In the film we watched in the beginning period of the class which is called “Shattered Glass”, the main plot is based on the true story. In this film, what Stephen Glass did is obviously rebelling against the ethical standard in journalism field. He made up fake sources, fake references and fake people-related to support his fabricated story in order to win more fame and benefits and gain better prospects for his career’s future. Aside from the story he made up about the teenager hacker, there are 27 out of 41 paper written by him being fabricated. Fabrication is definitely one of the academic dishonesty. And for a qualified journalist, he should follow the ethical rules in journalism field. Journalists have the responsibility to report the accurate content with sured authenticity. And the sources of the report should also be clear and certificated.
The other case I learned a lot is from the guest lecture about the ethics in photojournalism. People always share fake pictures during disasters. There are people sharing pictures of sharks and a crocodile on the streets during the Hurricane Harvey in Texas. Those people who share this kind of fake pictures on social media platform with the public don’t think about their responsibilities as a citizen media producer. After posting these pictures, there will likely be panic among people who is affected by the disaster. And any changes in the photos will cause integrity based on the ethical thinking. Beside from the picture itself, sometimes the caption could be misleading to audiences as media consumers as well. The twisted caption and edited pictures will bing about harm and public panic.
As for the case that I am most impressed with is a report from many news websites like The Washington Post, CNN, The Telegraph and others describe the story that a young Asian American woman’s Airbnb reservation was canceled in the last minute. The house host use offensive word to text the young woman like “One word says it all. Asian.” After the young woman telling the news media about her story with biased treatment, there is loads of attention on her suddenly. “The spotlight is “pretty terrifying but if it encourages more people to come forward, then that’s great.” (Amy B Wang, 2017) Just as what this young woman says, we should encourage people from different diversity and race to stand out to express themselves in news in the current society.
This course could definitely help me in my future career. As a media major student, I learn more about how ethics structure and how influential in the media field. Being ethical is our responsibilities to disseminate information to the society with authentic sources and fair analysis. And it is also important to learn ethics in a more systematic way while there are differed kinds of ethical issues and ethical principles.
Sources:
Wang, A. B. (2017, April 07). ‘One word says it all. Asian’: Airbnb host reportedly leaves guest stranded because of her race. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/04/07/one-word-says-it-all-asian-airbnb-host-reportedly-leaves-guest-stranded-because-of-her-race/?utm_term=.bbddff2b2363