Blog4
Two Important ethical lessons
In this class, I have learned plenty of valuable, ethical lessons that I will take along with me in my future career. One of the most important lessons that I have learned is the invasion of privacy. The case study I’ve done with my group discussed the topic of showing the picture of refugees. The ethical issues surrounding the publication of a photo of a dead body involve the family of the deceased. In some cases, there are good came from the publication of their photos. For example, donations to charitable foundations aiding migrants increased, and the general public was made much more aware of the danger immigrants face. However, the dilemma for journalists’ duty as professionals or the moral duties in a human would never end. Another important lesson that I have learned is that words matter. Language and context could perpetuate or alter public bias to an event. In the case that was mentioned in class, the word “sex accuser” puts the victim into the role of aggressor. A simple word could actually show different perspectives or even change the tone of the report. A report should be impartial and neutral in wording.
One case that impressed me
I was so shocked when I saw the video about an Airbnb host leaves the guest stranded because of her race as an Asian. It seems like a cliché when it comes to the topic of diversity in race or gender identity, so many people often aren’t taking it seriously. However, society is not as diverse as we thought. The percentage of the report in minor groups is way lower than the corresponding population and this is an important message to tell us that the diversity in news media is not enough. The media have a moral duty to report accurately, fairly, and sensitively on our diverse, multicultural society.
Impact on Future Career and Reflection
This is the first ethics course I took in college and I envision the lessons I learned in this course to stay with me throughout my life. Even though I’m neither in journalism major nor entering the field in the future, I believe ethical lessons in journalism are still important. With the development of social media, citizen journalism is flourishing at the same time. That is, everyone would have plenty of chances to speak out their opinion and observation. When people have the voices to speak up, ethical knowledge have become to be essential. There are so many situations that we have never met or even think of, so I personally enjoy this class by learning from different case studies. It is a great chance to understand more about the principles and the process of ethical thinking.