Code of Ethics in Journalism

There is a frequent debate about whether or not journalist follow the official Code of Ethics on certain occasions when they report stories. A lot of topics being discussed in today’s news are quite controversial, so the guidelines for ethical journalism may be harder to abide by in particular situations. For example, the conflict in Ferguson, Missouri has been discussed and analyzed almost every day of the week since August of last year. The controversy of this situation is being fueled by race, which makes anybody reporting this story subject to scrutiny because of what they write in their report. So how does a journalist report on a story like the Ferguson conflict? Well that is where the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) come in. SPJ is the group who established the Code of Ethics for journalism.

      In the SPJ’s Code of Ethics preamble it states, “Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy.” The beginning statement basically sums up the idea of ethical journalism, meaning journalists’ jobs are to report the facts to the general public so that we can be informed and able to maintain our democracy in America. Most journalists take pride in being a trusted and ethical reporter. However, with the ever-expanding popularity of freelance journalism many reporters are taking a different outlook on their style of reporting.

  During football season, there was an article in the Opelika-Auburn News that showcased an unethical headline with a horrifying picture to compliment it. It was the Sunday after Auburn University defeated the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in football, and the Auburn paper’s sports section had the story of the game as their headlining article. The headline read, “Finding A Way,” referring to the miracle that occurred for Auburn to win. Under the headline was a picture of an Ole Miss receiver being tackled right before the goal line by an Auburn defender. A closer look at the picture shows the Ole Miss player’s ankle being literally snapped in half, while the Auburn player is in the process of breaking that ankle. So it’s pretty obvious that this headline was a case of unethical journalism. It’s clearly listed in the Code of Ethics to “show compassion for those who may be affected by news coverage.” After hearing comments made by Ole Miss fans, I would say they are very upset about this article because of the lack of compassion shown towards their beloved player. The Opelika-Auburn News is not showing any compassion for the Ole Miss player, who was unable to play the rest of his senior season because of the injury. Also, that article is blatantly (or maybe unknowingly) stating that Auburn felt they had to break the ankle of Ole Miss’ best player to “find a way” to win. If that’s not what they’re trying to say with this headline, considering the photo was probably suppose to be a different shot, then the editing staff made a big error. If the Opelika-Auburn News had stuck to the Code of Ethics, and maybe found a better picture, none of the controversy would have occurred.

      Journalists can still print a perfectly accurate story, with plenty of “juicy-stuff”, without breaking the Code of Ethics. Some stories may create even more controversy if the reporter doesn’t follow the guidelines established by the SPJ. Personally, I don’t think the riots in Ferguson or Baltimore would’ve been so out of control if the journalist covering the story hadn’t made it so much about race. I guess those media outlets wouldn’t be making so much money off the Ferguson conflict without the unethical journalists though. Whether it’s a simple story like the Opelika-Auburn News article or it’s a huge story like the Ferguson conflict, journalists have to pay closer attention to the Code of Ethics. As journalists, we have a lot of power with the words that we write, so I can’t ever let that power hurt me or anyone else.

Auburn newspaper front headline is “Finding A Way”, with a picture of UMiss receiver’s leg being broken by AU player during their win over Ole Miss.

.

The Future of Journalism

Today’s world is filled with all things social media. Twitter & Facebook are the most mainstream social networks. However, other outlets, such as Instagram and Pinterest, have become popular as well. What does this mean for the evolution of Journalism? As any successful industry would, Journalism seems to be adapting to the new era. Perhaps better than other industries. Because so many people are glued to their smartphones these days, it only seems right that Journalism should take part in this mass change of traditional behavior. I guess it’s goodbye newspapers, magazines, and radios.. It seems your services won’t be in demand for much longer.

Since the growing trend of social media doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, major news outlets have found better ways to get their stories read than traditional Journalism is accustomed to. For example, many journalists are using Twitter as a way to provide their readers with a “play-by-play” on each report. This can be a great, non-traditional form of journalism, however, it does run in to some issues. Some reporters are pushing themselves to have the quickest Twitter update when covering a major story, instead of insuring more accurate updates. The same issue applies for Facebook and other sites. Although this is a common problem right now in the Journalism world, I believe a good solution would be for all journalists to hold each other accountable when it comes to reporting the facts. If only it were that easy..

