Important ethical lessons
I think the most important lesson I learned in class this year was that ethical decisions in journalism should be made on a case-by-case basis rather than having one overarching rule to suit every situation. Each case is different, and has its own set of circumstances surrounding it. Sometimes, for example, it’s okay to use anonymous sources, if the information can be verified elsewhere and the source reasonably needs to be protected.
Previously, I had thought that if there was a rule or guideline at a publication a journalist worked for, that rule should be followed in all but the most strange or extreme circumstances. The example that sticks out in my mind is actually from the first Foster conference I attended, in which the speaker had to decide whether to accept baseball tickets from a valuable source of his. Before this class, I would have thought it would be best to explain to the source, “Our policy is to decline all gifts from sources,” and hope that he understands.
After this class, I realize it’s best to look at the individual situation at hand, discuss with editors and colleagues, and come to a decision based on those discussions.
Another important ethical lesson was that sometimes a reader’s or viewer’s right to know might be trumped by the necessity of protecting a victim and his or her family. This can be the case in circumstances such as not showing graphic images, or withholding names at the request of victims or families.
Before this class, I had already thought that journalists should be sensitive toward their subjects, especially during interviews about uncomfortable topics, but I hadn’t really thought much about protecting victims and families beyond that. Again, this is something that should be decided on a case-by-case basis, and there must be a standard where the information or photos the journalists want to run should be of critical importance to the public or will help them understand the events that took place.
Impact on future career
I imagine this course will provide a framework on which I could base ethical decisions in my career. I doubt I will remember specific cases we discussed in class five or ten years from now, but I hope to at least recall some of the basic principles, and the way we used class discussion to help form decisions about ethics. Those same sorts of discussions could be used in the newsroom when deciding the appropriate course of action to take.
In addition, I am actually a public relations major who decided that, after spending almost a year at the Daily Collegian, I have an interest in an editorial career with a print or online publication. That’s why I took this course. However, if I do end up taking a public relations job, I feel that I will have a greater level of understanding of media ethics than my colleagues might. Ethics are often discussed in public relations courses, but not as in-depth or as specific to publications as they are in a course such as this one. The course could help me handle any ethical issues that come up in a public relations job dealing with press releases.
Course reflections
I thought that this course was overall slightly repetitive to me, having repeated things discussed in some of my previous public relations and journalism courses. However, it did go much more in-depth than those courses and gave a more complete understanding. What this course had that other courses not specific to ethics did not have were plenty of case studies. I thought case studies were helpful in seeing ethical issues in action as they actually occur in the news industry.
I also thought that the amount of discussion we had in class was useful. I liked hearing others’ opinions, which were sometimes very different from my own.
However, I thought that the case study assignment was a little confusing. Our group wasn’t really even sure where to start, and none of us had much experience writing research papers. I think we could have talked more in class about what makes a good research paper, and what makes a good topic for a case study in the first place. Maybe some examples of very well done student research papers could have helped.