Mark Russell, current Executive Editor of The Commercial Appeal, came to Penn State to talk about his experience and thoughts on journalism ethics as part of the Oweida Lecture series. Russell is more than qualified to discuss the important topic of ethics, as he has built an acclaimed reputation through his many years in the field, working at a variety of places from The Wall Street Journal to the Boston Globe.
Two topics that Russell discussed as part of his lecture were the importance of transparency and diversity. Russell discussed how these, among other things, are vital to gaining trust as a journalist and/or news publication.
Russell had a specific way of describing the purpose of transparency in journalism. He said transparency “signals a journalist’s respect for the audience” and that it connects them through this. Transparency is an essential element of journalistic ethics. Actively being transparent can refer to anything from reporting as many of your sources as possible, how you get any information you were given, your own political views/leanings when reporting on politics, etc.
Something interesting that Russell discussed in terms of transparency in his own work was being more clear with readers about what pieces were opinion and non-opinion. Even changing the categorical organization of these in the paper has been beneficial to his audience.
It seems that in the past few years, transparency has become more important than ever. With increasing use of internet news and social media, the lines are becoming blurred when figuring out what is real and what isn’t. According to the Nieman Journalism Lab’s “Transparency is the antidote to fake news”, all these changes “means that news organizations will have to keep fighting for the trust of a skeptical public, coming up with ways to demonstrate our credibility across all of the platforms on which we publish our journalism. At Frontline, we believe that one such way is through journalistic transparency.”
Something often overlooked in the discussion of journalism ethics is the importance of diversity. Russell explained this perfectly, saying “You can’t accurately cover a community unless you are a part of it”, adding that diversity increases authenticity. Specifically, Russell believes diversity in race, religion, gender, and viewpoints (i.e. in politics) are extremely important to have in a news organization- especially in the opinion pages.
Throughout journalistic history it would appear that the issue of diversity in journalistic ethics has always been prevalent. Bodinger-de Uriarte, C. & Valgeirsson, G. write in Institutional Disconnects as Obstacles to Diversity in Journalism in the United States that ”The 1968 Kerner Commission identified the monocultural perspective of US media as contributing to 1960s social unrest. Ten years later, the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), a primary journalism gatekeeper, declared a mandate to diversify newsroom staff and news coverage.” To this day, the numbers show that diversity in news rooms is still an issue and that it’s led to “serious disconnects among the institutions of professional journalism.”
More and more these ethical topics are becoming more important. With the rise in Fake News during the past US presidential election, news organizations need to be even more transparent than before in order to maintain and even regain the trust of readers who are caught up in the barrage of information.
Diversity also appears to be more important than ever. With movements like Black Lives Matter coming to the forefront of American society, newsrooms need to become less homogeneous if they want to earn the trust of younger generations. Journalism is getting harder, and yet, more important in terms of it’s impact on the world. This is why transparency and diversity need to become focal points for publications to remain ethical.
Works Cited:
Bodinger-de Uriarte, C., & Valgeirsson, G. (2015). Institutional Disconnects as Obstacles to Diversity in Journalism in the United States. Journalism Practice, 9(3), 399-417. doi:10.1080/17512786.2014.963367
Newstex Trade & Industry Blogs; Chatham. (2017). Nieman Journalism Lab: Transparency is the antidote to fake news. Newstex. http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/1977652956?accountid=13158