Situation Definition
Douglas Blackmon spoke at Penn State’s Foster-Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers to recap some of his life’s work as a professional journalist, and ethical dilemmas he has faced.
Two intense ethical messages that Blackmon put emphasis on during his time on stage were on his fearful experience overseas and how he over came the dangers he was faced with, as well as reporting on race, racial disparities, and more relations.
Analysis/Conclusion
Blackmon was a curious child when it came to race. He always wanted to know why things were they way they were, and he has spent his lifetime with the same thought. He didn’t grow up as privileged as most, but still noticed the difference between him and his underprivileged African-American peers.
Once into his journalistic career, Blackmon won a pulitzer prize for his book called “Slavery By Another Name,” a book making the connections to modern day effects on society from slavery. As a journalist, you are expected to collect nothing but fact. You should have some sort of moral awareness, but the facts are not based on how you personally feel. One ethical step Blackmon probably took in the process of reporting on race and racial disparities is critical thinking. Critical thinking is a systematic way of thoroughly making sure one’s approach is correct (Foreman 2015). If you thoroughly evaluate a situation, your approach to receive the information that you want will be ten times as successful.
If I were him in these times of race reporting, I would definitely be in an uncomfortable position speaking to a racist person, just in general as a woman of color. However, there are always two sides to a story no matter which is heard, and it is the publics right to be informed of other peoples views so they can be aware of their surroundings. This also applies to Blackmon’s situation overseas, where he was basically caught in the middle of a war/massacre in Croatia. Wrapping up his experience in Croatia, he assured the crowd that every human life is “epic.” I couldn’t agree more.
sources:
- Foreman, G. (2015;2016;). The ethical journalist: Making responsible decisions in the digital age (Second ed.). Malden, MA;Chicester, West Sussex;: Wiley-Blackwell.