English, Alison

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The Ethics Writers Must Follow

Introduction
The First Amendment says, “Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an

establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of

speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the

Government for a redress of grievances. (“First Amendment”)

The First Amendment is necessary however, a reporter must be impartial about the topic

they’re writing about. It’s their job to show both sides of an argument regardless of their own

opinions. The reporter is the check and balance for the government meaning it’s the reporter who

holds the government responsible for their decisions and policies. Unfortunately, the ethics of

reporting isn’t simple. Writers must be careful when they talk about certain topics because there

can be implications the reporter doesn’t want or sometimes expect. I believe there are some strict

ethics a professional journalist must follow in order to keep the news fair, balanced, and without

bias.

Ethics Are Important

Quite often the media is called “The Fourth Estate.” Yale calls it, “The final check.” We

consider the media the fourth branch of the government. Edmund Burke commented, “there were

three Estates… but in the Reporters Gallery yonder, there sat a fourth Estate more important far

than they all.” (“The Fourth Estate As The Final Check.” 2016)

Why are journalists’ important checks and balances for a free country? We call

journalists the watchdogs of society. “In addition to conveying information, good journalism also

interprets the world. Journalism explains things and phenomena in an easy and accessible way,

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describes the cause-effect-relationships of events and provides background information on issues

and decisions. Journalism brings the events close to people’s everyday lives and shows what

kind of an impact they have on a regular citizen’s life.” (Why is Journalism needed in a

Democratic Society? 2015) We consider Journalists a two-way channel between citizens and

policymakers.

A true fair and balanced approach would be Journalists informing our policy makers of

opinions. Without going into a political opinion, let’s take the recent supreme court justice

confirmation. A powerful picture (at least for me) was the women who found Senator Jeff Flake

in an elevator. They wouldn’t let him leave until they told him their stories about their own

assaults. Jeff Flake listened and wavered with the decision they caught because that powerful

picture on camera and blasted through the media repeatedly. Without a journalist capturing that

picture, who would’ve known it happened?

When a journalism student takes a course, they learn about SPJ Code of Ethics. SPJ Code

of Ethics may not use ethics or common sense when writing an article. They may not think they

need ethics.

The SPJ Code of Ethics was created by a suggestion of the 1947 Hutchins Commission.

The suggestions included seek truth and report it followed by minimize harm, act independently

and finally be accountable and transparent.

Seek truth and report it is a no brainer. It’s the job of a journalist to find the truth without

lies and bias. A news outlet that reports only one side of the story fails to be news and borders

the line of opinion and propaganda. “Ensuring accuracy is already part of a journalist’s

workflow, and many of the steps outlined are already followed on most stories; the checklist just

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makes it more consistent and rigorous.” (Buttry, “Why Journalism Professors Should Teach

Accuracy Checklists” 2015) Accuracy is a one of journalists’ main goals. Without accuracy, an

article becomes a piece of tabloid trash.

Minimize harm can be ambiguous because it usually pertains to doctors, but journalists

can be disrupters if they aren’t careful. Journalists need to be sensitive with the subject of their

stories. For example: journalists are careful when they report on serious matters like suicide. A

lot of them avoid the subject all together if possible.

Journalists need to be accountable and transparent. That includes reporting on the lack of

ethics in their own newsrooms. I believe in the importance of a quick response and be

transparent with concerns or questions without revealing their sources.

Another important trait a journalist must have is fairness. Some journalists aren’t fair

because their news outlet favors only one side of the isle politically. (For example: Fox News not

living up to their slogan “fair and balanced.” They instead favor the conservative side becoming

nothing more than propaganda.

However, ethical journalism isn’t common with some online publications, for example.

Online news is still new, and an online reporter doesn’t require a degree like a journalist who

works for mainstream media. The Washington Post or New York Times for example. Online

reporters can report anything and do it in a hasty manner because they aren’t held up to the same

standards.

Bias Can Affect the Standard of Journalistic Ethics

In addition, bias in journalism means introducing one’s own views into an objective piece

of writing. A journalist must also be careful with bias. Bias is a part of journalism and causes

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them to go against their bias they go against journalistic ethics. A 2017 Pew Research Center

shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans think Media favors one side. “That leads to a

bigger problem. Distrust. The public doesn’t trust the traditional source of information anymore

and are keener to rely on their “own” sources, twitter posts by their candidates or news

that suggested to them on social media upon their political preference. Doing this, the public

doesn’t even realize that they are diving into a deeper and deeper circle of biased news. As you

may notice in a research shown above, Republicans have a much stronger view on biased media.

In America it is widely shown. The Trump administration brought this subject into spotlight

calling some of the most influential outlets such as the New York Times and CNN fake news and

suggesting that journalist don`t do their jobs well.” ( mmoralic ETHICS IN JOURNALISM:

HOW TO FIGHT BIAS? 2017)

The term “fake news” is so common now, however I believe fake news is nothing but an

excuse. An excuse because the subject may not like the report or the reporter.

Those who speak up can combat bias and make their own opinions known. I found an

article on the Huffington Post website that’s titled “Stop Judging What you Don’t Understand.”

A young woman named Halima Aden gave her perspective and told her story about coming here

from Somalia. Her family spent time in a Kenya refugee camp. Is she a terrorist because she

comes from Somalia? No, of course not. This is an example of a culturally sensitive article

written and told on a popular website. (Video “Stop Judging What You Don’t Understand” 2018)

We have to be culturally sensitive although sometimes we can be too sensitive. We have to

balance sensitivity with legit news.