One question I find myself pondering often is whether or not this “new form of Journalism” has a bright future. It seems there’s a limited amount of possibilities with this concept. Also, I believe this style of Journalism opens a door for the wrong type of people to report “the facts”. For example, any five year old kid could type in the word ‘ISIS’ on Google and witness multiple beheading videos. He or she could sit and listen to ISIS propaganda just as much as I sit and listen to the crap they put on American news. That propaganda could easily be considered news to any naïve kid just because he or she saw it online. What I’m trying to get across is that the future of Journalism with Social Media could lead to some troubling times for our youth. Eventually, it could become very hard to differentiate “the facts” from the crap. As if it wasn’t already tough enough.

Journalism is an industry that has always adapted to better fit the times. This new social media age is no different. Journalists are tweeting every detail as their stories unfold, or posting it on Facebook (Pinterest, Instagram, etc.). The majority of Americans are consistently getting their news from the palm of their hands, so the need for printed word is not as high. Social media has, basically, become it’s own component of Journalism.. However, this could lead to bigger problems for the industry because there isn’t a whole lot of room for progression. When it’s all said and done, though, journalists are always going to find a way to be relevant in this world. Since that’s the case, the future should always be bright..

Everyone Get’s A Trophy

“It seems like these days every kid gets a trophy,” I pondered as I sat quietly listening. That’s what I thought to myself as I watched a heart-warming video about a middle school football team planning a way for their disabled teammate to score a touchdown. The story caught my interest because I feel as a society we have slowly turned all kids into spoiled brats. Not to say I haven’t been one myself on occasion, but maybe it’s time to look at the bigger issue. If “every kid gets a trophy,” what will that do to a generation? How will they handle adversity, such as coping with loss? There are key points in a child’s learning process that involve experiencing loss, and/or humility. So if it’s not taught from the ‘git-go, the risk of dooming a generation will slowly arise.

Just to be clear, I’m not suggesting that the message behind the video wasn’t genuine because it most certainly was. In fact, the story even showed some humility in certain areas. One of the teammates shed tears when he realized the impact he just had on his disabled friend’s life. This boy was used to being the popular, hot-shot football player around school. However, when he saw his friend score his first (and only) touchdown ever it became obvious to this boy that he had done good for someone else for a change. That’s great and all, but few kids his age will ever come to that realization. The reason why is because a lot of them have been given everything since the beginning. Not many of them have ever experienced what it takes to earn their place in society. Instead, they have been told their whole lives it didn’t matter how good they were because they would be praised for their effort either way.

If this is the concept that is being taught to our youth then how can we expect them to be well-mannered, durable individuals? Well we can’t expect that anymore, unfortunately.. Most kids these days have some form of ADD (myself included), which can make it extremely difficult to teach them. This could be why more teachers, parents, etc. are giving these helpless souls prescription ADD meds in the hopes that a pill will cure the problem with no need for teaching. I would consider that taking the easy way out. Instead of putting in the time and effort to help these kids overcome their disabilities, we would rather feed them Adderall.. That’s just setting our children up for failure all around the board. Trust me, I have already lived that nightmare and have seen many others live with it as well.

This particular issue is one that can be analyzed from a large number of different outlooks. Personally, I could discuss this conflict until I’m blue in the face. The online video of the middle school football team blessing their disabled teammate with his first and only touchdown had quite a heart-felt message behind it, but I chose to look at the story from a different point of view than most. They gave that boy his first touchdown without him asking for it.. For all I know, that boy may not even want the special treatment they showed him. For all I know, he just wants to be normal like the rest of his teammates and have to work hard for his accomplishments.. Or maybe he’s just as engulfed in the idea of “everyone get’s a trophy” that his teammates’ kind gesture won’t even impact him like they hoped it would. If that’s the case, then I believe my point has been made..