The course COMM 409 digs deep into the importance of ethical decisions in journalism and overall life. The class helps students develop and appreciate the First Amendment principles and the need for journalism ethics in society. Throughout the semester I have learned about many different ethical principles and the steps to take to resolve them. Two out of the many that I specifically took interest in were ethic issues in web journalism and the ethic principles.
Web journalism interests me because of how much it is changing. Journalism is adapting to the constant changing new digital world. Some examples of web journalism include blogs and news content online. Although the digital world keeps improving, web journalism is still journalism. There is no reason for journalism on the web should stray away from traditional journalism ethics. This is important to me because I may choose a career involving digital content in the future. I will need to keep grammar, content validity, and facts in mind when writing posts for blogs or for social media sites.
The five ethic principles we focused on in class included Aristotle’s Golden Mean, Kant’s Categorical Imperative, Mill’s Principle of Utility, Rawl’s Veil of Ignorance, and Judeo-Christian Persons as Ends. Each principle held a different belief and each had different weaknesses or strengths. I am interested in the principles because they each offer me a different way of thinking. Each can help a news organization or person establish his or her own ethics guidelines.
This course will have an impact on my future career and life. Establishing a set of ethical guidelines for yourself will prove to be beneficial. Two of Dr.Z’s ethical messages that stuck out to me are ethics makes you a better journalist or person and makes you happier. I believe these messages wholeheartedly. Knowing how to handle certain situations such as a conflict of interest or an issue with certain graphic content will make my life easier. I will be happier because I will already hold certain ethic standards for myself and I will understand my future career’s guidelines as well.
As a whole I believe this class should remain as a necessary class to take before graduation. As part of a student’s college education, one would hope students learn the important of ethics and diversity. It is not only beneficial for future careers but it will benefit the population as a whole if students hold ethic principles. Dr.Z interacted with the class and held open intelligent discussions. Students were free to voice respectable opinions and Dr. Z cleared up any confusions. I believe Dr.Z should keep teaching the class the way he does for future students.