C409 – News Media Ethics

What I have Learned Throughout this Course:

Two Ethical Lessons:

Two important ethical lessons that I learned in COMM409 are Deception and Truth Telling and Invasion of privacy. I pick those two because I know with invasion of privacy we often think as reporters and journalists that our job is to tell everything, when our main priority is actually the people. It is sometimes difficult to determine if the public has a legitimate need to know or if the circumstances of a story are at risk. As humans I know that it’s important to ask ourselves how we would feel if we were the ones in the situation. When it comes to Deception and truth telling I think this is one of the main things in Journalism that affects everyone including the people you work with.Your whole career is based on accuracy which is how you connect with your audience because they trust you. You hurt people who have your back all for a good story at the end of the day. 

One Case Study:

The case study that impressed me the most was Janet Cooke almost similar to many other stories that we looked over but I found hers to be more intriguing because she actually won a Pulitzer prize for her feature writing then had to give it back. I did like that she eventually owned up to what she had done wrong and resigned while telling exactly what she did not do which was interview an 8-year old heroin addict adding that she made that up and Jimmy wasn’t real. It’s interesting to see that in moments where people are desperate it’s easy to make up a story and fabricate but the consequences just aren’t worth it in the end.

Course Impact

The course has helped me understand what it means to really be a Journalist and will help in the future when I have to make some hard decisions. I think it’s an important topic because at the end of the day we are all human and our job is to report the truth even though in the process of doing so things can get complicated. So hopefully later down the line all of the information that I obtained, stays with me and helps me in my process of being successful. Overall the course was interesting even with everything that happened with the Coronavirus we still managed to get things done and learn. I do think it’s a course that all COMM students should have to take because it does teach how to not be biased and simply do your job. Not only will it help in your professional career but It also helps in your personal life by helping you to understand if you were in somebody else’s shoes. 

Two Important Ethical Lessons

In Comm 409 I have learned so many valuable, ethical lessons that I will take away with me. Two of the most important ethical lessons that I will take away with me are, the importance of truth-telling and invasion of privacy. In regards to truth-telling in journalism, it is very important to only report the truth and know how to spot deceiving reports. I think this lesson was very helpful because, occasionally there are journalists trying to deceive the public for personal gain, for instance Stephen Glass. It’s important to always fact check before taking information from other sources because it can cost someone their job. This lesson taught me how much respect you can either gain, or lose from the public by being truthful or deceiving. The lesson covering invasion of privacy was also very important to me too. Since I am a photojournalism major, I need to be aware of what kind of images are acceptable to publish, without being overly sensitive, or insensitive. I think this lesson has helped me determine a little better, what is crossing the line and what isn’t. It’s important I learn the difference so in the future I gain the respect of the public.

Case Study

The case study that impressed me the most was the case of Stephen Glass. Before learning about him in class, I had never heard of him. I was astonished how one person could get away with fabricating as many stories as he did, for years. Not only did Glass fabricate stories, but he created fake sources and notes, which is so impressive that it’s scary. It’s scary that Glass’s stories got past the fact checkers many times, and his fabricated stories were published over and over again to the public. Glass fabricated incredible stories that almost seemed too good to be true, and unfortunately, they were. He got too caught up in the thrill of fabricating stories that he lost sight of what was important, his audience. I think Stephen Glass is a great example of why there are ethics in journalism, and why everyone journalist should follow them.

Impact on Future Career and Life

I believe this course has taught me a lot about what it means to be a journalist. It has taught me what to be prepared for, and that you can’t please everyone. I hope to pursue a career as a photojournalist, and before this course I was aware of some of the challenges I might face. Although, I didn’t know how I was to handle photographing sensitive moments or what to publish and what not to publish; but now I do. This course has educated me on many valuable lessons that I will use in the future to better myself as a photojournalist, and for that I’m grateful.

General Reflection

Overall, I have really enjoyed this class. When I first signed up for this course, I thought it was going to be boring, but Dr. Z has made it pretty enjoyable. I liked learning about all the different cases, and being able to use information from the case studies to better myself as a journalist. I think this course is very valuable because it gives real world examples, in which prepares you for what your job might truly be like. I very much enjoyed this class and will take all the information I learned throughout this course, and apply it to my future jobs.

