Situational Definition
Covering national intelligence as a journalist is not an easy job. This job takes on the responsibility of prying nationally held secrets out of people that are told to not spill information. I had the opportunity to attend a Foster- Foreman Conference of Distinguished Writers and listen to journalist Ken Dilanian. During his lecture, two main issues that brought me intense ethical messages were being respectful to sources, and how to get around journalistic critics.
Analysis
MSNBC journalist Ken Dilianian is a distinguished writer who covers national security. Dilianian noted that there is no press room in the CIA national headquarters so instead of being told the news, they have to find it out, they are constantly scraping for information that they can write about.
When dealing with sources, journalists understand that they are not just talking to them because they are nice. Sources usually have agendas, they have their certain point of view on the situation. Journalists often times tend to let their own opinion on the situation slip through while asking sources questions. Instead, they should remain neutral and understand where the person is coming from.
There are several situations in which sources chose not to be named for personal reasons. In scholarly article, Communication Ethics Now, they mention that “anonymity gives sources the ability to distance themselves”(Keeble). Sources might feel as though once their information is published, they are vulnerable to critics. In these cases, journalists should always respect the privacy of their sources and use the information without throwing their names out there. There is a sacred bond between sources and journalists and when one journalist oversteps their boundaries, it could affect the rest of them.
“The press is often attacked and often vilified” (Carey). When receiving messages that criticize his work, Ken Dilianian is hesitant to reach out to critics. He usually picks and chooses which messages he is going to answer and will answer them in a respectful manner.
He mentions that when people criticize his work, they are usually not reading carefully, so he points them in the right direction by showing them where they can find the information.
In one of Dilianians articles, he was criticised by the Washington Post who mentioned that his story was “Desperate and half based”. There had been a russian source who everyone was trying to get to in order to publish the most up to date article. Dilianian drove to his house and knocked on his door. The Washington Post though that it was desperate and decided to comment on his attempts without knowing that one of their own journalists had done the same thing. Dilanian understood where they were coming from and decided not to comment on the situation.
Conclusion
During Ken Dilianian’s lecture, I learned many ethical issues that can be easily avoided. When dealing with sources, always remain neutral and respect their point of view. If they ask not to be named, do not name them and risk affecting the rest of the journalists in the world.
In journalism, critics are bound to comment on your work. Instead of getting worked up, journalists should kindly point them in the right direction, or not answer at all. It takes a lot of effort to answer every critic and not everyone is going to love your work every time you publish.
References
Keeble, Richard. Communication Ethics Now Chapter 3. The media’s use of anonymous sources. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ZMli83ieMw0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA32&dq=ethical+anonymous+sources&ots=aIgoPC71a2&sig=f-SoMjm6fkroSn669D2EH2vOhSM#v=onepage&q=ethical%20anonymous%20sources&f=false. Retrieved Oct 30, 2019.
Carey, James. Journalism and Criticism: The Case of an Undeveloped Profession. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-politics/article/journalism-and-criticism-the-case-of-an-undeveloped-profession/4CF04A3BC37B446283431DA730B5E217. Retrieved Oct 30, 2019