Ethics in Journalism
Each presentation in class seems to always lead back to the point of ethics in journalism.
A journalist must be able to exercise conscience ethically in the news field. Sometimes, a journalist may have more knowledge about a certain subject then the news director does. They should not be like fall leaves, that moves wherever the wind blows, journalists that do whatever the news director says. Such is the case of Alain Hertoghe, a French journalist. He wrote a book about the Iraq War and how American soldiers were slaughtering Iraq citizens. He wrote the book, after the newspaper told him not to write it. Hertoghe said, ""I tried to be totally fair in writing this...I thought that a journalist's conscience was more important to his newspaper than any other consideration it might have. I admit to having read my contract before the book appeared. But I never thought I would be fired." He did what he felt was the right decision, but eventually lost his job because of it (see: http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/jouirnali.htm).
Another point brought up in the presentation was newsroom diversity. A newsroom needs to be diverse, so that there it represents the community fairly. In Lawrence T. McGill's article, "Newsroom Diversity" it says that, "At a minimum, all newspapers should employ journalists of color and every newspaper should reflect the diversity of its community" (see: http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:JwFHc1HprosJ:www.freedomforum.org/publications/diversity/meetingthechallenge/meetingthechallenge.pdf+newsroom+diversity&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us). If there is no cultural diversity in the room, a newscast does not have much say in calling themselves fair and balanced. Because to be fair and balanced, you must be diverse, willing to look at different stories from different angles.
Stephen Tanner
A journalist must be able to exercise conscience ethically in the news field. Sometimes, a journalist may have more knowledge about a certain subject then the news director does. They should not be like fall leaves, that moves wherever the wind blows, journalists that do whatever the news director says. Such is the case of Alain Hertoghe, a French journalist. He wrote a book about the Iraq War and how American soldiers were slaughtering Iraq citizens. He wrote the book, after the newspaper told him not to write it. Hertoghe said, ""I tried to be totally fair in writing this...I thought that a journalist's conscience was more important to his newspaper than any other consideration it might have. I admit to having read my contract before the book appeared. But I never thought I would be fired." He did what he felt was the right decision, but eventually lost his job because of it (see: http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/jouirnali.htm).
Another point brought up in the presentation was newsroom diversity. A newsroom needs to be diverse, so that there it represents the community fairly. In Lawrence T. McGill's article, "Newsroom Diversity" it says that, "At a minimum, all newspapers should employ journalists of color and every newspaper should reflect the diversity of its community" (see: http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:JwFHc1HprosJ:www.freedomforum.org/publications/diversity/meetingthechallenge/meetingthechallenge.pdf+newsroom+diversity&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us). If there is no cultural diversity in the room, a newscast does not have much say in calling themselves fair and balanced. Because to be fair and balanced, you must be diverse, willing to look at different stories from different angles.
Stephen Tanner
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