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An example of an insensitive culturally sensitive or responsible article comes from a far-

right winged website. “Ohio Jihad Shows How American-born Muslim Has Transformed,

Decentralized, Al Qaeda’s Strategy.” (Stranahan “Ohio Jihad Shows How American-born

Muslim Has Transformed, Decentralized, Al Qaeda’s Strategy” 2016) First let me say, I’m

disgusted reading the website because it’s full of hate, lies and insensitivity toward all minority

cultures. This isn’t responsible writing because it insights hate, fear, and gears up hate groups to

commit violence. This author writes a lot of hate articles, and I call that irresponsible, hateful,

and not impartial to the facts.

The writer above introduced his own bias into his article about Muslims instead of

reporting on it objectively. There are different biases. Three types of biases that applies to this

paper: being sensitive to sources, having a bias toward the topic, and having a bias to certain

voices. (“Understanding bias” 2013)

Opposing View: Who needs Ethics? Why is a fair and balanced Journalist important?

There are many who believe the press is the enemy so who cares what they say? Why

should we be so sensitive to community standards? There’s no such thing as “ethical journalism”

because journalism doesn’t matter. The tabloids are a great example. They have no ethics when

they go after celebrities or politicians. The tabloids go after everyone and anyone if it would sell

magazines.

What does “fair and balanced” mean? Who must they be fair to? “Fair and balanced does

not mean balancing truth with lies. It does not imply that the truth is at the center between two

extreme points on the political spectrum. Fair and balanced journalism must not be a fulcrum on

which to destroy democracy by leveraging away farther and farther from the truth. The public

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interest is not served by lies and deceit, and lust for power is often predicated on lies and deceit.

Fair and balanced journalism exposes lies and deceit and enhances democracy; is an absolute

prerequisite for democracy.” (Moore “What Does “Fair and Balanced” Journalism Mean?”

2005)

A great example is the slogan: Fair and balanced. Isn’t that overrated? The reader wants

to confirm their own opinions in the media.

Why should we be careful?

Well, careful is one of those words a good journalist must be careful with because a good

journalist goes after the story full force almost throwing ethics out the window, so why should

ethics even exist?

“As Exhibit A, look at James O’Keefe, who famously and proudly passed off his partner

as a prostitute while secretly videotaping ACORN staffers. Who in the debate over O’Keefe’s

work took the position that because the colleague was not actually a prostitute, the entire project

was unethical and therefore all of his videotapes should be ignored? The actual objection to

O’Keefe’s work (Extra!, 4/10) was that he deceived the public–misleadingly editing his footage

to create false impressions, including the popular delusion that O’Keefe had gone into ACORN

offices wearing an outlandish Superfly costume. Nevertheless, he got overwhelmingly positive

coverage from right-wing and centrist news outlets alike, so his mendacious reporting had the

successful result of helping to bring ACORN down.” (Naureckas 2012)

James O’Keefe fancies himself a citizen journalist. Bringing down a huge organization

without the ethics typical journalists use was a blueprint for others. Professional journalists

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attempted to follow his lead. Years later, James O’Keefe chases that success, but still lacks the

ethics needed to be a professional journalist.

Those are good points, but I think they’re misguided. When a New York Times reporter

took an illegally recorded phone call between two Washington DC. heavy weights out of context

and reported it as “a big scoop” his knowledge of journalism ethics flew right out the window.

How is that the same as James O’Keefe? Well, it’s not. The New York Times reporter had to

ignore major ethics in journalism to report the scoop.

In conclusion, I have this quote to back up my position on the ethics of journalism. “If

Governments and business are to be held to account, as more than ever they need to be, then

democracy requires a functioning, independent news media. A move towards greater

transparency in sourcing might be a step in that direction.” ( Phillips 2010)

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Works Cited

Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Press,

www.lincoln.edu/criminaljustice/hr/BillofRights.htm%23Speech

Moore , Stan. “What Does ‘Fair and Balanced’ Journalism Mean?” Media Monitors

Network (MMN), 18 July 2005, www.mediamonitors.net/what-does-fair-and-balanced-

journalism-mean/.

Naureckas, Jim. “Media's Weird Ethics: Pretending to Be Someone Else Is Worse Than

Facilitating Global Catastrophe.” FAIR, 20 Apr. 2017, fair.org/home/medias-weird-ethics-

pretending-to-be-someone-else-is-worse-than-facilitating-global-catastrophe/.

Phillips, Angela. (2010). Transparency And The New Ethics Of Journalism.. Journalism

Practice. 4. 373-382. 10.1080/17512781003642972.

Stranahan, Lee. “Ohio Jihad Shows How American-Born Muslim Has Transformed,

Decentralized, Al Qaeda's Strategy.” Breitbart, Breitbart News Network, 1 Dec. 2016,

http://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2016/12/01/al-awlaki-muslim-jihad-motivator/

“The Fourth Estate As The Final Check.” Yale Law School, The Sacramento Bee,

www.law.yale.edu/mfia/case-disclosed/fourth-estate-final-check.

Tom Parfitt @parf_tom. “A Growing Number of Journalists Are Being Murdered across

the World.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 9 Oct. 2018,

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/journalist-murder-deaths-viktoria-marinova-khashoggi-

press-freedom-reporter-a8575861.html.

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“Understanding Bias.” American Press Institute, 9 Oct. 2013,

http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/bias-objectivity/understanding-bias/

Video, HuffPost. “Stop Judging What You Don't Understand.” The Huffington Post,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 Apr. 2018, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stop-judging-what-you-

dont-understand_us_5afd7efee4b0d20dc676d6c3

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