Two main issues that bring intense ethical issues include reporting on police brutality and sexual abuse cases. During the Foster-Foreman Conference, Wesley Lowery and Lisa Falkenberg discussed the ethical decisions faced when it came to reporting on these issues. The ethical dilemmas that were brought up by these journalists include conflicts of interest and naming the victim.
There are a lot of questions raised when it comes to identifying victims of rape or sexual assault in news stories. Reporters, editors/producers, and management have to weigh the potential to cause even more harm to sexual abuse victims against the desire to tell a good story. They question whether it will be a healing experience for the victims, or whether the scrutiny will add more stress to their already-fractured lives. Some journalists believe that they should be allowed to name the victims since they should be treated like any other crime victim. However, there are other journalists who argue that until more people are named as sexual assault victims, the stigma attached to being a victim will not fade away (Grand & Stone, 2013).
Although the SPJ code says journalists should “avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived,” and “disclose unavoidable conflicts,” this may be a huge challenge. Since the code doesn’t give any more details about what would make a conflict unavoidable, journalists have different abilities to frame off our emotional attachments and understand conflicting views (Matchett, 2017). It is impossible for decision makers in a business setting to not experience ethical conflicts not only between their given duty to stakeholders who are involved in conflicts of interest but also between their organization’s interests (Kim and Ki, 2014). Although one reporter might be able to draw the line between unbiased reporting and editorial work, another might find it impossible to stay silent on one’s views and seriously report on a case of whom he or she disagrees (Matchett, 2017).
Lisa Falkenberg is a metro columnist at the Houston Chronicle who writes personal columns to connect with her audience. She wrote columns for people dealing with cancer, abortion rights, the election, and sexual abuse cases. During the conference, Falkenberg discussed having to identify foster children being sexually abused. She always questioned whether it would be too personal to report on this topic. However, she always thought of how it may benefit someone else. Even though she didn’t include any names, Falkenberg made sure the readers knew that her reports were accurate through evidence of court hearings and recorded interviews. I agree with how Falkenberg approached the situation because these foster children aren’t old enough and don’t have parents to make the decision to be publicly named in the media. In this case, the evidence she collected gives the public enough insight of what these victims went through.
Wesley Lowery is a journalist who mainly reports on police brutality, black activism, and racial injustice. Lowery was arrested on Aug. 13, 2014, while covering protests in Ferguson, Mo. He wanted to report on the Ferguson case as well as work to fight against police brutality. Lowery decided to do his own research by calling the police department and discovered that local departments weren’t tracking unarmed black people being shot and found that there wasn’t any accurate statistics. It was important for him to report the pain of the incident to humanize the stories and make it known that the government is killing unarmed black people. “We have to understand that everyone has a bias. And that’s’ important in journalism,” Lowery stated. I agree with Lowery’s approach on the situation because he didn’t report his personal opinion on how he felt about what happened in Ferguson. However, he made sure to do research which subliminally gives insight on his views as to how police brutality isn’t taken seriously.
I’ve learned that a journalist’s character and emotions always come into play, therefore making it hard to always follow the ethical guidelines. Although the public should be informed about the foster children being sexually abused, I think that naming these victims in the media could potentially have a negative effect on their lives. Also, I think it is important for a journalist to be unbiased in whatever he or she reports. However, a good way to not blatantly show your opinion is through extensive research, and interviews with people that share the same views as you.
References
Grand, A., & Stone, S. (2013). NAMING VICTIMS OF SEX CRIMES. Quill, 101(2), 33-36.
Kim, S. and Ki, E. (2014). An Exploratory Study of Ethics Codes of Professional Public Relations Associations: Proposing Modified Universal Codes of Ethics in Public Relations. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 29(4), pp.238-257.
Matchett, N. (2017). Conflict of Interest: What Does it Mean?. [online] Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists. Available at: https://ethicsadvicelineforjournalists.org/2015/04/16/conflict-of-interest-what-does-it-mean/ [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].