Journalism Ethics

I'll just sum up the main message of the textbook's "Ethical Guidelines" sidebar: The journalists primary responsibility is to the public. Work and report with the public interest in mind. This guideline seems to reflect utilitarian ethics.

This chapter was a good review of the journalism ethics class I took last semester. But it reinforced what I learned in that class: Although every ethical decision is unique and should be weighed as such, I know that I will most often consider Aristotle's golden mean most strongly when I'm faced with an ethical decision (and isn't every decision -- at least every decision made in the news room -- an "ethical decision?").

Deceit. I was deceitful over Thanksgiving break when I wrote my reaction story. I was in Best Buy trying to interview an employee, but he told me that it was against store policy to give interviews. So I put away my notepad and pen and walked up to a different employee, and made what I guess they thought was small talk about how crazy it was in the store that morning (it was Black Friday). I got a decent quote -- one that I didn't even end up using -- but I guess I got it "deceitfully." If I did want to use that quote and was going to publish the piece, I would probably have used the quote but listed "a Best Buy employee" as the source. No harm done.

Withholding information. I think it's okay to withhold information if the journalist truly believes it is ethical to do so. It is not ethical to withhold information from your audience for the benefit of a third party. For example, withholding information about a politician cheating on his wife because you want the politician to be reelected is unethical. Withholding information about a politician cheating on his wife because you're concerned about the welfare of the woman after the story goes to print is ethical -- at least if that falls in with your personal ethical guidelines.

If reporters take what they see as the most ethical course of action when faced with an ethical dilemma -- and if their personal ethical guidelines put the public good as the foremost concern -- then they shouldn't be criticized too harshly if the intended restults of their actions don't materialize as expected. Journalists are human beings and all human beigns can do is try their hardest.