Part 1: Situation Definition
One component that goes into being a successful journalist is to follow the five ethical principles. These principles could and do help journalists everyday with making the morally right decision when reporting a story. Though as a country we have a come a long way with diversity, we have not come far enough to say we are completely diverse. Within several case studies, especially Trayvon Martin’s case, there we two ethical principles that stuck out to me the most. The first one is Kant’s Categorical Imperative. According to our lecture notes, this principle explains “act only on that maximum whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”. In other words, people, especially journalists should do what is morally right no matter what the situation or consequences might be. Another principle that stuck out to me was Mill’s Principle of Utility. According to our lecture notes this principle states “seek the greatest happiness for the greatest number”. I found this principle to be interesting and relatable to Trayvon’s case because it is saying that by creating a story that is good for the majority of the public, then this will prevent pain.
Part 2: Analysis
Trayvon Martin, an African-American boy, who at the time was 17, got shot and was killed by George Zimmerman at a local convenience store in Florida in 2012. After reading this case, there were two ethical issues that stood out to me when this story was published. On February 27th, the Orlando Sentinel printed a story about this case and not only named Martin but provided his age and hometown. While a seventeen-year-old victim was being named on the news, the shooter, Zimmerman was not named. According to the Orlando Sentinel, they chose to hold Zimmerman’s name “because he has not been charged”. I find this publishing to be ethically wrong because it does not respect the victim’s privacy along with the victim’s family’s privacy. I am sure that the time of this event the family was grieving their loss and by having Trayvon and their privacy be violated didn’t make the situation better.
The issue discussed that brought intense ethical messages was the fact that when this case was first brought to t the surface, this incident was exposed as him being racially profiled before they found out the true situation. In the article “Why Ethics and diversity matter: The case of Trayvon Martin coverage” it stated “In the Martin case, early reports suggested a white man might have gunned down a black teenager and received no prosecution or punishment, allowing journalists to feel free to even the score by bringing attention to the situation, amplifying the family’s calls for more information and prosecution of Zimmerman”. Not only did this cause distress towards the family, but it brought unnecessary amounts of attention towards them and the idea of possible racial motives. The Miami Herald’s Pitts referenced Ralph Ellison’s book The Invisible Manand said “That’s one of the great frustrations of African-American life, those times when you are standing right there, minding your business, tending your house, coming home from the store, and other people are looking right at you, yet do not see you.” These words portray Trayvon’s case exactly. Although Martin and Zimmerman got into a fight, Zimmerman couldn’t look past his color to see that he was just a seventeen-year-old boy buying skittles from a convenience store.
Part 3: Conclusion
It is important for news sources to feed the public with what they want and how they want. In the article “Listening for Diversity” the author states “Our goal is to understand what the public values in the news, what inspires trust and what makes people lose it. One thing we’ve learned: News users want to see themselves represented in the news they consume. They want to know about others, as well, and to learn their perspectives” (Lehrman 2016). This quote by Sally Lehrman shows that by diversifying the media in a positive outlook, allows society to learn and become more cultured with all diversities. As stated above, Trayvon Martin, a seventeen-year-old boy was shot and killed due to an altercation with George Zimmerman. Because of cases such as Trayvon’s, it is important that we still discuss issues such as ones like this today to show society that people of color should not be looked at as just someone of color, but as a human being. By constantly bringing up cases such as this one and bringing these issues to the surface, we will improve and make progress as a society.
Part 4: References
LEHRMAN, S. (2016). Listening for diversity. Quill, 104(2), 38. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=114693165&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Deggans, E. (2017, March 02). Why ethics and diversity matter: The case of Trayvon Martin coverage. Retrieved from https://www.poynter.org/news/why-ethics-and-diversity-matter-case-trayvon-martin-coverage