Comm 409 is the first class that I ended up taking that is referring to my Minor in communication. I had no idea of what to expect, but I ended up really loving this class and I am really starting to like Journalism. Two important ethical lessons from the lectures/case studies that I learned from this class were the Root of Plagiarism/fabrication and the Invasion of privacy. The root of plagiarism is important especially when you are a writer or a reporter for the news. You cannot take someone else’s work or copy someone else stories and tell people that you wrote them on your own. Plagiarism happens more than you think in the news and other areas. Another thing I learned about in this class is fabrication. I wasn’t really aware of how big of an issue this is when it comes to some reporters and journalist. I’ve learned that a lot of people who did fabricate did it because they were under stress of having to get an article in, or wanted to be the best and have the best story so they made up one that would grab the audience’s attention. The other ethical lesson I learned about was the invasion of privacy as a reporter or journalist. As a journalist, you have to be careful about what you write about someone and how it could change their life or affect them. I’ve learned about the many ways to handle these moments as a reporter or journalist and the right and wrong things to do in the heat of the moment.
One case study that I learned from the most and was really impressed by was the Steve glass movie we watched in class. Steve glass was one interesting person. I’ve learned a lot about that movie by watching it in this class. The whole story on Steve was impressive of how he made up all his stories and got away with it for such a long time. It Also showed me a little of what it’s like to be a part of a big-time newspaper. It showed how the articles were done and how they went through fact checking and spelling errors. It was a good introduction to the class and especially for me coming into communication with no experience of journalism.
I’m not sure if I will ever have a career or profession in Journalism as a continue on with my life, but this course sure helped me a lot understand more about it. If I do decide to further a career in journalism this class will have helped me a lot for being prepared in this field. I’ve learned so much on the right and right things to do, the five Ethical principles, Plagiarism, fact checking, when to take a picture and when not too, and how to balance between your job and personal life. No matter what, I have learned skills that can help me whether I am a journalist or not.
Overall this class has been very rewarding and I’ve learned a lot from it. I’m glad I was able to take this class. Doctor Zhong made it really fun and easy to learn and understand. It has also helped me with my writing skills from the blogs and papers we had to write. I think this was especially helpful for me because I love to write and blog and this class had assignment like that which gave me more practice. I am very appreciative for all Doctor Zhong has done for me on teaching me and giving me his personally insight on everything. I look at this course as one of the most valuable ones I took so far at my time at Penn State.