JOURNALISM ETHICS

Ethics in journalism is a crucial question of every kind of a journalist. I think journalists can be divided into two types:

a. the kind of journalists who have no limits in presenting the information and their main intention is to earn money by gossiping, lying, etc.;

b. serious journalists, whose aim is to show the real problems or events of today’s world to people.

There are lots of books on journalism ethics but, as we know, that’s such a subtle problem and in some situation a journalist has to decide on his own what to cover and what not to cover.

So, I’ve decided to express my thoughts on this kind of problem by specifying the chief ethical problems that a journalist can come across.

FABRICATED INFORMATION

That is the first problem I’ve decided to take up because I think that’s a key problem for journalism ethics.

A journalist can put himself in a very stupid situation by creating false information, because somebody can reveal to the public the fact that the information is fabricated. That, however, does not stop them from spreading false information.

A journalist, to my mind, by creating a false story about someone can hurt him or even spoil his life in some way. If a journalist creates a fake story about any event, it’s equally bad, because journalism is a media form of increasing our knowledge of events in the world we are living in and if the information of events is false, there is no point in journalism.



MEDIA INVENTED SENSATIONS

This problem is very close to the previous one. But, in my humble opinion, there is a certain difference between these two problems.

On the one hand, invented sensations are also false, but on the other hand, any sensation is caused by a certain reason. There are cases when some ”interesting” fact about someone or someone’s business shows up and it’s not that interesting to dwell on it. So, a journalist imagines some kind of a sequel of that fact - he turns a fact, for example about a cat, that bought Putin, into a big story about Putin’s strange love to pets - in other words he turns a (at root, not very interesting) fact into a bomb that people will keep on talking about for a very long time.

BRIBES

It’s the third problem I’ve decided to cover. This problem is very close to the first one too. But the main idea of this type of lie is that fabricated information is paid by someone who wants a journalist to spread the information.

One can see three examples of false information. But there are other types of coverage that can be discussed from an ethical point of view.

A journalist often has to choose whether to cover information or not to cover. The choice sometimes depends on the payment the editor proposes to him or on his striving towards fame.

I can say that in such situations as terrorist acts, journalists discuss each and every detail, for instance, the place where the police had found somebody’s hand or leg. Talking about terrorist acts I can also say that, from an ethical point of view, a journalist must not announce the victims’ names, nor reveal the names of groups linked to a certain terrorist act – just to cover the information, the real information, confirmed by the government or police.

VIDEO & PHOTO COVERAGE

There is another problem linked to photo and video coverage of the event. The public reaction to the photographic or video material is always a matter of anxiousness for a journalist. Sometimes an image can be very cruel and can affect people’s mind.

Some people happen to like violent images with dead people or something awful and scary. But we shouldn’t forget about little children, aged people and insane ones. Because children can get that it is normal to shoot at people and blow up buildings, world trade centers, kindergartens and schools. Old people can go insane on seeing cruel and awful images or finish their lives in front of a TV-set or sitting in W.C. with a newspaper.

THE INSANE

There are lots of mad people walking in the streets, studying in the universities or being the teachers of our children. And nobody knows it, because of some silly doctor who didn’t lock an insane in the madhouse.

So, that unhappy guy with lots of troubles and worms in his head can take a gun and kill thousands of people in his city.

Another issue of journalism ethics concerns covering private information about politicians or famous people who have power in the country a journalist lives in or in the world.

People tend to like reading articles about the persons they know. But in a politician’s career it’s very dangerous to be covered like an ex-porn star or a pedophile, for instance. Yet there is information that shoes a politician from the positive side, the information, and leaning on of which people will like him can help him to realize his ideas or acts.

I could talk about journalism ethics endlessly because this subject is very profound and has lots of nuances, but the main idea is that a journalist always has to choose on his own whether to conduct ethically and operate founding on what he had chosen.

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edited by Anna Leshchenko

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