Important Ethical Lessons

Since enrolling in Comm 409 this spring semester, I have learned a lot of ethical lessons from the lectures and case studies that we have discussed in class throughout the year. One lesson that really stuck out to me was deception and truth telling. In my opinion, truth telling is one of, if not the most, important practices for an ethical journalist. As journalists, it is our duty to the public to always tell the truth when reporting the news. The truth bolsters a journalist’s credibility and allows the public to trust us to report the right information to them. In cases like Stephen Glass, Janet Cook, Jayson Blair, and other journalists who have fabricated stories and deceived their colleagues and audience, trust was abused and it hurt not only the credibility of the journalist, but also the media outlet that they work for. Discussing truth telling and deception in class has really taught me that it is never okay to make up stories and deceive the audience or my colleagues as a journalist.  

Another important ethical lesson I have learned from the class is diversity in news reporting. In today’s society we still see issues like discrimination, profiling, and racial stereotyping and prejudice. As discussed in class, the media has a moral duty to report accurately, fairly, and sensitively on our diverse, multicultural society. Before this class, I always knew that diversity in news reporting was important, but after discussing it further in the lectures, a lot of light was shed on problems we still have today and the magnitude of diversity in new reporting. The SPJ code states that journalists should examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others, and to give voice to the voiceless. After taking this class, those are codes I will make sure to follow as my career develops.  

One Case Study That Impressed Me The Most

When I think of case studies that impressed me the most during this semester, I always think of the Steven Glass case. I think that case really just showed me the harm that can be done when fabricating stories. Stephen Glass was so good at fabricating stories he gained the ultimate respect from his audience and colleagues. Fact checkers were not even able to spot his lies because of how good he was at scheming the system. But at the end of the day, he was caught and proven to be a fraud. It seemed like he had all the promise to be a successful journalist but when you get caught lying like he was, it is almost impossible to gain back respect and credibility.  

Courses Impact On My Future 

As my career as a journalist develops in the future, I will use many lessons I’ve learned in this class. I have already started implementing some of the lessons I’ve learned this semester as I have been writing for Onward State, such as conflict of interest. I think this course has prepared me well to ensure I am an ethical journalist going forward. If I ever have to question whether or not my reporting follows the proper ethics codes, I will always refer back to this class and the case studies that we have learned. I am very optimistic that this class has prepared me well for the future in terms of ethical reporting.

Reflection On The Course

 This was one of my favorite courses this semester. I really enjoyed learning from my peers about certain case studies that they have studied which pertain to ethical issues in the media. I think this class is run well, and we were able to learn a lot from each other as well as Dr. Z. One thing I particularly liked about this class was that Dr. Z truly took time to know each of us students and cared a lot about how we were doing in the class and outside of the class. Even though the class had 40 plus students, he showed that he cared about how each of us are doing. 

I have learned a lot in this course that will be helpful throughout my journalistic career.  We focused a lot on truth telling, copy writing, and privacy, and I have to say that those are the most important things I have learned in this class. I never thought it was okay to lie or to steal somebody’s work, but this class goes into depth about these situations and gives you a good understanding of the consequences that could happen to you if you do not abide by those rules.

The case study that put all journalism ethics into place was the movie “Shattered Glass.” Stephen Glass basically shows journalists, or anybody really, what happens if you do not act in an ethical way. Glass acted very unethical by fabricating stories, and lying about everything in his stories overall. The movie gives you a very clear perspective of what would happen if you were to act unethical in any way. After watching the movie, I personally felt the need to always triple check my work, making sure I was careful, making sure I was citing or quoting my sources with the correct name, no false or misguided information in my story, etc. This class also went into detail about privacy and when to not overstep when it comes to naming sex victims, school shooters, even a victim of that shooting. As a future journalist, you learn to report everything, to have everything documented, and to get the best and most interesting story out there. Having those ideas in our head, it can be very easy to forget the rules of privacy, and what can be ethically or morally wrong to some viewers or even the subject itself.

One lesson I enjoyed in class was when Professor John Beale came into class and showed us a lot of photos that were very hard to look at. When we learned about, “what would you want to see or read about while you’re eating breakfast,” it was glued into my brain automatically. This rule sticks with you and makes you question whatever you are trying to report is too gruesome to have people look at or read, or it is just slightly not so gruesome too where even though it is upsetting, it is newsworthy and worth reporting.

This class will definitely impact my future. I did not know much about ethics before stepping into this class, but now walking out of it I have gained so much knowledge on what it takes to be a good, successful journalist. This class makes it very clear on how important the rules of ethics are and it even gives you a clear idea on what could or will happen to you if you decide to act unethical in any way during your career. In my hopes to be a photojournalist, I think what I learned in this class will always stick with me, and I think the knowledge I gained throughout this class will make me a better photojournalist all around.

