I learned so much about ethics and the media world this semester in Comm 409. During the duration of the course we discussed many ethical dilemmas journalist have and will face. One ethical lesson that I learned this semester was that you need to separate yourself from the story to ensure that you are reporting without bias. This was discussed thoroughly with American reporters stationed with troops and how even though they become embedded in the platoon they must report as an unbiased bystander. Another ethical lesson I learned is that a reporters job is to be be one hundred percent truthful to his audience. You cannot hide or sugar coats any of your reporting; strict truth is the one and only way to report. It is a reporter’s duty to enlighten people on things that they haven’t witnessed themselves. A lack of trust in a reporters work defeats the purpose of reporting because the audience will not believe what is being said.
The case study that impressed me the most was definitely the Stephen Glass case. Before this class when I thought of fabrication as something done by kids in high school or scummy reporters. The Stephen Glass case really opened my eyes. The fact that he was one of the top reporters for the “inflight magazine of air force one” and fabricated so many stories’ before getting caught blows my mind. I had never thought that someone in that much of a spotlight could get away with so much. It has taught me to not believe peoples work without doing some research on your own. Overall Glass’s case is a valuable lesson for aspiring journalist and will scare anyone away from going down a similar path.
I think this course has had a huge impact on my future career. I have always wanted to be a journalist but I did not have an in depth knowledge of a journalist purpose and guidelines. This course taught me what a journalist should be and how to handle situations that one may encounter. As a result of this course I am much more prepared to tackle the professional world.
I really enjoyed taking this course. I found the lectures to insightful and incredibly helpful as I pursue a career in journalism. This was one of the first classes I have taken that deals with real world examples and current news. Having the Brian Williams saga play out over the semester was very cool. I enjoyed doing a case study on it and I feel much more prepared for what lies ahead for me because of this course.