Situation Definition
Doug Blackmon, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist has had the opportunity throughout his career to cover several major events such as the election of Barack Obama, Hurricane Katrina, the BP oil spill and much more. The majority of Blackmon’s work focuses on race, immigration, poverty, and politics. Blackmon explains that growing up in a small town in Arkansas in a primary black town has allowed him to appreciate the issues of race which has influenced his work. After listening to Blackmon speak about being a journalist and the adventures the come with this career, there were a few things that caught my attention that portray ethical messages.
As a journalist there may be times where covering certain stories or going to certain events could put you in danger. There have been plenty of times where journalists have seen disturbing scenes such as documenting a war, or have been put into scary life-threatening positions, such as Doug Blackmon. After hearing his story about him almost being hit by craters and so on, it occurred to me that there are so many journalists who witness and experience trauma, which can damage them mentally. Another topic that Blackmon touched up was the uncomfortable encounters that come with pursuing a successful career in journalism. Many journalists are asked to complete tasks and collect information that may put them into an uncomfortable situation, which makes the journalist sometimes question if what they are trying to accomplish is ethically right.
Analysis
One of the first ethical messages that Blackmon touched upon was the fact that as a reader or viewer of journalism, we don’t understand the danger and hassles that journalist sometimes have to endure before they publish their story. For example, every time I have ever read an article in the newspaper or heard someone reporting something on television about something bad that has happened in our country, it has never occurred to me that the journalist reporting and feeding us our news and information could’ve possibly been put in a life threating situation. In the article “In the Line of Duty” published by Broadcasting & Cable, it states “The Committee to Protect Journalists says 70 journalists were killed in the line of duty around the world in 2012…The leading cause of workplace-related deaths for journalists? Murder” (Tayyara, Jacquier, Guarin, 2013). The above quote shows that journalists are often killed or injured because they were sent to dangerous events to cover a certain story. Though Blackmon was never put in the line of duty to document a war, he did document a story in the Middle Eastern part of Europe where there was a major storm and there were craters forming near him that were as large as his car. Yes, Blackmon has been put into dangerous and scary situations, but he did mention that being a journalist is fun and thrilling as well.
Another ethical message that I noticed that Blackmon touched upon was being put in uncomfortable situations will happen often as a journalist. Blackmon explained that when you are asked to publish a certain story and asked to get a quote from a certain person, although it may be uncomfortable, it has to be done to enhance the story. For example, Blackmon spoke about how one time his task was to interview families whose children have passed away. Yes, it was very uncomfortable for him to achieve this task but without the quotes from the immediate family, the story would have way less emotion and value. In the article “From Thinking to Doing: Effects of Different Social Norms on Ethical Behavior in Journalism”it explains that “Journalists have been shown to be highly capable of making good moral decisions, but they do not always act as ethically as studies show them to be able” (Lee, Coleman, Molyneux, 2016). Being a journalist is not always easy due to the circumstances of certain situations, but in order to be successful within this career, it is important to have your story stand out and to make the readers want to come back for more.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it was very interesting to hear Doug Blackmon talk about his career path and the experiences he has had as a journalist first hand. Pursuing a career as a successful journalist is not an easy task, due to the tasks you might be asked to accomplish and the situations you might be put in. After listening to Blackmon speak about his career, he left the audience with two main messages to take away, one being that being a journalist could be a dangerous job and can cause someone to become mentally disturbed and the second is that journalists are often put in uncomfortable situations but in order to publish a story with value, you have to overcome the feeling of being uncomfortable. Overall, Doug Blackmon was very interesting to listen to and showed us what journalism is truly like first hand.
References
In the Line of Duty. (2013). Broadcasting & Cable, 143(2), 24. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=84747717&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Lee, A. M., Coleman, R., & Molyneux, L. (2016). From Thinking to Doing: Effects of Different Social Norms on Ethical Behavior in Journalism. Journal of Media Ethics, 31(2), 72–85. https://doi-org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1080/23736992.2016.1152898