I really enjoyed COMM 409 with Dr. Z. I really enjoyed watching/listening to my classmates’ case studies, I personally feel as if I gained a lot of knowledge out of those. I also really enjoyed this class simply because it was very important for my career, or anybody going into the journalistic field.

What COMM 409 Has Taught Me

This media ethics course has opened my eyes to the importance of ethics in maintaining journalistic integrity and trust. I believe that through this course, I am able to truly see how my actions as a journalist could impact my own reputation, as well as the organization I work for and the journalism industry. This course has taught me how to best serve my community as a journalist.

Two Ethical Lessons

Throughout the course we covered many case studies and ethical lessons. Two topics along with their ethical lessons that stuck out to me the most are: the case involving Jayson Blair and Sonia Nazario’s fly on the wall reporting that led to her piece called “Enrique’s Journey.”

Jayson Blair was a New York Times reporter who utilized plagiarism and fabrication that “misled readers and Times colleagues” (Barry et al., 2003). The worst part of his case is that, “he used these techniques to write falsely about emotionally charged moments in recent history, from deadly sniper attacks in suburban Washington to the anguish of families grieving for loved ones killed in Iraq” (Barry et al., 2003). Mr. Blair did not seek to carry out his journalistic duties to minimize harm, to report truthfully and accurately, and to be accountable and transparent regarding his actions. He blatantly lied to the community and to his co-workers and did not respect the journalistic principle of being loyal to his community. The New York Times reported, “Mr. Blair had by this point developed a pattern of pretending to cover events in the Mid-Atlantic region when in fact he was spending most of his time in New York” (Woods ,2002). The lesson here is that the lack of integrity in his actions damaged his reputation and that of the The New York Times as well as the public’s trust in journalism. His case raises the question, “How can journalists be trusted?” His case taught me that journalists need to practice ethical decision making by utilizing not only the SPJ Code of Ethics, but the ethical principles of Aristotle’s Golden Mean, Kant’s Categorical Imperative, Mill’s Principle of Utility, Rawl’s veil of ignorance, and Judeo-Christian Persons as Ends. Additionally, his case taught me that journalists have no excuse to jeopardize their news organization’s duty to report truthfully and transparently even on tight deadlines.

The second topic that I thought presented significant ethical lessons was Sonia Nazario’s reporting that led to her piece called “Enrique’s Journey.” In this case, the Los Angeles Times reporter followed “a boy from Honduras who was trying to reach his mother…in North Carolina” (Foreman, 2016, p. 42). In order to give an authentic view of the case Sonia could not intervene (Foreman, 2016, p. 42). She even watched as Enrique rode the top of a freight train, and she couldn’t give him her cellphone, so he could call his mom in North Carolina (Foreman, 2016, p. 42). This case demonstrates that journalists need to be fly on the wall reporters and that any intervention that they may have in a story could damage their integrity and the accuracy, fairness and truthfulness of the story in which they are covering. Sonia’s coverage of the boy’s journey demonstrates the ethical lesson as to why journalists should not intervene in order to be authentic and transparent. The reasons are: “Intervention changes the nature of the event, rendering it no longer authentic. Intervention can lead the audience to perceive bias on the journalist’s part” (Foreman, 2016, p.39). Her case demonstrates not only her integrity to live by journalistic standards, but her ability to set aside her emotion in covering such a dramatic story.

Both of these topics demonstrate that ethics are not always clear; ethical values, certain situations and certain threats will require different courses of action. The course of action should reflect journalists’ primary loyalty to the community they serve.

One Case Study that Impressed Me the Most

The case that impressed me the most was that of the Unabomber Manifesto that involved The New York Times and The Washington Post. In this case, Ted Kaczynski, who “claimed responsibility for killing three people and wounding 23 with a series of mail bombs the past 17 years that the killing would stop if the newspapers published his rambling manifesto and allowed for three annual follow-ups” (Woods, 2002).  Both papers decided to publish “excerpts from the document as part of a story with a legitimate news peg. But neither has responded directly to the Unabomber’s demands” (Woods, 2002). This case truly demonstrates how ethical decision making contains different moving parts and that every situation is different. Journalists should utilize the professional code of ethics, ethical principles and diverse viewpoints in making a decision. In this particular case the ethical code that stands out the most is to minimize harm, and the ethical principle that is in play is Aristotle’s Golden Mean, which tells journalists to consider all the avenues of action before making a decision. Additionally, this case presented a lot of ethical dilemmas such as whether the information was newsworthy, whether the newspaper should make sure that the report is not influenced by the bomber’s requests, and whether how they consulted public officials was journalistically sound (Woods, 2002).

