Oweida Lecture Featuring Bill Marimow
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Bill Marimow was the guest speaker for the Oweida Lecutre and his experiences within the journalism field has taught him many ethical lifelong lessons that he enlightened the crowd with. Two ethical issues that Marimow discussed concerned journalism dealing with sexual assault victims and determining how to treat a public figure compared to a private figure.
Like Marimow, I agree that sexual assault victims should not have their name in the paper for their personal privacy. Even though this particular victim was part of an Amber Alert and her information was released to the nation, there is no need to create more unwanted attention for the victim and their family. According to George Lazaroiu, author Sheridan Burn’s stated that one of the basic news values is: proximity (it refers to how “close to home” a story is. Lazaroiu quotes Burn again by saying, “The media creates public figures by giving them repeated prominence.”
By writing articles that include the name of sexual assault victim draws attention to the family and victim that makes the situation come back into the public light. If I were to be presented with the same problem that Marimow faced, I would decide not to use the victim’s information in the article. If the victim’s information were to be used in the article, the victim’s peers, their family’s peers, and the local townspeople would create an identity to that specific person because of their relation to a sexual assault incident.
The next ethical issue that Marimow discussed was determining how to handle public citizens in news media compared to private citizens. Marimow used the example from when he did a story on airline pilots who were recently laid off. To interview the jobless pilot he traveled to the pilot’s home to interview him. After the interview was conducted the wife of the pilot asked Marimow was going to use his name and picture in the article. Unsure of what to do, Marimow asked one of his editors if he should use the name or not; even though his editor told him to use the name in the story, Marimow decided that this would be unethical.
I agree with the decision that Marimow made by not using the family’s name because they are private citizens they have the right to choose if they are to be named in the paper. On the other hand, if Marimow had interviewed a public figure I feel that it would be ethical to include the person’s name in the article. Public figures are interests to private citizens and they are newsworthy; private citizens do not need to be brought into the public view if they choose not to. According to David Gergen, “Reporters have always accepted that the public life of a public official should be an open book.” I agree with Gergen’s statement and I am sure that Marimow would agree with that statement, public and private people are in two different categories and those categories should not be mixed together.
Although I have not necessarily learned any new lessons from going to the Oweida Lecture; Marimow confirmed that as a journalist if I have to hesitate I should ask a person who is in higher position than me to help me make my decisions. I will take that lesson and apply that immediately in my career. The issues that Marimow touched upon at the lecture are still important to talk about because the issues can make or break a journalist. As a journalist I know that if I make a crucial mistake it may damage my reputation as a person and as a professional. More importantly, the issues that were discussed are invaluable because they protect the rights of the citizens.
Works Cited
Gergen, D. 1991 Covering Public Citizens and Private Lives p.1
Lazaroiu, G. 2011 Ethical Journalism and Truth
Economics, Management and Financial Markets 6(2), 886-889