I know before I took this class that is how I approached news. Now, however, I make an effort to check every story that I read.
    Especially in this social media centric culture where any anonymous person can write whatever they want, we need to be aware of what information we are taking in and how true it is. My parents watch the news every night and they also read the newspaper every morning. Most of the younger generation simply read a couple of websites and call it a complete understanding of current news.
    I think that this is going to cause problems in the future. The television and printed news are geared towards two slightly different things, so you are getting slightly different information. You are also learning about a large range of things, meaning that you generally know what is going on in the community and world.
    The new generation, however, is simply reading about what interests them. I think it is a problem that we aren't exposed to all of the news that our parents are. When all you read is what you are interested in, you don’t gain any understanding of the world around you or your community.
    Whether that is because the age group simply haven't matured that far yet or because of a changing mind set in the culture is still to be seen. 
    I think an important function of journalism is that they are the watchdog of big business and government. To do this journalists must maintain an independence from those they cover and those they work for. journalists must present an unbiased view of the facts to cover stories correctly.
    Most important is that journalists know what their moral standards are ethics are before they are faced with difficult decisions. For example a journalist should decide to never take a bribe for either writing a story or killing one. Then, when faced with such a situation they would already know what they are willing to do.
    I think that it is important for the journalist to individually do this as well as for news organizations to provide their employees with a company code of ethics. As a news consumer I have begun to look at different papers ethical standards and it helps me to trust certain paper or organizations more than others. It lets me know that what they print is factual and that they are responsible for what is being covered.
    In the end I think it comes down to accountability. When journalists are accountable to the public and to each other, then they present the best possible story. When they are allowed to write what they want with no one checking them, that is when the media runs into issues.

Ethics

I think it is hard for anyone to define their values into concrete will or wont’s. Most peoples standards of ethics are fluid, changing with the times and changing according to the situation. I think this is often the cause of poor journalism. I journalists can sit down and plan out what they would do in certain situations, then we will have a much more honest news media as a whole. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/28/AR2005102801172.html.

Most important is that journalists know what their moral standards are ethics are before they are faced with difficult decisions. For example a journalist should decide to never take a bribe for either writing a story or killing one. Then, when faced with such a situation they would already know what they are willing to do. http://www.spj.org

I think that it is important for the journalist to individually do this as well as for news organizations to provide their employees with a company code of ethics. As a news consumer I have begun to look at different papers ethical standards and it helps me to trust certain paper or organizations more than others. It lets me know that what they print is factual and that they are responsible for what is being covered. http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html

Journalism and Faith

I think that reporters often have a hard time keeping their stories unbiased. With the understanding that everyone, especially reporters, have strong thoughts and opinions how do we get neutral stories?
Religion is a common point of controversy in today's society. People dedicate hours every week to their faith. It becomes a part of them and affects their beliefs in almost every situation. Religion is intensely personal and shouldn’t be treated like a mass produced product. I think we all can understand how this bias would alter our journalistic integrity.

Most people can’t write a neutral story about religion. I think that in most cases when a religion is reported on, it is done very poorly. The journalist never gets the whole picture and often times fails to even grasp the most simple aspects of their faith. If you are going to report on a religion at least get the facts right!

As a member of the church it is always entertaining to see what the newest stories are about the church or high profile church members. Right now with two mormons in the presidential campaign, it is especially interesting to see how the media is painting their beliefs. Mitt Romney had a fairly accurate story written about him and his beliefs on  http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/06/05/mormons-rock.html.

The newest Tony award winning musical is all about the mormon church and there is an HBO television show about polygamy. While the TV show is not even really about the church, most people associate the church with polygamy. http://www.hbo.com/big-love/index.html, http://www.bookofmormonbroadway.com/home.php I have found that a lot of reporters take what they see in these programs as fact. They report them as if they are totally true and that leads to a false story. If they want true religious fact, go to the source.

I thought that this last week was a very interesting class. The case study on ethics really made me think what I would do in those situations and how my values would play out in  real world situations. I think it is especially important to us as BYU students to have set values and ethics because we end up representing more than just ourselves and our businesses. I think that ethics are chosen and that we simply have to cement out ethics now so that when situations arise it is an easy choice what we will do in any given situation. 

