What is Expected of a Journalist in Providing Local News Programs?
What is Expected of a Journalist in Providing Local News Programs?
Introduction
The duty of journalists is to seek and report the truth, serve the interest of the public, and encourage civic debate so as to build community. Public enlightenment is the forerunner of the foundation of democracy and justice. It is the role of journalists to further these ends by seeking the truth and also providing a comprehensive and fair account of events and issues. The cornerstone of credibility of a journalist is professional integrity.
When establishing a television station, it does not matter the population that is going to be served whether it is in a medium sized community or a large community because all stations operate under the same code of ethics for journalists (Aggarwal, B 2006). The code of ethics is a rule for journalists and all journalists must strive to adhere to it.
Ethics in journalism is the application and evaluation of norms and principles that guide the practice of journalism. It places special attention to the most essential problems in journalism. Journalists should be able to provide accurate and independent information and news with integrity, remaining neutral in their position, being accountable for their actions, and keep the interest of the public foremost in their minds all the time.
Journalists can incur ethical responsibilities because of their impact on the people that they report on and the society that they are serving (Aggarwal, B 2006). The code of ethics maintains the standards of operating a reputable, ethical television station. This paper will focus on the principle of ethics that are expected of journalists in the station. These principles include seeking truth and reporting it, act independent, minimizing harm, and being accountable.
Seek truth and report it
Journalists are supposed to fair, courageous, and honest when they are gathering, interpreting, and reporting information. When journalists are reporting, the reporting should begin at the start of the fact; follow the shortest path through the fact, and then end when the fact runs out. The stories of today need to cover the facts of today. The journalists should be able to differentiate between facts and opinions (Brown, F 2011). Rumors and hearsay cannot be used in reporting of news by journalists because it is falsehood. Before any information can be reported, the journalist must first test the accuracy of information from all the sources and then exercise care so that to avoid in advert error.
It is necessary for journalists to always question the motives of sources before they promise anonymity. The journalists should clarify the condition attached to the promise that is made in exchange of the information and make sure that they keep the promise. Anything that a journalist is told by an anonymous source need to be verified before it is published (Aggarwal, B 2006). They need to question the motives before they can grant confidentiality to that source who they know their identity.
This principle requires journalists never to distort the content of the videos or photos. Enhancement of the image is only permissible for technical clarity, but not for altering the content. Journalists are also required never to plagiarize information. When the journalists are providing information, they are required to provide the link to the original source so that it is not plagiarized. Information that is reported by journalists should be original. They should be diligent in identifying the sources of information clearly in notes (Brown, F 2011).
The journalists are also supposed to give voice to those people who do not have a say in the society so that they can be able to display their views and this provides an equal treatment to everyone in the community. According to this principle, the journalists have to recognize a special obligation to make sure that the public’s business is conducted openly, and the government records are open for inspection.
Act independent
The principle of acting independently states that journalists are supposed to be free of obligation of interest other than the right of the public to know. They are supposed to be honorable people known for telling the facts and keeping their word. Journalists should avoid conflict of interest and remain free of the activities and associations that may damage credibility or compromise integrity (Brown, F 2011). If journalists compromise journalistic integrity they are supposed to shun away from secondary employment, refuse favors, gifts, free travel, political involvement, and special treatment. They are supposed to act independently in accordance to their role in their field.
It is extremely essential for journalists to show confidence and courage in their career. They should be courageous and vigilant when they are holding those people in power accountable. They need to show courage when they are finding facts and when reporting them regardless of whether it focuses on influential people in the society. They should remember that enlightening the public is one of their responsibilities on many issues happening in the society.
According to this principle of code of ethics for journalists, journalists are required to deny favor treatment to advertisers. They need not to offer special treatment to them and resist their pressure from influencing the news coverage. This principle requires journalists to be extremely careful of the sources that offer information for money or favors (Smith, R 2008). Journalists should avoid bidding for information.
It is necessary for journalists to consider the reason why some sources request for money in exchange of information. It is advisable for journalists not to be reporting stories where they happen to have a personal conflict it is advisable for the journalist to request for another reporter who does not have any conflict to work on the story.
Minimize harm
Ethical journalists usually treat colleagues, subjects, and sources as human beings who deserve respect. This principle requires journalists to show compassion for those people who might be adversely affected by the coverage of the news. It is required of them to use special sensitivity when they are dealing with children and subjects and sources that are not experienced (Aggarwal, B 2006). When journalists are minimizing harm, they can do so by being sensitive when they are using or seeking photographs or interviews of those people affected by grief or tragedy.
They should try to make sure that they show compassion and focus on asking questions that will not cause more harm to the interviewee. Journalists should recognize that gathering and reporting the information may cause discomfort or harm. It is necessary to ensure that when reporting the news it is done in a way that impact no harm to the people involved. Journalists are supposed to do nothing to intrude with the private life, distress, or grief of anybody unless it is justified by overriding the consideration of the public interest.
According to the principle of minimizing harm, journalists should recognize that private people usually have a greater right to the control of their information about them than the public officials. Intrusion to a person’s privacy can only be justified by an overriding public need. When reporting on criminal news, it is advisable to be judicious about naming suspects of crime before the formal filing of their charges. They should balance the fair trial right of the criminal suspect with the right of the public to be informed. The preference of the victim should be a key factor when deciding whether to identify the person in extremely degrading crime like sexual assault.
Be accountable
Journalists are supposed to be able to explain and justify their actions and all their stories. They should be accountable especially to those stories that have a negative impact or are controversial on groups or individuals. Accountability is articulating the standards that guide a person’s journalism and providing the means by which the public can complain and question. This is a very essential virtue in journalism. Journalists are supposed to be accountable to their listeners, readers, and the viewers and also to each other. This principle requires journalists to always listen to and understand constructive criticism.
They should make sure that they clarify and explain the news coverage and then invite dialogue over the journalist conduct. Journalists can be accountable by encouraging the public to voice their grievances against the news media (Smith, R 2008). They should allow others to say what they think about news media. By doing this, they will easily see their mistakes and then put effort in correcting their mistakes. It is necessary for journalists to accept their mistakes and focus on correcting them.
The principle of being accountable requires journalists to expose their unethical practices and the news media. They should not only focus on bringing other organizations into the public, but also view their organization as others. Therefore, it is necessary to let the public know of the unethical practices going on the journalism. It is essential to abide by all the high standards that they hold others on. Journalists should make sure that they are accountable of the information that they receive from sources. They should ensure that they maintain confidentiality of the sources and not break this promise because this is how the public tend to trust them.
Conclusion
The aim of the principles of ethics in journalism is to deepen peoples understanding of the ethical functions of journalism. It aims at improving the ethical reasoning of the journalists. It promotes ethical decision making and behavior in the news media and also promotes public discussion of ethics in journalism. The code of ethics maintains the standards of operating a reputable, ethical television station.
In order to serve the trust of the public in truth and reporting news, it is important for the journalists of the television station to focus on the journalism code of ethics. These principles should be applied in gathering and transmitting and reporting accurate news in all news media. Journalists should be able to provide accurate and independent information and news with integrity and keep the interest of the public foremost in their minds all the time.
Reference
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