Ethical Journalistic Endeavors with John Eligon
John Eligon, a national correspondent for The New York Times, touched on multiple topics that discussed the ethical integrity of journalists, specifically his own treatment as a black journalist and the importance of including that in the contexts of his experiences as a journalist, as well as the deficits that come along with putting your opinion into news articles. He related these two attributes to each other by examining how his journalistic duties interfere with his identity and its social relevance.
Racism in America is prevalent which allows Eligon a unique platform when it comes to his journalistic aspirations. Eligon described his own instances with implicit racism while on the job as a national correspondent and then discussed why he included his experiences in his reporting. He made sure to differentiate from opinion and fact; Eligon made sure to point out that the manner in which he reported his experiences being discriminated against was simple facts of the occurrences without any personal opinions on the matter. Ethical questioning comes into effect because one’s definition of his reporting may differ from another’s interpretation of it. This ethical concern was centered around the idea of bias and how it strays from the values of journalism even though it was being argued that Eligon’s experiences while reporting was simply part of his reportings, and were intentionally written that way.
This idea is supported within the American Press Institute’s “Understanding Bias”: “One can even argue that draining a story of all bias can drain it of its humanity, its lifeblood. In the biases of the community one can also find conflicting passions that bring stories to life…. Thus, the job of journalists is not to stamp out bias. Rather, the journalist should learn how to manage it. And to do that, the journalist needs to become conscious of the biases at play in a given story and decide when they are appropriate and may be useful, and when they are inappropriate” (“Understanding Bias”). Eligon focused on this notion and how he is using his platform and his privileges, or lack thereof, to initiate this shift in journalistic ethics.
This has always been a touchy subject, however. Bias can be extremely relative — usually to a fault — which leaves room for loose interpretation, as well as quick criticism. Guy Starkey state’s in his book, “Balance and Bias in Journalism: Representation, Regulation and Democracy,” that in many cases, if not all, “one person’s ‘balance’ may be another person’s ‘bias’, particularly if their perspectives differ widely…. What may seem to one person to be objective may be considered highly subjective by the other” (Starkley xvii).
These ideas that comment on journalistic ethics have allowed me to explore the possibilities of bias and objectivity while also encouraging me to question the initial ideals set out for journalists. I don’t think bias is something positive in the world of reporting, but I do feel that it may be time to assume a new perspective on the subject matter.
References:
Starkey, G. 2007. Balance and bias in journalism: Representation, regulation and democracy, Hampshire, , UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Understanding bias. (2013, October 09). Retrieved October 26, 2018, from https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/bias-objectivity/understanding-bias/