Situation Definition:
The Foster-Foreman lecture that stuck with me the most was John Eligon, a national correspondent, who covers race issues for the New York Times. Eligon has covered events like police violence protests and the Boston Marathon bombing, along with other aspects of America’s struggle with issues involving race. During Eligon’s lecture I was able to hear about some of his experiences within communities and his viewpoints on reporting unbiased news. These stories carry a deeper meaning than just stories as they exemplify ethical messages that we have examined throughout the course of the semester.
Analysis:
The first ethical message that Eligon referenced was reporting without making it about yourself, or how I perceived it, creating unbiased and truthful stories. Eligon said that often times the voice is mistaken for opinion and the landscape of the profession has changed because of all the fragmentation and fake news. He spoke about not writing articles based on emotion and how it made you feel, but to observe the world around you and comprehend all of the stuff that leads to the moment, or the story. Specifically, Eligon was referring to his own experiences about getting stopped by police two months into his national correspondence because he was reported as a suspicious person. The idea of not making the writing about yourself, and looking at your own story from a different lens intrigued me. According to a study on fake news, the author referenced how quickly it can spread in an interesting quote, “disease strains can evolve and compete in a host population, much like rumors, and infections and opinions are both shaped by social contacts.” (Kucharski, 2016). When facing this challenge, it’s difficult to find a way out of it. With the internet and access to creating websites and blogs, it’s just too simple to be able to produce and trick people with fake news or unauthentic reporting. However, trusting credible sites and devising a database of well-known websites and news sources would be my idea to overcome this growing issue.
Another ethical message to take from Eligon’s lecture is about judgement, Eligon told disgusting stories of how he was discriminated against and met some pretty rude people in his career. He mentioned that he would often force himself to step outside of his comfort zone to report on interesting and important stories. He would enter communities where he felt he didn’t fit in, causing him to feel uncomfortable and nervous for his life. According to an article about ethics in journalism, “we live in a largely mediated world ruled by government media monopolies or commercial media oligopolies that construct images of the other.” (Teheranian, 2002). I think this does a perfect job of pointing out the problems that are still very present in today’s society. There is no easy way to navigate this situation but first and foremost people should look out for themselves and be aware of their surroundings. Additionally, I would try to bring this problem to light through conferences and try to gain a national attention towards this issue in journalism. I think it could be a valuable step in creating a safer society in the long-term future.
Conclusion:
Through this lecture, the ethical issues it presented and my additional research I learned a lot about how serious and dangerous reporting can be and the true risk associated with being a journalist. Despite the temptation of bias reporting and other ethical problems that can lead to dangerous situations, it’s important to stay true to all ethical values and face every situation responsibly and refrain from creating biased stories. It’s still very important to discuss the issues within journalists’ injustices and bring awareness through taking the necessary steps to make a safer and more enjoyable environment for all people and professions.
References:
Kucharski, A. (2016, December 21). Post-truth: Study epidemiology of fake news. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/540525a
Teheranian, M. (2002, April 1). Peace Journalism: Negotiating Global Media Ethics. Retrieved October 26, 2018, from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1081180X0200700205