Ethics in Broadcasting

Journalism reporting is a very personal style choice of the reporter and/or the station manager. There are many different rules of journalism that seek to address basic guidelines for journalists to follow so that they don't cross any ethical boundaries or infringe on anyone's personal rights. The ethical decisions that journalists make on a daily basis are often in accordance with personal beliefs but that framework may not be suitable for another journalist. The differences in personal morals and values among journalists is a very common and occasionally distressing dilemma. Who determines what is ethical: individual journalists, the company, or those involved in the story? Or are all three components of equal value? The work of journalism is constantly adapting to the media environment and the mood of the citizens so therefore the moral code of journalists must also accommodate these changes. According to this article http://www.current.org/ethics/ethics0401guide.shtml , the authors are Alan G. Stavitsky and Jeffrey Dvorkin wrote a code of ethics specifically directed to public radio stations which attempted to incorporate the opinions of various sources to make it more credible and accurate. This website http://www.journalism.org/resources/ethics_codes is another piece of evidence regarding the numerous versions and opinions of different ethics codes which lends itself to discrepancy in journalism reporting styles. The Nevada Broadcasters Association Ethics Code http://www.nevadabroadcasters.org/about-nba/code-of-ethics.php includes the phrase “Responsibly exercised artistic freedom” which is a broad but structured principle which journalists can apply to every moral dilemma in order to retain their code of ethics.

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Weaving Around Fine Lines

Independence in Journalism Thoughts

The remark that “comment is free, but facts are sacred” is a very crucial element to authentic journalism reporting. The danger arises when credit is not given where it is due because sources are not properly cited or opinion is not correctly credited. There is a fine line between an eyewitness report and scientific evidence, but sometimes the different sources are not credited properly. A common mistake among reporters is the reporting of material that has a personal connection that could filter information so that one side is clearly represented. An important concept to grasp is the independence in journalism, the ability of journalists to relay information to a large audience with relatively little censorship beyond the ethics framework of themselves and their company. It is crucial to understand ethical dilemmas as they arise, such as having a conflict of interest. As evidenced by George Will’s actions, it is easy to use the press to boost a certain idea or person based on personal beliefs. Most of the time, this is not a problem unless the repercussions of swaying public opinion have a “big” effect. The problem with journalism is that many things are based on personal judgment and private ethics so that information is presented in a professional way, and as a journalist we must know what the boundaries are.

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Links:

1.       http://www.kcnn.org/principles/independence_in_journalism

2.       http://www.fair.org/media-beat/010308.html

3.       http://www.informationdissemination.net/2008/10/bias-balance-and-independence-of.html