In this case specifically, I believe that by publishing the manifesto, the newspapers did less harm than if they had refused to publish it. As Times publisher, Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. “said in a message to his staff, ‘You print and he doesn’t kill anybody else, that’s a pretty good deal…You print it, and he continues to kill people, what have you lost? The cost of newsprint?’” (Foreman, 2016, p.47).

Course’s Impact on My Future Career and Life  

Upon graduation, I will be a news producer in a producer in residence training program in Atlanta. This course has taught me how I may exercise journalistic ethics within my job. I will make sure that the coverage is fair and accurate, that a voice is given to the “voiceless,” and ultimately that first and foremost the news organization’s primary loyalty lies with the community that it serves (Foreman, 2016).

Additionally, this course has helped me to recognize that I am a journalist 24/7 and any activities that I support outside of work could interfere with my credibility as an unbiased journalist. I also believe that this course has encouraged me to not be afraid to ask questions in my career, after all multiple opinions will help me to make the best ethical decisions in covering a story where there really is no clear answer.

In my personal life, I believe this course will help me to be a good friend, spouse and potential mother one day. This course has taught me to see all sides of a story in order to get to the facts. As a friend, I could decipher the truth between friends who are arguing and as a mother the same if my kids are arguing. This class has taught me that everyone is entitled to an opinion, but it is my duty to decipher what is the truth by discovering many diverse viewpoints.

My Final Thoughts

I did enjoy this class, because it helped me to think on my feet and to consider every ethical code or principle that could be applied to situations. I enjoyed learning about case studies, because the class discussions we had regarding them helped me to better support my opinion or to better understand someone else’s. Additionally, I believe that I became a more confident person. Now, if I take a stance on an issue, I do not make a blanket statement, but I make sure that I have the proof to support my stance. Ethics not only help people be decent and honest, but most importantly journalists with integrity.

References

Barry, D., Barstow, D., Glater J.D., Liptak, A., Steinberg, J., Delaquérière, A., Wilder, C.    (2003, May 11). Correcting the record; Times reporter who resigned leaves long trail of deception. The New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/us/correcting-the-record-times-reporter- who- resigned-leaves-long-trail-of-deception.html

Foreman, G. (2016). The ethical Journalist: making responsible decisions in the digital age (pp. 39, 42, 47).  Hoboken: Wiley.

Woods, Keith. (2002, August 25). Unabomber case holds lessons for all journalists. Poynter.

https://www.poynter.org/archive/2002/unabomber-case-holds-lessons-for-all-journalists /

Overall, News Media Ethics was a very interesting course that allowed me to build upon ethical lessons I had learned in my previous Communications courses. I feel that the class lectures, case studies, and presentations provided great insight into journalists’ past mistakes and how I can learn from them and apply those lessons to my own career.

Two Important Ethical Lessons

Throughout the semester, many vital ethical lessons stuck with me. First, I found the lesson on invasion of privacy to be very interesting. I believe it’s extremely necessary for journalists to respect the privacy of those they are interviewing or reporting on. If a journalist knowingly reports on something that the interviewee deemed confidential or private, that information can ruin the reputations of both the interviewee and the journalist. This sort of mistake can cause the journalist to be viewed by the public as inconsiderate or immoral. Secondly, I found the lessons on fabrication very interesting and important as well. While pretty much everyone knows that plagiarism is wrong and not tolerated in the journalism field, I think it’s much more common for people to think that minor acts of fabrication or exaggeration are not as wrong. However, I learned through this course that even the slightest act of fabrication is very serious and can result in the permanent tarnishing of a journalist’s professional reputation. It is vital for journalists to stick only to the facts and stay away from embellishment to try to make a story seem more interesting. 

One Case Study that Impressed Me

Throughout the entire course, the case study that impressed me the most was the story about Brian Williams. I had known that Williams took a misstep in his past prior to studying him and his mistake in misrepresenting events that occurred on a trip to Iraq in 2003, but I did not previously know what that mistake was exactly. I think this case study is important, as it highlights that even a slight factual error in reporting can result in serious punishments and repercussions. Although Williams has gradually gained some of his public respect back as a journalist by beginning his own show, The 11th Hour with Brian Williams, in 2016, it took a while for that shift in public perception to occur. I think the Brian Williams case serves as a lesson for all journalists to make sure that they report 100% of the facts and not embellish their story in any way.