I think that case studies are the best way to learn what our ethical standards are and how we need to change them. According to the Indiana State School of Journalism,  journalist ethics come down to four things: 1. Seek Truth and Report It, 2. Minimize Harm, 3. Be Accountable, and 4. Act Independently. http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/

In our case study in class, my group talked about the guy mowing the lawn naked. When we were talking about it we found it relatively easy to figure out what we would do; however, it became harder when people started asking questions and we became responsible for our choices. It seems obvious that newspapers should only print pictures that enhance their story. In this case it seems that the paper printed such a large and questionable picture for shock value. I think that it was unnecessary. http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

I think that the biggest worry for me is peoples online ethics when their not accountable to anyone. I’m interested to see how that effects their stories and coverage. Here is some informations on online ethics. http://www.ojr.org/ojr/wiki/ethics/

Watchdog Journalism

I think one of the most important functions of journalism is to watch the Government and big businesses. I agree with what the group said that often times that function of journalism is trivialized. I know that we use watergate as an example in every class, but it really is one of the best examples. Journalists made a huge difference in our country and in public opinion. http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Journalism-Newspeople-Completely-Updated/dp/0307346706

I do think that sometimes journalists are too focused on this function. Sometimes there isn’t a groundbreaking story. Journalists sometimes look over important stories just because it doesn’t involve an important person.  http://www.fair.org/media-beat/010308.html

As far as language goes. I think that in most cases report language is crucial. It gives a serious, formal, informed opinion. Sometimes however, it can be overly dry and can take away from the message. http://businessjournalism.org/2010/10/29/how-to-build-a-personalized-accuracy-checklist/

Independence

 Journalists must maintain an independence from those they cover. This is an essential part of journalism. (http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Journalism-Newspeople-Completely-Updated/dp/0307346706) We must present an unbiased view of the facts to cover stories correctly. I think that with all the new media forms, journalism independence will suffer. In the past people were exposed to general news every time they read the news paper. Now people can bypass that news and just straight to whatever news interests them. This means that the public will have to make a greater effort to know what is going on in the world.

At the same time the technology is also allowing people to access more resources than before. Journalists who are not independent from those they cover will be easily revealed in this new environment. http://www.kcnn.org/principles/independence_in_journalism In an ideal world news would be completely unbiased; however, this is not an ideal world or society. Journalists are loyal to employers who are in turn loyal to their owners. The public needs to be aware of these situations.

I think that there is a place for both fact and opinion in news; however, it needs to be clear which is being presented. Articles need to be presented objectively. Bloggers or reviewers need to clearly state that they are sharing their opinion and not hard fact. After all comment is free but facts are sacred.    http://www.fair.org/media-beat/010308.html

Verification

The most interesting thing that we talked about last class was bias in news. I think that the news is often presented in a very biased form. I remember the clips of Anderson Cooper that we were watching a couple weeks ago. We talked about how he was very emotional in his presentation. I think the biggest thing wrong with that report was how biased it was. Yes, the people needed help; however, he didn't report anything that the government was doing to help. He simply ignored any facts that didn't go along with the story he wanted to present. I think that more than anything journalists need to keep themselves unbiased. http://www.journalism.org/resources/principles

I think that one of the most important points of verification is the principle of transparency.This means being open to your audience and showing them how and where you got your sources. The goal of journalists is to get information out to the public and have them make decisions about information. I we do not do this in a trustworthy way, we stop being credible. I found an article about peoples trust in the media compared to other places.  http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/31/little-trust-in-government-or-media-either/

I think that the internet poses a threat to the verification process. I think that many blogers think that it is more important to be fast than it is to be correct. Journalists need to be accurate and dependable or else people will go to other sources. I really liked the accuracy checklist that was shown in class. I think as news consumers we should encourage truth and accuracy in the news. If we don't read the fiction or embellished truth then they will stop writing it. http://businessjournalism.org/2010/10/29/how-to-build-a-personalized-accuracy-checklist/