Final Case Analysis: News Director as Gatekeeper Being a journalist comes with many role- related responsibilities and while performing them, journalists will often be faced with a wide variety of ethical issues that will require them to exercise their best judgment while upholding the five principles of journalism, and abiding by the code of ethics. In the case presented on pages 47-48 of Online Journalism Ethics by Friend and Singer, news director Ashley Stephens, faced a big ethical issue when it came to deciding whether to publish the graphic and disturbing video of two Red Cross workers being killed by kidnappers in Iraq, or not. Stephens’ news network prides itself in being the news source people go to when it comes to anything dealing …show more content…
Journalists must act with sensitivity and try to avoid causing harm by any means possible, for that reason, when Journalists are dealing with sensitive topics such as rape, often times they will leave out the names of the victims to avoid causing harm to the families and the victims. In this instance, it would be ethically permitted for Stephens to watch the video and then release an article describing the event as it happened, and include the names of the victims, but it would not be ideal. An ethically ideal action for her to take is to look for where the video came from, do further investigation of the event, and then write an article stating what occurred, without going into graphic details, and focusing the story not on how the men were killed, or the fact that they were killed, but rather the motive behind the Al Qaeda members, and how it affects the country. By doing so, Stephens would be taking necessary action to avoid causing unjustified harm to the victim’s family, the citizens, and she would be respecting the deceased. This is what Friend and Singer would call gatekeeping. “The gatekeeping role gives the journalist the ability to construct public knowledge in a particular way and ascribe particular importance to it –or not” (Friend and Singer 55); ideally, Stephens should evaluate the purpose for why the audience would need to see the video, and write about that as the focus. Stephens would be fulling her role-related responsibility by stating the truth and delivering the news, and acting in an ethical manner by protecting the people as
In Rushworth Kidder’s book “How Good People Make Tough Choices,” Kidder provides a series of different methods, codes and examples of what being an ethical journalist could mean. He gives examples of different situations where a person’s ethics are tested and what would be a good way to deal with these situations. He starts by explaining the difference between things that are right-versus-right dilemmas, and those that are right-versus-wrong dilemmas.
Over recent years high profile cases have brought to the forefront, questions of ethics in journalism. The purpose of this thesis will be to investigate the significance and context of a past case in which a journalist and news organization engaged in questionable operations to report the news. The issue being discussed is the considerable attention gained by the local media for the negative role they played in the Sept 27th 1990 “Henry's Publick House” incident. This thesis will address ethical questions within journalism from the viewpoint of the news organization of this case study and their breach in ethics.
Self-motivation and determination are two of the main ideals of being journalist. If a journalist does not have the desire to find and report a story, he has no career. A journalist depends on finding the facts, getting to the bottom of the story and reporting to the public, whether it’s positive or negative. Janet Malcom states in the book The Journalist and the Murderer, “Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible.” (Malcolm, 3) Her starting words speak volumes about “the Journalist and the Murderer” and the lessons that can be learned.
Since the beginning of journalism there has been a controversial debate over ethics and the extent to which a journalist may go to obtain a story. According to W.E.B. Dubois, integrity, honesty, decency, and courage are four primary ethical principles every person should follow. Author Janet Malcolm dives deep into the ethics of journalism in her groundbreaking publication The Journalist and the Murderer. Malcolm analyzes the ethics of best-selling author Joe McGinniss during his time developing a story on Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald.
In comparing ethical issues surrounding the journalists in “All The President’s Men” and “Welcome To Sarajevo”, there are several ethical issues that the journalists experienced. Ethics are an important aspect of journalism, since journalists face a multitude of ethical issues within their industry. Therefore, there are ethical guidelines that journalists’ use called “The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics” [SPJ Code of Ethics]. When analyzing how the journalists in “All The President’s Men” and “Welcome To Sarajevo”, one can refer to the SPJ Code of Ethics to observe the possible ethical issues the journalists experienced. The four main concepts in the SPJ Code of Ethics are: seek truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently,
...her and the more modern case of Brian Walski demonstrates the importance of ethics in the mass media. With the public dependent on photographers for images that will give an accurate and true representation of the facts, in some cases even leading to such important decisions as giving relief aid, waging war, or determining votes in an election, it is vitally important that journalistic images be true and unaltered likenesses of real persons and events. Even apparently innocent misrepresentations, designed to create a better image or better prove a point, can have serious consequences for the photographer, the subjects of the image, and the public. It is a reminder of the importance of honesty in all professions.
Journalism is just like anything else. There are manners and ethics that go along with it. The obvious number one rule is to tell the truth one hundred
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) provides a very clear and thorough Code of Ethics, which serves as a good definition of ethical journalism. According to this code, an ethical journalist must try to minimize any potential harm done to people directly involved with the event being reported. Such a journalist should also act independently of any personal biases, and be responsive to any criticism of their work. Finally, a truly ethical journalist must seek to find and report the truth (Society). Common sense reaffirms these guidelines. When one thinks of ethical behavior, one usually thinks along terms of being truthful, appreciative of others, acting responsively and using fair judgement. All of these concepts are explicitly stated in the SPJ's Code of Ethics.
Danika Worthington, a breaking news journalist with The Denver Post, reports on events which meet and exceed the credibility of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. Worthington, a 2016 graduate of Arizona State University, writes short, to the point articles that adhere to the principles as stated in the SPJ Code of Ethics. In all of Worthington’s articles she, Seeks the Truth and Reports It, fairly and accurately. She, Minimizes Harm by letting the story tell itself.
An argument can be made that Journalism is one of the very few professions in the world of media that is handled with some sort of dignity and pride. After reading “The Elements of Journalism” by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, I realized how important journalism is to each and every one of us. Whether you’re a writer or a reader, the back and forth exchange between provider and consumer is extremely important in pushing society forward. Journalism after all is designed to challenge society, promote new ideas and spark conversation between one another. Despite the positives of journalism, there are issues that exist within the profession that cannot be excused and cannot be ignored.
There are two distinct sides to the debate of journalism, their journalists, and the consumers: traditional journalism and public journalism. In the current digital age there is a greater number of public journalism being practiced. However, journalists and their consumers run into several issues concerning that matter. To express more clearly, there are particular roles and characteristics in which journalism standards are being gauged.
In this era of globalization, news reporting is no longer just a means of communications, but it has also developed into a tool for change. Prominent journalists like Julian Assange, Nick Davies, Sir Charles Wheeler and many more has changed the landscape and outcomes of information, war and news reporting itself. But Martin Bell has challenged the fundamentals of journalism that is to be balanced and impartial with what he calls ‘Journalism of Attachment’. He even coined the phrase, ‘bystanders’ journalism’ for continuing the tradition of being distant and detached (Bell 1997), which he criticizes “for focusing with the circumstances of violence, such as military formations, weapons, strategies, maneuvers and tactics” (Gilboa 2009, p. 99). Therefore it is the aim of this essay to explain whether it is ethical for reporters to practice what Martin Bell calls the Journalism of Attachment by evaluating its major points and its counterarguments, and assessing other notions of journalism such as peace journalism.
Journalism and the Code of Ethics Introduction: What is the 'Standard' of the 'Standard Thesis - Current code is irrelevant to journalists. Why do you need to be a member? Importance of ethics in mass media. How to use [IMAGE]? A qualitative look Areas of concern ---------------- 1.
"Journalism Ethics Online Journalism Ethics Gatekeeping." Journalism Ethics for the Global Citizen. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. .
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