Ethics in Journalism

Ethics. The wonderful world of ethics. It seems that in the communications major, students take not just one, but multiple courses on ethics. Obviously there is a strong reason why we must understand and focus on ethical practices in journalism. Its one of the biggest issues in the profession. 

In class, we talked about being accountable for what one says. Yes, everyone will admit to saying things that they regret. In this profession, its impossible to take back something once its been said because it is printed and broadcasted for all to see and hear.  As the Elements of Journalism says, journalists will need "to exercise their personal conscience". As humans, we are built with the knowledge of right and wrong. There is no better time to exercise that then the time of practicing journalism. 

Ethics also involves things like plagiarism, fairness, bias, etc. and all of those topics have their own rules and outlooks to others. If you look at this code of ethics and the New York Times' Code of Ethics its easy to see what is expected in the biggest journalism corporations world wide.

By minimizing potential harm to the public or to our work place, we will gain more successful positions and jobs by being able to distinguish between what is acceptable and not in journalism. In the Mind of a Journalist, it says that we need to act independently and be free from any obligation so that we can judge for ourselves and our own work. By doing that, we can all hold ourselves accountable for what we believe is right to print. 

--Kim