Impact on Future Career and Life; General Reflection

I envision the lessons I learned in this course to stay with me throughout my entire career. While I do not plan to enter the journalism profession, I think the ethical principles taught in this class can apply to every career path. Telling the truth, staying true to moral values and beliefs, and respecting others are all lessons that everyone should take seriously in both their professional and personal lives. Overall, ethics help you learn how to be a good human to others. I’m so glad I took this course, as it has taught me how to act professionally in a number of settings. Even though classes were taught through Zoom for the second half of the semester, I think Dr. Z did a fantastic job in retaining the value of the course. Comm 409 teaches many valuable professional and life lessons, and I am glad to have taken the course during my last semester at Penn State.

Throughout this semester in comm 409 I have learned many things about the ethics in media. I really enjoy the lessons that we learned about the faulty reporting over the years in the media. I find it all so interesting that these people, such as Brian Williams for example, are the people we believe in to be the voice of our countries news, the source for all Americans news.

My favorite case study was certainly the Stephen Glass one. Probably because we got to watch the movie in class, which was a great movie. I found it incredible how he was able to twist things his ways through his lies to his coworkers and lie throughout his writing career.

I believe that this class will be very helpful for me in two different ways. One, is if I do pursue a career in sports journalism I believe that I now have the line of do’s and do not’s in the journalism world which is a great lesson to have. The other is even if I don’t go into journalism I will be looking for these flaws on television and in written news for the rest of my life and it will really help me differentiate different news organizations.

All in all I really did enjoy taking this class and I learned a lot of great lessons in the news world because of it.

Ethical Lessons

Over the course of the semester, this course has taught me many ethical lessons that I can carry with me. Two of the most important ethical lessons I have taken away with me from this class are the invasion of privacy and the Potter Box ethical decision-making model. In terms of invasion of privacy, I have learned how crucial it is to understand rules surrounding privacy in order to be the best journalist possible. Invasion of privacy is a topic that often comes up when deciding to publish the name of a sexual assault victim or whether or not to publish a photo or video of a crime. Ethics is evident in this decision-making process because a journalist must distinguish between what is newsworthy that the public needs to know vs. minimization of harm and the citizen’s right to privacy. The Potter Box is another important ethical lesson because it provides 4 guiding steps a journalist can follow to make an ethical decision. In no particular order, it forces the journalist to think objectively about the situation, identify and compare the values associated with each side of the decision, compares the principles and ethical values of each side and identify to whom loyalties belong. This was interesting because it can be used to make many different ethical decisions and everyone can come out with a different solution to every issue. 

Case study

The case study that was most impressive and interesting to me was the case of Stephen Glass, like I’m sure it was for many others in this class. Before the lecture on him and watching the movie, I had never heard of him or this incident before. It was surprising to me that someone so young could so comfortably fool so many audience members and co-workers. Glass fabricated extravagant stories, quotes and characters that were almost too good to be true along with compelling details that made it difficult to doubt. Fake news today is a pretty common issue but I think that the case of Stephen Glass is one of the biggest cases of fabrication in journalism history. It was also fascinating to me the lengths that Glass went to cover up his fabrications as to not get caught. Many other journalists caught in fabrication cases ultimately confess but Glass didn’t confess until he had no other choice. Glass took it upon himself to fabricate his stories and deceive his audience and co-workers further by creating fake phone numbers and even a fae website for a company that doesn’t even exist. I think the case of Stephen Glass represents the importance of ethics in journalism that every good journalist should follow.

Impact on future

I believe that this class will have a significant impact on my future career and life. Before coming into this course the ethical decision-making process surrounding journalism never really crossed my mind. Although I hope to pursue a career in news, as a Telecommunications major journalist standards never really mattered to me. However after taking this course, it has become clear to me how important these ethical standards are not only to journalists but to those who consume news. As an active consumer of news and information, I need to be aware of what I am reading and having a better understanding of what is ethical and the standards that journalists are held to, will enable me to more consciously consume news media. In my career I hope to be a news director. Although I would not be responsible for writing the story, I will have a hand in determining what the public gets to see; and by having the skills to make more sound ethical decisions from this class I will be able to do my job better and ensure that the public is consuming fair, accurate and unbiased content.

General Reflection

Overall, I really enjoyed this class with Dr. Z. It was very different from the other classes I have taken during my time at Penn State because it really focuses on what is going on in the world now and uses real-world examples to explain the severity of situations and the importance of ethics in journalism. I always found the lectures interesting because there was always a new case study that forced us to think critically about the impact of our actions to help make us better journalists and media consumers

The first ethical lesson that I learned was how to decide when to name sources and when not to name sources. I feel as though I learned the difference between when to name a subject who is a shooter or victim and when to, which is incredibly important when covering breaking news. It even changed some of my opinions on those matters. The second ethical lesson I learned was about conflicts of interest and how to avoid them. As a reporter in college, being short on time to meet your deadlines, it can be very tempting to interview a friend or a roommate just to get your story turned in by 11:59 p.m., but it is so important for your reputation to not do so, which is something I knew, but was reinforced by this class. 

