Journalists nowadays are not forced to be ethical and there is no law holding them to what the SPJ has put together as the four pillars of ethics. Journalists are simply being responsible citizens and accountable for their work. The four pillars of the SPJ’s code of ethics (http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp) go as follows: seek truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently and be accountable.
Starting with the first pillar, seek truth and report it, there should be an understanding that journalists must be honest, fair, and courageous when gathering, reporting and interpreting information (Willis, 50). It is important to know that journalists are dealing with other people’s lives and should treat that information with care and be just in reporting it. That leads us to the next pillar to the code of ethics, minimize harm. Journalists’ sources, colleagues and subjects all have their personal opinions, feelings and thoughts that they must keep in mind. It is crucial to be wise when asking questions during tragedy and grief, because you do not want to come off greedy or seem like you are pandering. A journalist must think on their feet and be able to work on their own without making mistakes and causing more drama than is necessary. That is why the third pillar of the code of ethics is to act independently. This pillar also means that when journalists are on their own in the field they have to be aware of their own feelings and thoughts and maintain an independence from those they cover. One cannot get too involved in their story so that their judgment is swayed one direction or another. That is why journalists have to be accountable of themselves and those they surround themselves with at all times. Which takes us to the fourth and last pillar, be accountable (http://bigthink.com/ideas/3307). Journalists have to abide by the same high standards to which you hold others. Be aware that mistakes will be made and journalists have to accept this and make sure to go back and correct them (http://www.regrettheerror.com/).
When a newsroom asks its journalists to have more watchdog journalism in their work, what does that mean? To answer that question we can start with journalism being the fourth estate and it being a fourth branch of the government. They act as an overseeing eye and are there to inform the people (http://tinyurl.com/3tzyez4). Charlotte Hall, Editor at the Orlando Sentinel, said simply, “Watchdog journalism is a state of mind for the whole newspaper: Journalism that gives power to the people.” In other words, the entire team of journalists has to be aware of what is around them and be willing to keep a look out for the rest of us, so we can be informed (http://tinyurl.com/3kle4xp). They are the private eye for the public good.
At the same time, many are wondering if some journalists and organizations are taking watchdog journalism too far and turning it into a form of amusement. It is being drawn out and it is a joke, sometimes to boost ratings. Liz Leamy, a TV reporter, says that it is the “just add water” investigative reporting. Some bad examples of watchdog journalism include, a news channel putting cameras up in a house to prove you can’t get all your carpets cleaned for $7.95. Another in the mid 1990’s claiming a bra’s internal wire could poke the owners. This is not watchdog journalism. It supposed to be reporting that looks out for the civic interests of the audience and uncovers real problems in the community and offers solutions. A good example would be Bob Woodward and Carl Burnstein’s reporting on the Watergate Scandal for the Washington Post (http://tinyurl.com/azyqy). Remember, the purpose as a journalist is to be a link between the news/truth and the audience. It is to empower them with the information by keeping an eye on your surroundings, reporting the events and providing possible solutions.
Whenever I speak of independence I always think back to the colonial times when the settlers were trying to break free of England’s tight grip over the colonies and what that must have been like. Independence in Journalism is a little different, but it still means to separate yourself from, and not being subject to control by others. Independence is the fourth principle in journalism (http://tinyurl.com/djszyf). Meaning Journalists must maintain an independence from those people and topics they cover. A journalist can’t be swayed by outside forces in their work. Their stand must be equal and look at all sides of the event. This could be termed as independence from faction, or having a true set of ideas rather than a member of a team, someone who puts the audience first (http://tinyurl.com/3wp7py2). Journalist have to be committed not only to their audience but to themselves. A journalist has to promise themself that they won’t have any conflicts of interest while working on a report. This is defined as an independence of mind and is crucial to a journalist and their work, for there can be no obstacles while reporting. The book The Elements of Journalism says, “Friendship, opportunities, and flattery all will conspire to seduce the opinion writer to cross the line” (p. 120). Living up to this principle of independence of mind is very difficult, take the case of Maggie Gallagher (http://tinyurl.com/d2qczz). She was an outstanding journalist for the New York Post and was always making her stance clear on being honest and completely committed to your work. Then, Howard Kurtz, media writer for the Washington Post, finds out she’s writing under a federal contract to promote President Bush’s marriage initiative. She goes to defend herself, stating she wasn’t aware of an issue between the two jobs she had. Well, it is too bad she didn’t reveal her contract because she just shot herself in the foot by not opening up about this conflict of interest. The moral of the story is, don’t get yourself involved in journalism without maintaining independence from your work and personal life.
The human body depends on the heart to pump oxygenated blood throughout the body to supply vital organs with the nutrition it needs. It is crucial that it continues to beat all day and all night, if not death is imminent. In journalism, the same goes for what is reported and how the information has been verified. Verification is the beating heart of credible journalism in the public interest and without it a journalist is nothing (http://tinyurl.com/3avjurn). Verification allows the work that is presented to stand on its two feet and supply the audience with the vital information they seek.
I present to you five techniques, which allow journalists to thoroughly verify their work before it is published or aired:
1. Edit with skepticism- Ask questions like, why is this here? Can it be supported? Can it be proven? Don’t settle with information you receive. Instead dig deeper and find the source to be sure of its legitimacy.
2. Keep an accurate checklist- Make sure you have a good list to check your work and balance the sides in your work. Also, don’t be afraid to add to this checklist. You can add procedures which help your final outcome be even better.
