Situational Definition
On October 18, 2017, Penn State held a Foster Foreman Lecture which welcomed in a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Wesley Lowery. Lowery is an accomplished national reporter for the Washington Post who covers law enforcement and justice. He is also known for chronicling the “Black Lives Matter” movement 2014 following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
As Lowery took the stage for his discussion, he talked about events that happened in his life that affected his journalism career. This included police brutality, racial inequality, reporting and the national database in the United States. Throughout his lecture, I thought to myself some of the ethical issues and dilemmas that Lowery portrayed throughout his career as a journalist. The two that stuck out for me is how he experienced police brutality and Lowery’s involvement with social media.
Analysis
There were many stories that Wesley Lowery talked about during the discussion, but to me that one that stood out was when he was asked, what was his most dangerous situation he has ever been in. In which he talked about covering the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. “We get in the car, we chase the police, who are chasing the terrorists”. As a result, Lowery put his life in danger for something he shouldn’t have done. He also explained how he was approached in Ferguson, Missouri two days after the shooting of Michael Brown and was threatened by cops to leave the premises. Lowery explained how this was his first time he saw police with a different perspective on journalists.
If I was in that situation, I think there’s a fine line between being a reporter and an actual human being. I would’ve definitely left on the first request from the police because this is something that could end your life and police these days have a very low level of tolerance when it comes to protests. According to the “SPJ Code of Ethics”, there’s one rule I always follow which pertains to minimizing harm and that is, “Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity, even if others do”. (SPJ)
The second ethical issue I analyzed was the perspective on Lowery’s involvement with social media. Social media icons such as Twitter and Facebook have opened up easier reporting on news for journalists. In a study named, “NORMALIZING TWITTER Journalism practice in an emerging communication space”, stated “in light of Twitter, scholars and professionals alike must reconsider the relationship between the audience and journalists), and that journalism itself has become ‘‘ambient’’*omnipresent, often fragmented, and a collective effort involving the audience and journalists.” (Hermida, 2010a, 2010b) In other words, the messages and interactions between social media panels such as Twitter have helped the audience become more effective within communicating. Lowery has a similar perspective with social media saying that we have to make sure the “conversations in digital spacing is also in real life spacing”. Therefore, to sum it up, social media has a huge impact on the way journalists report their news and has an ethical view towards the audience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, attending Wesley Lowery’s lecture was a very interesting and engaging way of learning about law enforcement. Police Brutality and the use of social media is two of the most compelling ethical issues I have learned during this discussion. Therefore, it is important to realize how journalists like Lowery can change people’s perspective on certain topics.
References
SPJ Code of Ethics – Society of Professional Journalists. (n.d.). Retrieved November 01, 2017, from https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
Lasorsa, D. L., Lewis, S. C., & Holton, A. E. (2012). NORMALIZING TWITTER. Journalism Studies, 13(1), 19-36.