In COMM 409 this semester, we learned about several important ethical issues, rules or dilemmas that are pertinent in the communications field, specifically regarding journalism and mass media. Two lessons that have stuck with me through the duration of the course include the concept of plagiarism, as well as being deceived through conflicts of interest. Both topics have been discussed in my other communications classes, as they are relevant to the study of journalism, so learning more about them this semester has been very helpful.
As someone who is pursing a degree in journalism, and has taken several writing-based courses, it has always been drilled into my mind that plagiarism is wrong, no matter the circumstance or situation. When reporting on a story that may be widely covered, it’s important to give the news in your own words, and not take anyone else’s, because that may begin to look suspect. During this semester, I learned more about the consequences of plagiarizing work and how so many journalists have succumbed to doing it, just in regard to not having enough time to do their own research, or thinking that someone else’s work is better and they’d want to use theirs instead. Doing your own work is always important, and it’s much more rewarding to complete your own story and receive praise for something you’ve done by yourself.
In regard to conflicts of interest, this course has also taught me how easy it is to give in to temptation. As a journalist, people will want to bribe you to spin your story to make them look good, or they’ll try to alter facts so that the truth is skewed. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the ultimate goal of every journalist is to be unbiased and give the audience the news at hand. Conflicts of interest can be tricky, though, because you may be assigned to report on a topic that you have a certain opinion about, but you have to give the audience the news from a neutral standpoint to make sure it is evident that you could be taking a side.
My favorite case study from the semester would have to be one that a panel group did about a female journalist going undercover, per se, to get the news. I feel like female journalists are often disregarded for how intelligent they really are, and that they just as capable as finding the news as men are. This case study was about a woman who used a fake name to enter and psychiatric ward and get news/information for a story. This definitely led to some questions regarding the ethics behind it, but I found it interesting that she went to such great lengths to create a story for her audience.
Moving forward in the future, I believe this course will help me to be more aware of ethics in any newsroom or editorial department in which I could work. I think it’s important to keep in mind that all news needs to be presented to an audience in the best, most justified way possible, and that everyone deserves to know the truth. I can now be more cognizant of any coworkers, or even myself, if something were to go wrong in the work place in terms of an ethical dilemma, and how to solve the issue.
As a whole, though, I believe this course was very beneficial. I’ve taken some communications classes over the last two years that haven’t been pertinent to what I want to do in the future, but this is the type of course that is universal and relates to all majors. In other words, all communications/media-based majors need to know the ethics behind disseminating news to an audience so that they can do their jobs right.