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After yesterday’s hasty post, I started to look around the web for some more information on journalism and ethics. It’s a topic I find interesting and for a writer, one starting out as well as the professional, it is important.

For me, to be a writer is to put words on paper. The world is saturated with writers, good and bad, experienced and inexperienced, honest and dishonest. Writers write, I don’t think it can be put any more simply. They write books, fiction, non fiction, poetry, short stories, news stories, humour, travel piece, blogs and much more. Ethics still enter the equation when we’re writing fiction to some extent.

A broadcaster communicates with the public using the spoken word. Sometimes it is relaying news on the radio, but sometimes it’s relaying news and views on a breakfast show for entertainment purposes. I think the ethics of journalism should still apply here, but that’s my opinion and others are free to disagree.

Journalists report the news. They uncover truths and show us what goes on in our local community, in the cities, in our country and around the world. These people are the ones that we supposedly trust to bring us an honest glimpse of what is going on in the world.

According to the Society of Professional Journalists,

“Journalists should -

• Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.
• Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do the public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrustion into anyone’s privacy.
• Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.
• Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects or victims of sex crimes.”

Source: http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.as

Check out www.spj.org/ethicscode.as for more guidelines.

Unfortunately, sometimes it does occur that one writer/journalist/broadcaster makes a bad judgement and makes the industry look bad. Most writers/journalists/broadcasters have the right intentions and make good judgement, the same as we’d like to think that the majority of society, of people, are kind, generous and decent. It’s the ‘black sheep’ that stands out though. Insufficient praise is given to someone publicly for an achievement or success, instead the negative is highlighted for the world to see. Therefore it didn’t surprise me to read the following in  Journalism Ethics for the global citizen,

“A concept that many journalists would find shocking, but is important nonetheless, is that people may trust the commentary and news written by ‘Joe Average’ in the blogosphere more than what is written by a professional journalist. The annual Public Trust barometer, put out by the Edelman global public relations firm based in the United States, found that, after doctors, people trust people ‘just like us’ above all others. Journalists rank sixth on the list, just ahead of CEO’s.”    
Source: http://www.journalismethics.ca/citizen_journalism/blogging.htm  

Of course there are exceptions to this, and millions of people will trust the professional journalist before the amateur one with a blog. Even so, I have to ask why is it that a portion of the population is more trusting of the ‘Joe Average’ rather than a professional journalist trained to report on events and the latest news and views?

Personally, I think it’s due to the fact that there are writers/journalists/broadcasters who have used bad judgement in the past that have led to this distrust. That’s why it’s important to be clear about what we want to say, but also find a method to transfer the information in the correct way which will do the least harm to an individual in question, and not to inflate what is being written, reported or broadcasted.

I’d like to think that we can trust journalists of all types - freelance, broadcast, television, newspaper, - just like we should be able to trust teachers, doctors, and the other people that are a part of our lives. Most have the right intentions at heart and act ethically and morally. But just like with everything else, we shouldn’t always take everything that is said as set in stone, nor should we assume that they are lying. Instead we should question what is being said and gain the right answers to help us make up our own minds about a topic or event in question.

What do you think about trust and the media?