Coming into news media ethics class, I thought that many of the issues and topics that the class would consist of were subjects that I either would already be aware of, or could infer easily what to do in situations should they arise in my own career.
However, it turns out that many of the situations that journalists face are at least partially up in the air ethically. I learned that journalists will sometimes cut corners knowingly and hope that they do not get caught, but in other situations make a misguided and controversial decision because their understanding of ethics was somewhat flawed. In general, I’ve learned that in situations where the ethically correct course of action in reporting is not clear, it is best to consult with other professionals to determine right from wrong.
The other lesson I learned is much more specific, but also very important. I discovered the very intense restrictions on the use of copyrighted images. For academic projects, it hasn’t been uncommon for me to pull images off of search engines. But in the working journalism world, this could lead to all sorts of legal issues. It’s important to know when using images where they’re coming from, who owns them, and whether they’ve copyrighted their work. It also is better to assume from the beginning that the work in question is copyrighted and can’t be used lightly.
The case that most impressed me was that of Stephen Glass because it is so baffling and dizzying that somebody would take that kind of long-term risk for short-term reward, and that nobody caught him for such a long time. It’s an example that shows that if stories seem so crazy they can’t possibly be true, it may very well be that they aren’t. And it never hurts for an editor to help fact check a reporter’s story, to make sure there is no deception going on from the sources or from the reporter themselves.
Should I go into a journalism career, this class will help me exercise caution when it comes to ethical decisions and confer with others to best guide myself forward. It will also make me skeptical of what I see or read, as I am more aware of how much fake news or digitally altered photographs or videos there are out there.
This class taught me to be more vigilant, work together, and be wary and learn from the mistakes other journalists have made in the past. The course was interesting, engaging, and important. I am glad that I now have a stronger background understanding of the complexity of journalism ethics.