A case study I learned that impressed me was that of Lovelle Svart, the journalist who made videos diaries for The Oregonian about her process of committing medically assisted suicide. I thought the dichotomy between her feeling of duty as a journalist and the paper’s desire to make sure she didn’t feel as though she had to go through with the suicide was interesting. The ethics that went into their decision were intense and high-stakes which made me feel like I could understand the case and everything that was going into it. I was also simply impressed with Svart’s courage. She knew what she wanted and she knew her story was important enough to share with the world. 

As someone who wants to become a journalist, this class set a helpful foundation for me that will (hopefully) carry me through my future career. I feel as though I have a full ethical toolbox so to speak. For the rest of my college career, I feel like I have everything I need to be a professional journalist which will help me to get a job in the future. Even though I want to go into the field of entertainment and magazine journalism, the things I have learned are just as important to me as they are to someone who wants to go into a breaking news position. 

I enjoyed COMM 409: News Media Ethics. I think the best part of the class was learning about the case studies. While learning about the concepts and principles is useful, I think it is most useful to learn about the things that have actually happened so that we don’t repeat negative history and so that we can follow the guidelines of good history.

Overall, COMM 409 has been a great course. I have learned so much throughout this semester, both related to news media ethics and even beyond just that topic. After taking this course, I feel I have a deeper understanding of the journalism industry and all that goes into being a responsible journalist.

Two Ethical Lessons

The first ethical lesson that I have taken away from this course was to always tell the truth. I was surprised that we had a lecture titled ‘Deception and Truth-telling’ because I have always assumed that telling the truth was common sense and the right thing to do. As I learned throughout this course, not everyone agrees. I am still surprised that so many people have made examples out of themselves by not sharing the correct information to the public. For example, part of Stephen Glass’s case involved his lack of truth telling, which was very surprising for me to learn about. As a result, I have learned that it truth telling is a crucial part of journalism, which is why it is one of my biggest ethical lessons to take away from this class.

The second ethical lesson that I have learned from this course is regarding invasion of privacy. I found this lecture to be very interesting. I really enjoyed learning about what privacy rights people have in certain situations. I feel this information is very useful for everyone to know since our rights change based on the situation we are in. The biggest lesson I took from this lecture was as a journalist, we always need to be aware of everyone’s privacy rights. Journalists need to be sure they understand the laws surrounding privacy to be sure they never cross boundaries and get themselves into trouble. I think this was one of the most important lectures, especially since there are such thin lines that can be crossed when it comes to privacy rights.

One Case Study That Impressed Me

The case study that impressed me the most was Brian Williams and his fabrication of the news story regarding a helicopter incident in Iraq. This case stuck out to me the most because Brian Williams is such a big name in the journalism industry. Even though I was young when he was at his prime on air, I still remember seeing him on the news and I recognized his name and face. In 2015, when his case broke, I do not remember being very aware of it occurring. During COMM 409, when we learned about his case on multiple occasions, I was shocked. Learning about a guy who was so well-known in this industry being caught lying on national television was a shock to me. This is when I realized that no one in the journalism industry is invincible, and even if they are well-known and highly paid, they will be caught. This was the first example I have learned about that included someone I recognized, which is why I was so interested in learning more about it.

Impact of the Course on my Life

Through COMM 409, I have learned many critical lessons, as I mentioned above. I have also been shown numerous examples of people who have violated the ethical journalism practices, and now I have seen what can happen if I were to do so. These lessons and examples of exactly what not to do will follow me wherever my career may take me. Even if I don’t end up in the journalism field, these ethical practices can be applied to any industry. Many of these lessons are centered around being a decent human. As I move and grow throughout my career, I will take this toolbox full of ethical principles and practices with me. I am only a junior, so I’m not exactly certain where my first job will be after graduation. However, I know that after taking this course, I will be more aware of how I should be conducting myself and my practices and how others I may work with should be as well.

My Final Thoughts

Overall, this course has been very enjoyable. I really enjoyed learning about so many different case studies and examples of unethical practices. I think this was a nice way to apply the concepts we learned in lecture. Completing the case study project with a group was also a nice way to meet other students in the class and be able to discuss the concepts we were learning in lecture. This class is filled with important lessons, and I am so glad I got the chance to learn all of them. Thank you for everything Dr. Z.

