Throughout this course, the two most important ethical issues that stuck with me were fabrication and cheating. Both are essential in studying journalism because they have always been and will always be relevant to the occupation. Fabrication occurs when someone intentionally constructs and creates a product in order to deceive another person or people. Fabrication in journalism ultimately deceives not only the readers, but your family peers and co-workers as well. Cheating is often considered in an educational context, but can also refer to intentional acts of falsity against the public, colleagues and one’s self. Both fabrication and cheating break ethical conduct as a journalist because they willing deceive others to gain a competitive advantage.
Further study into these ethical messages and the vast amount of others discussed over the semester will impact my future career as a perspective journalist. I believe that both attending lectures and reading the text would be beneficial to anyone who is aspiring to find a job in news media after graduating. Even though a lot of the ethical messages that were taught and discussed might seem like common sense to most people, it is important in our field to observe these issues in specific case studies.
The case studies discussed in this class taught me that even though common sense tells you something is wrong, it might be difficult to choose the ethical path when you find a good story. Furthermore, I learned that there are times that publishing something will feel unethical but that our obligation is always to the reader. If the public has the right to know the information about a story, it is out job to give it to them no matter what. Leaving this class, I now understand that all journalists should be able to find it in themselves to honor ethical codes. The public relies on us for quick and factual information, so if any of us are unethical in doing so we can damage not only the reputation of those we work for but the occupation as a whole.
I think this course is essential in getting a degree in journalism because it teaches information that aspiring journalists should remember and carry with them throughout their lives. In my opinion, Bu Zhong does an impeccable job of demonstrating the different ways that a journalist should conduct himself in the news world. With the videos and lecture notes on past case studies, the students were able to obtain the information in a way that was both entertaining and inspiring.
The one thing I would change about this course is the group project. I think that especially when the instructor chooses the groups, the likelihood of being assigned to a reliable group is slim. Sometimes you are put in a group who has trouble compromising on meeting times and other important issues like section assignments, and sometimes people who don’t show up to meetings at all. However, I think that requiring us to go to lectures by real-life journalists opened our eyes to what goes on in the world of media. It was clear throughout the semester that Bu Zhong is highly educated and experienced on the subject, so I was left with information that I know I will carry with me in my future career goals.