As a journalist, it is your job to find out the truth and convey it honestly. How do you decide what information is off limits and what should not be released to the public?
To address these and other pertinent questions, The Society of Professional Journalism, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, has developed an Ethics Committee, which outlined the proper ethical practices, taking into consideration war-time journalism and other special circumstances.
Technological advancements, in addition to the development of citizen journalism, have caused news to grow less formal, and the clear boundaries of what is acceptable have blurred, according to the Society of Professional Journalists’ website. Andy Schotz [cq], a member of the Society, manages the Ethics Blog and provides internet updates on current ethics issues and SPJ‘s view of the matter, using the same technologies to try and redefine these ethical boundaries.
The media’s role is “to be as comprehensive as possible, to provide all pertinent information, and to exercise a certain amount of judgment,” says Fred Brown [cq], Vice Chair of the Society of Professional Journalism National Ethics Committee.
He agrees that with new-age journalism, how information is gathered and the means by which it is distributed, time is not always taken to consider ethics. However, nearly 10,000 news institutions have become members of the SPJ and have vowed to abide by the Code of Ethics, he said. This suggests a strong commitment by news organizations to maintain respectability.
The SPJ Code of Ethics has four parts: Seek Truth and Report It, Minimize Harm, Act Independently, and Be Accountable.
You must check the accuracy of all the information you gather and respect the obligation you have to report it, said Brown, as This obligation, however, does not give a journalist the right to cause undue harm or distress. Especially in sensitive cases, a journalist must “take into consideration the safety of the people in the situation as it develops,” Brown said.
As far as being accountable, there has been many times where news organizations have come under fire from victims’ families and sympathizers, as well as law enforcement, for airing sensitive video or audio content. Using the pieces of footage from the Virginia Tech shootings, in which a student went on a rampage, killing 32 students and professor before shooting himself, as an example, Brown said he could understand that “some of the video was less sensitive than other parts. The problem is when a situation like this is developing, it is really difficult to take the time to make those decisions…I think the news outlets had an obligation to explain what they did…why they did it.”
He did not say whether he would have made the same decision to air the video, only that he was glad not to have had to make such a decision.
Brown insists that the Code of Ethics created by the Society of Professional Journalists can be successfully applied to just about all situations, but for those more difficult times when journalists need help making ethical decisions, the email addresses of the members on the Ethics Committee can be found on the website www.spj.org. For an immediate response, journalists can call the Ethics Hotline at (317)927-8000, extension 208, when unsure what to do in a tough spot.
No comments:
Post a Comment