In a grand conceptualization of the course, the first and most important ethical lesson I learned was telling the truth. It’s obvious but surprisingly hard to do in today’s climate. To me, the duty of a journalist is to tell the public the true story of what is happening no matter where they come from, their political beliefs, or their zip code. Before taking 409, I had somewhat of an idea of how easily news can be fabricated since I have memories of the 2016 election, but just how easily news stories can be manipulated to fit into a certain narrative took me by surprise. The alteration of a few words can completely wipe out what actually happened. It’s all about the framing. Also, one thing that comes hand-in-hand with telling the truth, is respecting one’s privacy. A journalist could have a ground-breaking report with the potential to put important people on blast, but the ethical principles of invasion of privacy can get in the way of hitting the ‘publish’ button. This conflict was interesting to dissect in this course. I enjoyed trying to find common ground in hypothetical scenarios since all of them reflected real-life situations. 

Stephen Glass’ story astounded me. It was early in the semester and I was amazed at how the story unfolded itself. It demonstrated how easy it was for one person to begin an entire operation of storytelling starting on one lie, and how that accumulates to an entire fabricated universe readers are led to believe is real. It was appalling to witness Glass take advantage of his peers and a critically acclaimed magazine such as The New Republic in such a selfish manner. It was also cool to see the same actor who played Anakin Skywalker play Glass in the film we watched in class. Stephen Glass also the first case we delved into the depths of and analyzed as a group. This has heightened my awareness of fabricated information and makes me think about how important it is journalists are faithful to telling the truth. 

Being a journalist is not my only career goal. I have intentions of going to law school and becoming a lawyer and other career goals also. I have a desire to learn about the world and report on it too, expanding my knowledge and my understanding of it all. The lessons I have learned in COMM 409 will stay with me for the duration of my career. I may not remember specific case studies ten years from now, but I will remember how we constantly talked about the need to tell the truth because it is the top priority of a journalist. The public trusts us to tell them the truth and it’s not responsible to manipulate their trust. 

My reflection on this course as a whole is it’s very effective in getting your brain thinking about certain subjects. Like I’ve stated before, a journalist’s responsibility, to tell the truth, might seem obvious but this class had me thinking about what leads certain journalists to lie. Lectures and readings I did for 409 allowed me to broaden my methods of thinking in understanding why ethical issues exist in the first place and why they still find a way to persist in present day while also teaching me what not to do in certain situations. It also taught me to document what is happening in the moment and leave analysis for a later time. I will carry these lessons with me going into my career and all throughout.

In my time in C409 I have learned a variety of helpful things that I know will help me in my future career as a journalist. One of the most important lessons I learned involved simply telling the truth. For something as simple as telling the truth there are a lot of cases where journalists simply don’t do it. This can be seen in the most interesting case study we did in this class, the case of Stephen Glass. Stephen Glass seemingly made a career over the fabrication of news and because of people like him a lot of trust can be lost in journalism. If we tell the truth then the public will trust us, If we tell the truth then we are truly being journalists. Thanks to this class and DR.Z I will never forget that.

I was impressed the most by the case study on Steven Glass because I felt that it was one of the biggest scandals in the history of Journalism. Here you have a young, talented journalist who made the ultimate mistake in the fabrication of a variety of news pieces. His stories seemed to be stranger than fiction, but this is because they weren’t true at all. It was also a great example of failure on the New Republic editors, as they did not fact check their stories and Glass was allowed to get away with so much. I also loved the investigative side of how the people at Forbes were able to uncover the truth behind Glass’ story about hackers. It’s just a truly fascinating tale of bad journalism, and something every journalist can learn from.

Another important lesson involved the right to privacy. While as journalists we have a mission to report about and uncover the truth, people still have a right to privacy. There are examples where journalists go too far. I now know when it can cross the line towards invasion of privacy, and now understand the ethics behind undercover reporting and how it should be the last option when it comes to obtaining information. People have a right to privacy and an ethical journalist needs to understand that.

The course will have a tremendous impact on my career as I want to be a journalist. I now know what I need to be an ethical Journalist who is trustworthy and can be a great journalist. I will miss this course Dr.Z is a great professor. I will always be sad that we lost the ability to actually be in class because of the coronavirus. I definitely learned a lot because of this class, and I can’t wait to use my knowledge in a professional environment.

This class helped me build on journalism skills that I didn’t realize existed before taking COMM 409. I have learned what it takes to become a smart ethical journalist who reports fairly and accurately. I am glad I got the opportunity to learn about mistakes that journalists have made in the past, this helps us journalism students to further grow in this profession.

