Ethics is crucial in a journalist’s career and it goes way beyond just telling the truth and reporting on it. This class has taught me that. While, yes, seeking the truth and reporting it is one of the most important guidelines to follow, it’s not the only one that could be broken. Reporting on the truth was also something I knew of before heading into the class, it’s something everyone probably knew of before class. A journalist is supposed to seek the truth and report it.
So if I were to talk about two ethical lessons that really stood out to me they would be, the lessons on ethical decision-making and the lecture on conflict of interest. Learning about ethical decision-making was something I believe was crucial to learn in this course since we will all be faced with it in the future. Journalists need to make hard decisions, and learning about using the Code of Ethics to help serve as a decision-making tool was helpful. Learning about ways to help with one’s ethical decision-making with critical thinking, applying a step-by-step template and also trusting your gut will help prepare me for the future.
The conflict of interest lecture we had also really stood out to me. It was interesting to hear about cases in which journalists violated this guideline and it was also just interesting to learn about what exactly a conflict of interest was. It started to make me think more about other cases that could be considered a conflict of interests on different levels, such as in the sports realm as well.
As of case studies, the one that stood out to me the most was ‘The Death of a Boy.” The St. Petersburg Times published a story about a 4-year-old boy who had been crushed by furniture and died. Alongside the story was a photo of the mother very sad right after the event occurred. This received some concerns about the image; however, they defended their actions saying that the image was powerful and could save others from a similar event. I understand both sides of the stories between the readers and the paper. This case study just really made me think about what I would do in the editor and photographer’s position.
This course really made me think differently about news events and what would be considered ethical or not. It has prepared me for my next step into the newsroom by making me aware of guidelines and ethical issues. It has definitely helped with my ethical decision-making and has made me even more excited to make my way into the workplace.