One important ethical lesson I learned in this class is to always tell the truth. From learning about Stephen Glass and all of his fabricated stories, to fake news and deception, to distortion of photos in photojournalism, I have learned that honesty is always the best policy. No matter what job, an employee should always be honest. But, journalists should especially be held accountable for their truthful news. They are providing the world with information they may have never heard before. If the people cannot trust the writer, journalism would be nothing.
Another important ethical lesson I learned in this class is the ins and outs of conflict of interest. I never truly understood the fine lines journalists could cross when it came to their jobs and personal hobbies/activities. I just assumed they could never attend events that supported certain political views, but it is much more than that. The instance where two women stood in line for free Jay Z tickets was a surprise to me, but, because our class discussed it and you explained the reason why they got in trouble, it all made sense to me in the end.
The case study that impressed me the most was one of the first presentations of the semester. The group who discussed Rolling Stone and how they portrayed the Boston Bomber as a “rockstar.” I did not know much about this to begin with, but I learned a lot from that group due to their well presented research.
This course has helped me realize that honesty is always the best policy and that works in all aspects of the world and applies no matter what line of work someone goes into. Ethics will always be relevant, so I will always look back on this course when I need help deciding what the right thing to do is in a work situation. I will take every piece of advice with me as I study abroad next semester and after I graduate.
As a whole, this course was great. I loved every lesson and class discussion. The class was always fun and you, Dr. Zhong, made it interesting every time. I would recommend that everyone should take this class with you!