Ethical Lessons
One important ethical lesson I learned from this course is not to accept any sort of gift from something you are reporting on because that will cause an ethical dilemma and may cause you to be biased on the subject you are reporting on. It was surprising to me that even if you are at an event reporting on something and they are offering free sweatshirts or cups or anything like that, you are morally obligated to not accept it since it may have an effect on your piece. Another important ethical lesson I learned from this course is that undercover reporting is ethically okay if the information you are trying to obtain is of profound importance and is of vital public interest. This even comes with the use of hidden cameras, which is surprising to me considering the fact of that in Pennsylvania, it is illegal to voice record someone without their consent, so I thought it would be applicable to videos as well.
Case Study
One of the case studies that impressed me the most is the one on whether we have a moral obligation to watch videos from a mass shooting. It was very interesting to see that from the experiment showing executions, the video that gave the most reaction of disgust was the video of the actual killing. At first thought I’d think that I wouldn’t want to watch a video of people being killed, but the case study explains that it shows the reality of the situation, which should be understood by the public, even though there is a chance of desensitization.
Course Impact
This course has a great impact when it comes to my career at Penn State and beyond. As a journalism major, I’m so glad that I took this class because not only has it related to other courses I’ve been taking, but has helped me understand my other classes better as well. Media Ethics is not only something that any communications major should understand but something that everyone should have some knowledge about. The class opens my eyes to the fact that you cannot always absorb what is given to you, you should question and fact check things to ensure that the public is getting the truest content.
Reflection
I was very happy with the course and the professor. I’ve heard other people who have taken Media Ethics and did not enjoy the course or felt that they got much out of it, but I have learned a lot and am glad I took this course with Dr.Z.