Part I: Situation Definition
National Correspondent, John Eligon, covers race issues for the New York Times. He has documented police violence protests, the changing face of the nation’s cities and suburbs and other nuances of America’s struggle with issues involving race. While being a distinguished writer and discussing his experiences at the Foster-Foreman Conference, Eligon dove deep about reporting the truth and his vulnerabilities.
One ethical message that Eligon brought up was bringing yourself into a reporting without making the reporting about you. Eligon talked about getting stopped by the police twice in two months while reporting in Nebraska and how he takes his feelings of discrimination, anger and truth in situations and turns it into context for his articles. The additional context includes the place he is writing about, what it tells us about the people, what it tells about diversity or lack there of in the communities and how it impacts communities.
Another ethical message Eligon pointed out was going into communities and places were he felt uncomfortable, scared, and knew he stood out in. His first example included his personal experience in Leith, North Dakota with white supremacist, Craig Cobb. Eligon said he felt uncomfortable right away and stood off centered from the door when he first knocked, just in case Cobb was going to shoot first and ask questions later. In his article, Eligon did not put his personal thoughts or feelings about Cobb. Eligon reported Cobb’s reactions and statements because people will make their own judgments and have their owns thoughts after reading the article. For Eligon, it takes the bias out of reporting and lets the reporting speak for itself.
Part II: Analysis
The ethical messages bring up one question: How is it decided which information goes into a news article or news broadcast? According to Harding (2016), the answer to the question is news judgment, and a good journalist knows the information that should be included for their readers. The word bias has a negative connotation and brings prejudice into writing. One of the first lessons a journalist learns in school is to report the facts and not opinion. Eligon has made an effort in his writing to let the story speak for itself and not to let his personal feelings guide his writing. “When I’m writing a story, when I’m writing a story about this white supremacists, I didn’t have to put in there what I felt about him. I didn’t have to put any of that there,” said Eligon. “What I had to put was his reactions to me and the things he said to me because that is as equally revelatory as if I were to make some judgments about what he was saying or doing.” It is finding the story behind the story that eliminates the need or use for bias in news writing.
When it comes to journalism, many reporters are at risk to violence no matter your race, ethnicity or gender. Of course, statistically minority reporters are at a far greater danger than other Caucasian reporters, but the chance is still there. In his lecture, Eligon explained his anger after being stopped by police for suspicious behavior on not one, but two separate occasions. Eligon also described his experience and feeling uncomfortable when knocking on Cobb’s door. One commenter on Facebook thought Eligon was being over dramatic thinking he could get shot just for knocking on a door. Then Eligon brought up the example of, Renisha McBride, a young woman from Detroit who crashed her car, late at night, and goes up to a man’s door for help. The man then shot and killed her for just knocking on his door. Deaths as tragic as McBride’s is far too common recently. In other countries all over the world, reporters are facing violence everyday.
For example, in Mexico during President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa’s rule, the military was called on to confront organized crime, and dozens of journalists were killed in Mexico. According to Relly and de Bustamante (2013), crime reporter Armando Rodríguez Carreón was gunned down in his driveway in the Mexican border city of Juárez as his eight-year-old daughter looked on. Eight reporters were kidnapped in one month in Reynosa, a Northern Mexican border city across from McAllen, Texas. And during one week in the summer of 2012, two northern border news outlets were attacked with grenades and gunfire “to silence reporting on criminal groups”. Reporting in Mexico is a heavy risk that journalists make and violent attacks continue to occur.
In a case study, featuring Dr. Kermit Gosnell and journalist Jason Riley from the Wall Street Journal, you can see how Riley’s article is bias against Gosnell. Dr. Gosnell was an abortion doctor who was convicted of murder following a two-month trial in 2013, is currently serving a life sentence in prison with no possibility of parole. Dr. Gosnell had been performing illegal abortions for decades and was caught selling prescriptions for OxyContin, Percocet and Xanax to anyone who could afford his $150 fee (studentnewsdaily.com). Riley’s article on the doctor was bias by omission and story selection. The article was one sided and does not focus on the liberal and conservative perspective of abortion or Dr. Gosnell’s actions. The article highlights one person’s opinion and not solely on the facts associated with the doctor’s case.
When it comes to avoiding ethical dilemmas in journalism, I would recommend avoiding using opinion words like ‘good’, ‘significant” and ‘harmful’ and focus on stating the facts and using descriptive words instead. Also, it is important to have someone proofread your articles not just for grammar or facts, but to eliminate the possibility of bias. Articles containing bias, can lead to repercussions to the journalist, which could have been avoided in the first place.
Part III: Conclusion
Based on the issues discussed, I learned the importance of being knowledgeable about my journalistic surroundings. There is risk everywhere. By bringing yourself into a reporting without making the report about you, the opportunity to write an amazing article is there, but sometimes there is also risk involved.
Journalists face many ethical dilemmas while reporting. It is easy to put opinions and bias into our writing as journalists but we must strain away from it and only write the facts. It’s also important to refrain from being in violent situations. Journalists do not know what could happen to them while reporting. Journalistic violence has increasingly become more dangerous not just in the United States, but all over the world.
Part IV: References
Harding, J. T. (2016). FIGHTING BIAS IN JOURNALISM. Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 96(3), 17.Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1827838751?accountid=13158
Relly, J. E., & de Bustamante, C. G. (2014). Silencing Mexico: A Study of Influences onJournalists in the Northern States. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 19(1), 108–131. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161213509285
StudentNewsDaily (2018, October 23). Movie of a murderer serving life sentence faces media blackout. Retrieved October 25, 2018, fromhttps://www.studentnewsdaily.com/example-of-media-bias/movie-of-a-murderer-serving-life-sentence-faces-media-blackout/