The Big Question: Do ethics apply to journalism?
We all know the basic rights given to us in the United States constitution, and one of them is the "Freedom of Press," but does the constitution say that we should have freedom of press, but throw ethics out the window? No, it doesn't say that , but it also doesn't say where the line is drawn to create ethical boundaries in press either. Who says that journalist don't abuse the freedom of press every time they write a story?
Most journalist feel what they do is very ethical and needed in order for us to continue to be civilized and informed people. They feel that a nation of informed people is a nation of happy people even of that information is sometimes scary or about horrible things that go on.
Mr. Mackey, a former a journalist, and now a Journalism class teacher says, "As a journalist we have to stay neutral, we are first reporters, then journalist. Ethics really don't matter, we have to report what is happening. If we cared about ethics and only reported the nice things that happened out there we would be doing a disservice. However, we do have a set of journalism ethics that constitute a basis of our profession. Number one is having respectable sources, and number two is being as accurate as possible when reporting our stories."
Keith Peters of the Palo Alto Weekly said that journalists are the nations informants and that people have the right to know what is going on and as journalist that is what they are paid to do so people don't have to find out information for themselves.
Think about it, what we do if there was no newspapers or TV broadcast of the happenings in our world? We would probably feel closed from the rest of the world.
For years man has been gathering information about man and that is why journalism has been so vital to the way we live. We simply want to know what other people are doing or what is happening in our world and that is what journalism was created to tell us about. We would feel primitive without it, wouldn't we?
Journalism like many professions has evolved from being very political and authoritarian into being very creative and insightful with lots of twists and turns.
"At first hindered by government-imposed censorship, restrictions, and taxes, newspapers in the 18th century came to enjoy the reportorial freedom and indispensable function that they have retained to the present day. The growing demand for newspapers owing to the spread of literacy and the introduction of steam- and then electric-driven presses caused the daily circulation of newspapers to rise from the thousands to the hundreds of thousands and eventually to millions."(Brantinnica.com)
Since newspapers were the first and originators of journalism it comes as no surprise that they are some of the biggest producers of journalism and media we have today with the television networks not far behind.
The same thing happened when the television was invented. There were a few networks that had broadcast journalism while now there is hundreds of networks and many channels where news and updated are given around the clock. Newspapers create the hype and television networks give it all the "hoopla" it needs to keep the attention of the public.The battle to get the best story by networks and newspapers is what Journalism has become in the recent decade. Due to this competition there are thousands of stories reported a week and a huge collage of news put out before the public every single day of the year.
It comes as no surprises that there is now an industry based on journalism with companies competing to gather the best coverage on an event which in turns showers the world with the most interesting or startling reports.
In the United States alone we have huge papers like The New York Times, The Boston Globe, USA Today, and etc; all of which are competing for the same readership and public approval. Who says what these great enterprises of Journalism aren't just putting out hear say or gossip. Well that is a good question that has been asked over and over again; they do and consider all their sources to be near the line of perfect.
Journalist in both television and newspaper gather their information from arriving at the scene of certain of events and talking to as many people as possible. They accredit the people they talk to as either being witnesses or respectable analyzers of the happenings.
Some people see the credentials of the interviewer or the interviewee, but still don't feel that what is written or said is always the truth. Others may feel while it might be true; but sill wonder what constitutes news or non-news when most times it involves overstepping people's privacy to get a reaction from the public.
Because of questions like those have been asked a number of organizations like "Accuracy in Media," and "Brill's Content" who have come to the forefront to put a end to bad journalism. They are organizations that try to check up on media and journalism in order to make it a more respectable business and useful tool for the common man.
Journalism has been under the surveillance of the public for as long as it has been around. It wasn't to the recent decade that people have really looked at journalism and recognized the good from the bad. The public has learned of the tabloid papers and begun to drop them in the trash and read respectable newspapers.
Today quality journalism is being produced and the standards to be the
best newspaper of TV Broadcast is continuing to rise those who don't agree
are just caught in the hype.
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Articles with examples of good journalism from www.policy.com This site has online articles about journalism that was done right. It is filled with reasons why the media coverage that was done by journalists was needed and valid. |
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| http://www.journalism.org This project is part of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is trying to bring discussion oon how the standards of journalism can be risen. |
| http://www.brillscontent.com "I'm Steve Brill and that's why I've launched BRILL'S I want BRILL'S CONTENT to do the same for journalism. By exposing the bias, the imbalance, the inaccuracies, the untruths -- while praising those who get it right -- I hope to hold the media to strict new standards we can all benefit from." Sincerely, Steven Brill He is the Founder, Chairman and Editor In Chief of the magazine that tries to raise the standards of journalism. |
| Ethics and Journalism at San Francisco State University This is a website that has a lot of discussion of ethics its role in journalism. |
