Ethics in Political Journalism

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Recommended: Media impact on public opinion

Journalists have a very important job. The general public relies on them heavily to report what is going on the world on a day to day, or even minute to minute basis. Their job is made especially important when there is an election. The opinion of voters can be made or changed based on the information they read in a newspaper or see on television. Journalists need to make sure they are following their code of ethics when reporting on politics. They need to make sure they are not pandering to the curiosities of the public, but reporting actual news. They need to make sure that they are not sensationalizing their stories for profit. Finally, journalists need to report all sides of a story.
Political scandals are nothing new, but they always make big news. While it is important that the public know that the person they have been putting their trust in may not be so trustworthy, there is a line that needs to be drawn between reporting on a scandal and indulging the public with personal details of someone’s life. According to one journalist, “Pop culture feeds off the tantalizing details for the amusement of the masses (Kelley).” Just because something is popular does not mean that it is news. Journalists need to realize that they should be at a higher standard than pop culture and only report on the story, not every single embarrassing detail over and over again. The people who want to see those sorts of things can easily find it through other sources.
Not only do journalists need to make sure their stories are worthwhile, they also need to tell them without being overdramatic. Journalists all work for someone, and those businesses want to make money. For news stories, the way to make money is by having people buy the newspaper. I...

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... to help them make their voting decisions. Journalists need to report on important political stories, they need to not sensationalize their stories, and they need their stories to be well rounded. There will always be campaign advertisements that do not follow any code of ethics, so the public needs to be able to trust their news sources.

Works Cited
Burgers, Christian and Anneke de Graaf. “Language Intensity as a Sensationalistic News Feature: The Influence of Style on Sensationalism Perceptions and Effects.” De Gruyter Mouton. Communications 2013 Vol 38(2): 167-188. Web. 9 May 2014.
Cozma, Raluca. “From Murrow to Mediocrity? Radio Foreign News from World War II to the Iraq War.” Journalism Studies. Vol 11 No 5, 2010: 667-682. Web. 9 May 2014.
Kelley, Kendra. “The Most ‘Scandalous’ Politicians are Family Men.” KPLCtv.com. KPLCTV. Web. 22 April 2014. 9 May 2014.

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