3. Assume nothing- This is referring to not allowing any room for complacency. It is important to get as close as you can to the source for your work. Think of a target and having the immediate source in the middle. Going out from there you have eyewitnesses, primary sources and then secondary.
4. Tom French’s Red Pencil- this is, or should be, another part of your checklist. It simply means to get the red pencil out and put a check next to facts and assertions to double check that your work is true(http://tinyurl.com/3odwxzt).
5. Be careful with anonymous sources- with anonymous sources it is hard to determine what their intentions are, so go back to step one and be skeptical. Ask yourself what their motivation is (why?), what other alternatives their might be to check that the information is verifiable and determine what importance their message really has http://tinyurl.com/3vopo8s).
While reading a book called The Mind of a Journalist by Jim Willis, it was very interesting to find a chapter with the title, “The Priesthood of Journalists.” What does that mean exactly? Well, it seems like many journalists see their work as surrendering to a higher calling of serving others (http://tinyurl.com/3lssjos), not unlike the clergy of a church or even police officers. They describe this priesthood with two important theories: hegemony theory and news work theory.
The hegemony theory is directed at journalists’ beliefs, comprised of their social, cultural, and ideological beliefs. Beliefs being defined as convictions about whether something is true or false. The problem with this theory is that many critics come out and state that editors and reporters of the news media are the ones who decide what is important and report what they want the public to know or not know. However, many of us know that, by and large, those days are over, because of technology that lets the public not only have feedback (http://www.cnn.com/feedback/hdlns/), but also have a say in which news they want for themselves.
The second part to this priesthood of journalism is the news work theory. Within each office there is a type of news culture and these norms and ethics are passed down from older generations to newer generations of journalists (http://tinyurl.com/fmg37). Some of the norms are not for all and among journalists there are debates on what is right and wrong. One of those debates is how detached journalists should become from their community to report with less bias and be equal to all parties. That is usually left to each office and is determined by the news director or editor.
Journalists position themselves to be right in the middle of what’s happening in their immediate community or around the globe. They present, or relay, what they see and hear to their audience which makes them intermediaries. This is why the second principle of journalism is so important to the audience. It is that journalists’ first loyalty is to the citizens.
In many countries corruption not only rules law enforcement, businesses, but also journalism (http://tinyurl.com/6rrrjw). Money is what drives those to give in to change stories and sometimes even forget what was seen or heard. Fortunately, many journalists feel a need to bring the truth out without being bought out or influenced by those in power. Journalists have even gone as far as declaring they won’t let their self-interests cloud their decisions when reporting an event. This movement has even spread to whole organizations, making a code of ethics standard in the work place. Some of those organizations include the NY Times, Washington Post and LA Times (http://tinyurl.com/3wac3gr). They include regulations such as fairness to the audience, avoiding conflict with them and even correct attribution (journalism sourcing). This makes it easy for journalists to know that all within the workplace are held to these standards. Unfortunately, even with these principles and regulations, we find examples of occurrences when journalists give in to an outside source and change their story. Sometimes it might even be that journalists don’t convey clear messages to the public and are later caught in situation where they can’t explain themselves, which happened with Dan Rather and the Killian Documents (http://tinyurl.com/5fwam).
It so important for journalism to understands its role in peoples’ lives and for journalists to accept their position as middlemen. They chose be who they are and should stand up for what they know. Their loyalty is not to their boss, their mother or their religion. Rather, it is solely to their TV, radio, newspaper, or magazine audience.
Update
If you read this NY Times article (http://tinyurl.com/3e56go3) about a Pew Media Study, you will find interesting shifts in media consumption among different age groups. I wanted to note that as younger generations are shifting to the Internet for most of their news and information needs, many TV stations might have to change their news agenda. The reason being, many Internet web portals offer everything from local community issues to national news feeds, but adults still read the local paper and watch news on TV. According to this study, adults watch TV for weather, traffic and breaking news, but with the slow death of local newspapers, where are other important local topics going to be found? It is interesting to think about how the downfall of one channel might change the presentation of another.
Upton Sinclair is one of the best
and most vile examples of exposing truth to the public by writing the book “The
Jungle.” He gave meat packing plants a good reason to clean up , because not
only did he tell the nation what was going on behind closed doors with the meat
they ate, but it brought in government intervention. Fortunately, today we have
the FDA which applies regulations to what companies can and can’t do with
what we consume. His journalistic side demanded the truth be told and he was obliged
to it and that is the first principle of journalism (http://www.journalism.org/resources/principles).
Sinclair was one of many examples
on how to reveal truth. He was a muckraker, or acted as a watchdog, that
brought light to an area not yet known to the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckraker).
He was able to go in and investigate behind the scenes and later write about
his experience. He had people to verify what he wrote, which made his words
credible. That brings me to another point behind truth in journalism:
verification. With journalism, your work has to be backed up by credible
sources, because if not people find it hard to believe. That could be a reason
why Wikipedia can’t always be trusted. Anyone can go in and edit an article,
which makes it hard to trust it one hundred percent (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2005-12-06-wikipedia-truth_x.htm).
Luckily, we as seekers of truth demand facts, so Wikipedia editors have been
more gracious by posting references on the articles they edit. But don’t settle
on one website, check several and compare them to see if the information they
provide all align with each other. Remember, we have a right to hear the truth,
so stand up and be a voice for your community.
