Blog 5 Reflection by: Matthew McClure

Two Ethical Issues 

Throughout the semester, I learned about a variety of ethical issues and lessons through every class from each case study we covered.  The two main ethical issues I believe that stayed with me the most are deception and  accountability. As a broadcast journalism major, these are the two issues that I believe are the most important. Being able to be honest and truthful to fellow colleagues and others is essential in building a good working relationship. To build off of that, being accountable is also essential in the workplace. Someone who is accountable and dependable makes everyones job easier because they have a certain amount of trust and respect from other colleagues to get the job done. These ethical issues are crucial in every aspect of journalism.

Most Impressive Case Study 

The most impressive Case Study for me is the Shattered Glass Case Study we analyzed at the beginning of the year. This was the most interesting for me because it showed the rise and fall of Stephen Glass, and how a wrong decision or mistake can ruin a reputation  He was well liked by all of his colleagues, but he took advantage and deceived them by fabricating stories. After he was fired from the New Republic when they found  many of his stories were made up, it wasn’t ethically correct on how he handled it. His interview on CBS 60 Minutes was interesting as well. Glass talked about how he liked seeing people enjoy his work, and one made up story led to another. In addition, he really didn’t seem that apologetic for what he did, and the people he worked with probably will never forgive him. His reputation as a journalist was ruined because of the wrong choices he made.

Course Impact for Future 

Going into this course, I didn’t know a lot about the different ethical issues and lessons that could impact a journalist. This course will help me in the future because I believe I have a better understanding on all of these different ethical aspects. I hope to be a sports journalist one day and this class definitely taught me the different curveballs that can come my way.

Conclusion 

I never took an ethics class before, and I learned a lot about the different ethical concerns in all different kinds of news media. I liked that as a class we looked and analyzed many different stories and cases. This class taught me a lot all semester long, and I hope to use these lessons that I have learned and apply them when I start working in the future.

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