What Is Ethically Irresponsible

Ethically Responsible & Irresponsible News Reporting

When it comes to news reporting, there are certain ethical standards that journalists must maintain. In this paper there are four main points that will be covered to show the difference between what is ethically responsible and irresponsible news reporting. The points that will be discussed are: ethical responsibility to society, if deception is permissible, ethical obligations reporters have to sources, and ethical obligations to maintain privacy? For each of these questions two examples will be discussed, one that shows ethically responsible practices of a journalist and the other displaying ethically irresponsible practices.

Responsibility to Society

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has a code of ethics full "of abiding

principles supported by explanations and position papers that address changing journalistic practices" (SPJ Code of Ethics, 2014). However, these codes are considered to be more of a guide to journalism and is meant to persuade journalists to take responsibility in how and what they report. That being said, the SPJ code of ethics is a set of principles that journalists should follow, it is frowned upon in the community of journalism if one chooses to not follow these principles.
Responsible Example
On July 22, 2011 there were reporters of a gunman whom attached a youth conference in Norway.

During the reporting, reporters were careful to inform viewers that as the story unfolded that information could change until there were official words about the incident from authorities. The reporters covering this story made sure to uphold their ethical responsibility to society by informing the community of the incident, and ensuring them that information could change as details of the story evolved (Peralta & Memmott,

2011).
Irresponsible Example
Fox News host Neil Cavuto used misleading headlines and punctuations to grab the attention of viewers. The example that was used was "Is The Liberal Media Helping To Fuel Terror?" (Duprey, 2010). This was used to grab the attention of those people whom are channel surfing. This misrepresentation headline did not match the true tone of the news story (Duprey, 2010).
Deception Permissible in Journalism
The job of journalists is to report on news in a truthful manner. However, there are times when journalists engage in deception "because nearly all journalists agree lying weaken credibility, most executives at maintain news organizations say they allow reporters to use deceit only rarely" (Paterno, 1997, para. 6). The Society of Professional Journalists has an ethics handbook that states:
deception should be used only when all other means have been exhausted; the story illuminates an extremely serious social problem or prevents profound harm to individuals; when the journalists reveal their deception to the public; and when the harm prevented by the information outweighs the damage caused by the deception (Paterno, 1997, para. 6)
Responsible Example
Tony Horwitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter, deceived regarding his intentions for employment at a chicken processing plant. He never told nor wrote a lie, but his intentions from the beginning was to report specifically on the violations, poor hygiene, and awful working conditions of his plant. His deception was for the greater good as it brought light to a much larger problem (Paterno, 1997).
Irresponsible Example
Unlike the above story, ABC News followed the same suit to collection information and expose "unsanitary food handling and labor law violations at the Food Lion supermarket chain" (Paterno, 1997, para. 3). However, the producer lied on his application, gave fake references, and "used work time to gather hidden-camera film footage they later aired" (Paterno, 1997, para. 3). In the previous example, the reporter was truthful about his work history, references, and actually performed the duties he was hired to do while collecting his data at the same time. The court ruled against ABC News and forced them to pay $5.5 million in damages to the Food Lion chain for their irresponsible means to collect data.
Ethical Obligations to Sources
Reporters have multiple ethical obligations to their sources.

When pursuing information from a family who has just experienced a tragic event, the reporter should be sensitive to their situation and never pushy. If a reporter offer a confidential privilege to a source, you should under no circumstances give the name of your source regardless of facing jail time or not. Of course, it is not a law that they must maintain this confidentiality, it is a matter of strong ethical practices. Reporters still have to risk going to prison for not giving up their sources, of course, until a nationwide shield law can be set in place. (Duprey,

2010).
Responsible Example
Judith Miller, a New York Times reporter, offered her source, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, confidentiality for information involving a CIA covert operative's name (Valerie Plame) being released. Because of the confidentiality she offered her source, Miller stuck the agreement and refused to give the name of her source to the grand jury. Miller never gave up the name and spent 85 days in prison, refusing to go back on her word (Duprey, 2010).
Irresponsible Example
Kurt Bannister, senior reporter of Courier, offered confidentiality of information to the father of the deceased about personal family issues that contributed to his son's suicide. Upon further interviews with other family members, Bannister was given the same information from the deceased brother and a journal that confirmed what he was being told. Although Bannister made a promise to the father not to release the information, Bannister decided since he was also given information from another source and was not asked to keep the information quiet, he could go ahead and add it into his story (Day, 1990, p. 189-192).
Ethical Obligated to Maintain Privacy
As previously stated above, a journalist must maintain privacy in cases where the journalist offers up confidentiality to the source. As stated from the American Society of Newspaper Editors, "pledges of confidentiality to news sources must be honored at all costs, and therefore should not be given lightly. Unless there is a clear and pressing need to maintain confidences, sources of information should be identified" (ASNE Statement of Principles, 2002, para.7).
Responsible Example
Oprah Winfrey interviewed Vicki Kennedy, "wife of 17 years to the late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy" three month after he passed away. Oprah had to ask Kennedy some difficult questions, she asked what her husband's last words were. Mrs. Kennedy expressed that she did not want to air that information. Oprah respected her wishes and did not push "the envelope with a guest in a fragile state of mind" (Duprey, 2010, para. 32).
Irresponsible Example
In July of 2012, a 13 year-old girl died in a quad accident. When the victim's mother was at the scene embracing her daughter, whom passed away, journalists were taking photographs of her and victim at this fragile time. The journalists were not on private property or illegally at the crime scene, they were 500 meters in the air in a helicopter. Despite the victim's father asking Illwarra Mercury to not publish these pictures, they were published on the front page along with a story. These photographs were published before the family could even contact relatives of the victim. The reporters did not illegal obtain these images, however, they obtained them in an unethical manner and did not maintain privacy for the grieving family (Azzopardi, 2013).
Conclusion
After researching and collecting information, I have determined that the journalists of today are faced with many ethical situations. There are no set laws in place a journalist strictly has to abide by. However, there are rules and guidelines they are encouraged to follow according to the Society of Professional Journalists. Therefore, journalists must consider what their First Amendment rights are and the First Amendment rights of the people whom they are reporting on. Unfortunately the lack of shield laws places journalists in the middle of some sticky situations. Stay ethically sound and do not give up confidential source's identity or go to prison, sometimes making the ethically correct decision does not always initially work out for the journalists.