Two important ethical lessons

The first ethical lesson that stood out to me most is something quite obvious, but many people surprisingly fail to do. Telling the truth. A journalist has a duty to present the public with factual information and accurate sources, and I never realized how easy it was for journalists to fabricate stories and stretch the truth. Some journalists are known to push the envelope when it comes to producing stories. They tend to inform the public of events that did not happen without advising them of their fabrication. At first, I wondered why anyone would ever do this, but I learned that it helps boost their self-esteem and the feeling of being accepted by society. Journalists have the power to inform the public and keep them knowledgeable, and by failing to tell the truth, they are essentially hurting the public as well as themselves. The second lesson that stood out to me was invasion of privacy. It is important for a journalist to know their boundaries when reporting on certain issues whether they involve the public or private persons. Invading one’s privacy can lead to their harm and ruin their reputation. It can also damage the journalist’s reputation; they are portraying themselves as someone who does not have morals and is insensitive. Both of these lessons are crucial for journalists and people in the media field to learn.

One case study that impressed me

 The case study that left the biggest impression on me was the Stephen Glass case. Prior to learning about him, it never occurred to me that journalists would go this far in reporting just to boost their popularity and social acceptance. Personally, I think Stephen Glass has done one of the worst things a journalist can do to ruin their career and reputation. It shocked me to see how far he went in covering up his lies and fabricated stories and it shocked me even more when we learned about other journalists who have done similar things. Glass not only fabricated his stories, but he lied to his fellow reporters and boss, betraying their trust as well. It also shocked me that Glass didn’t try to resolve this dilemma and admit he was at fault from the beginning, instead he dug himself a deeper whole and was never able to recover. If I were him, I would have admitted to my editor right away that I was at fault in order to save my career. Because of the permanent damage of his reputation, I will forever remember this case study because it really left an impression on me. It is one of the most important lessons to learn in the field of journalism.

Impact of the course on my future career and life

 Ethics has now become an important part of my future career. My other classes have touched upon ethics before, so I thought I knew enough about them, but I was wrong. The ethical lessons that we learned in this class not only apply to journalists, but to everyone. Ethics are something that everyone should have because they make you a good human being. I am glad I was able to take this class in the spring semester of my senior year because I plan to go to grad school and this course really opened my eyes and set the tone for how I want to act properly in my future career. Even though I might not go into the journalism field, the lessons that we learned carry over into different fields and apply to everyone.

Reflection on course as a whole

 Overall, I thought this course was enjoyable and exceeded my expectations. It was easy to follow and was run very smoothly. Despite courses becoming remote, Dr. Z made the transition to online learning in this class fairly easy. My favorite part about the course was the case studies, they made the class more engaging and they were always interesting to learn about. Not only did we learn about valuable journalism skills, we learned about valuable life skills. I think this class has set us up to be successful in our futures and to be moral people.

Lessons Learned

Comm 409 taught me a number of things that I intend on bringing with me throughout my journalism career. The most important being how to deal with potentially stressful decision making while on the job. I will think back to the role of the journalist in these situations, and I intend on operating on the idea that one should provide help if they are the most equipped at the scene to do so. I also intend on remembering all the situations that could create biased reporting to avoid any of the simple tricks used to try and sway a journalist from their neutral position.

Impactful Case Study

There are a number of case studies from the year that stick out in my mind, but the most noteworthy was the story of Stephen Glass. I have gone most of my life trusting the top-notch journalists no matter what they say, especially those who attended great universities and had storied careers, like Steve Glass. This case study showed horrible journalistic practices that amazed me. I couldn’t fathom that Glass had fabricated not just one source but entire stories! This case study taught me to fact check claims that I see on news outlets, and to make sure that I conduct thorough reporting of my own.

Future Impact

This course has taught me a number of things that I will keep with me. It has shown multiple ways to be the best journalist possible, and I intend on following those recommendations to a tee. The ideas of avoiding bias through even the strangest of means, from being offered free things to knowing friends within, will stick with me and create a guideline as to what I can and cannot do while on the job. In the event that I am placed in a potentially harmful situation, the course taught me when to be a journalist and when to try my best to help people. The course taught me more than just how to improve myself, but how I can help other people in the process. These lessons will certainly stick with me.

Course Reflection

Comm 409 proved to be a much more useful course than I had expected. I came in expecting a course with some very obvious ethical points and nothing more, but I left a more informed journalist who is now aware of some serious ethical decision-making skills. This was never a course that I would have chosen on my own, so I am glad that it is a prescribed course by the university. Professor Z is a great man, who can teach you so much more than just proper journalism practices.