Picture curtesy of Pixabay

Being a journalist is no easy task in any capacity. It involves a constant battle with ethics, and what to publish and what not. As discussed in Chapter 14 of Media and Culture, the struggle with such media ethics is defined by determining the moral response to a situation through critical reasoning. 

Though the book discusses many ethical problems that journalists face, what stood out to me the most are the problems with getting a good story, rather than getting the true story first. Of course journalists want to have a good story that will entice people and gain readers, but sometimes getting the “good” part of the story becomes unethical. A journalist’s job description can be summed up into four simple words, “tell me a story.” But if not careful, finding an unbelievable and enticing story can disregard the rules of accuracy, and the story can find itself ridden with false information that is presented as true. 

The best example of unethical journalism is Stephen Glass. Stephan Glass worked for a magazine called the New Republic. While Glass was working there, he fabricated almost everything he wrote, which left his career in shambles and the reputation of the New Republic tarnished forever. Still to this day, the New Republic and Glass are working to move past the scandal.

In this stage of media that we are in, getting the “good” story has become the main priority. Racing to get the story first has also heightened concerns with getting a “good” story instead of a correct story. With thousands of media outlets competing to get the story first, it encourages them to be deceitful with their work. The competition in the media has put more pressure on mainstream outlets to get the next “breaking news” story. Even though the “breaking news” click bait often attracts viewers, waiting to publish the story later after obtaining more context and perspective is better and more ethical. 

Another problem with this race for the next story is “herd journalism.” The book describes “herd journalism” as instances where reporters stake out, chase, or follow celebrities to get the latest “scoop” on their life. This is a complete breach of their privacy and is extremely unethical. 

As much as I love to read a story full of suspense, gossip and drama, telling a story that way is completely unethical. The proper way to tell the story is to take your time to make sure you always have all of the facts correct. Accuracy is to never be played with. It’s also important to make sure you have context and perspective before you write your story to avoid making unethical mistakes, it’s better to be slower and correct than speedy and wrong. Finally, it is never ok to invade someone’s privacy and exploit them to make a “juicy” story that is not true and causes harm to the person. 

Being a journalist is not easy, but being honest, truthful and ethical with your work can become even harder.