Being a Public Relations major, it is important for me to understand the ethics and core principles that journalists have because I may be working closely with them in my career. It is crucial to recognize ethical issues that are happening in our media today for me to become an expert in the communication field. Two ethical lessons that I have learned throughout the semester are diversity in the newsroom and deception. The ethical lesson on diversity in the newsroom especially impacted my thoughts when I attended the John Eligon lecture. It allowed me to truly understand what it is like to be a person of color in this field. They should not be treated differently at their job based on the color of their skin.
The second ethical lesson, deception, means making other believe what we ourselves do not believe. Now that I am more aware of this issue, I am cautious of who and where I get my news from. If a journalist is found to be deceiving their audience, all trust between the two parties is broken and the journalist loses all credibility they worked so hard to gain. Even though deception is legal and sometimes is the only way to reveal the vital truth, I still believe journalists should steer clear from this issue to avoid losing their integrity.
The case study that impressed me the most was the one on Armstrong Williams and his conflict of interest. I did not realize that money offerings from another party, in this situation, money from the Bush administration, was considered unethical. I now understand that this ethical issue can be seen by the public as taking a biased standpoint on the topic they are presenting. I enjoyed broadening my knowledge and challenging my thoughts with this case study.
As I said before, understanding ethics and core principle values will allow me to excel in public relations. This class also taught me what is legal and illegal in news media, so I will be able to make ethical decision making throughout my career. Another skill that will allow me to flourish in my career is truth-telling. This class emphasized that truth is the foundation for human relations, so it will be important for me to establish this with colleagues and clients. I will carry these lessons into my career and continue to enlighten my colleagues on these important topics.
Overall, Dr. Z made this class interesting with different examples and pictures of each topic we discussed. I also liked how Dr. Z related current events to topics we were learning in class. It made it easier to understand and relate the material to them. Before this class I did not know much about news media ethics, so I am appreciative that Dr. Z was able to make me aware of different issues in the media around me every day.
