What do journalists owe us? Journalism’s general aim consists of gathering, verifying, and reporting truthful information of consequence to citizens in a democracy. With knowledge of this, journalists are expected to put this definition in motion in as many means as possible. We owe the readers the entire truth on a story. With that being said, this forces me to shed light on the exteriority of plagiarism and the essence of respect, as well as other aspects of journalism, that is crucial for journalists’ to touch base on. Plagiarism is definitely a big “no” when it comes to writing/publishing stories for readers. Doing this only shows the level of respect that you have for, not only your job, but your readers that trust your word behind their topics of interest.
“Plagiarism is the "wrongful appropriation" and "stealing and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions" and the representation of them as one's own original work.” Although this may be the common definition behind plagiarism, journalism defines this term in broader means. Fabricating things such as comments, scenes, characters, and extensive details, including photographs and voicemails, are extremely unacceptable and also falls under the category of journalism “don’ts.” A verification of the truth is uncertainly central to journalism and the crowd of people it caters to. Stating anything but the truth can ultimately tarnish your reputation and career and can affect the journalism/reader trust that is built over time. Journalists who are iconic for taking part in this unethical practice, stirred up quite a conversation within classroom lectures. Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass, both famous for their practice in plagiarism and fabrication, have definitely become prime examples as to what you absolutely shouldn’t do when involved in the journalism field.
A reporter, Jayson Blair, completely violated the “cardinal tenet of journalism” for, what I look at it to be, fame and admiration. Blair was found guilty of committing frequent acts of journalistic fraud while covering significant news events. His journalism ethics were pushed to the side when he decided to let his hopes of building exceptional credentials, from being a favored reporter, get in the way. Blair’s case was put under serious investigation and became an important topic for weeks. “Every newspaper, like every bank and every police department, trusts its employees to uphold central principles, and the inquiry found that Mr. Blair repeatedly violated the cardinal tenet of journalism, which is simply truth.” The New York Times put effort into unraveling the lies and plagiarism committed by him which implicated how much of a serious matter this was.
Stephen Glass was a staff-writer and reporter whose name rang bells in the journalism world. At the young age of 25, Glass was the most sought-after journalist who was known for producing riveting articles for magazines ranging from Rolling Stone to The New Republic. His career was short-lived after being caught for fabricating almost everything in every one of the pieces that he produced. Glass composed interviews and phone calls on his own in order to create material that he felt like the public wanted to read. Just like Blair, Glass was fired from his job and became a trending topic within the journalism world. He was forced to give up his journalism career because he knew that his actions would jeaopardize his acceptance into other publishing companies. Doing this opened the eyes of other reporters, making them aware of the serious consequences they could receive if they were to commit journalistic fraud. Without truth, journalism isn’t journalism.
Issuing respect for your readers and showcasing that in your work is another thing that journalists unquestionably owe the public. What journalist attempt to do is translate the broader principles of journalism into specific actions by real people. In order to do this, it is important that they ought to treat people as citizens first and pay them the respect that they deserve. This is why the code of journalism ethics plays a massive role within everything that a writer might put out. Seeking the truth and reporting is the first step of issuing respect and should be the motive for every journalist. Other variations of respect fall under certain tasks that are expected from writers’.
Identifying sources whenever possible is crucial. This displays credibility within your work and leaves no room for questionable doubt. When dealing with confidential, or anonymous, sources it is important for the reporter to build trust and respect between them and the individual that they’re interviewing. Clearly labeling opinion and commentary within pieces is important because it allows the reader to make the distinction between facts and disposition. Without this distinction, the essence of your story can be shifted into a realm that is unintended.
Another way of issuing respect is the refrainment from contacting certain people of interest in violent situations while the situation is in progress. This would be an absolute selfish move on the reporters’ end. As a reporter, you should be able to put yourself in others shoes’ in order to display empathy and relate to how they feel. Trying to conduct an interview with a person who is clearly going through a dire situation only shows how much you care about yourself and the piece you’re producing, rather than the person. Using technological tools with skill and thoughtfulness can also be translated into the importance you put behind what you may owe to your readers. Using these tools with aptitude can cause you to avoid techniques that falsify facts, alter reality, or sensationalize events. Using covert newsgathering techniques, such as hidden cameras or microphones, can challenge the respect you are yearning to earn; doing this can lead to a diminish in trust. When using this method of newsgathering, it was important for the reporter to let the interviewee know ahead of time so that a level of trust is built.
Lastly, it is extremely important for reporters to avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status. This is absolutely unacceptable for a reporter to do. Supporting the open exchange of views, even views that you find are repugnant are acceptable. This can be used to accumulate material for your work which can be essentially helpful. But expressing any amount of biased or stereotypical information can jeopardize your career and the respect readers, as well as other publishing companies, might have for you.
There is no getting around the fact that harm to someone is a frequent byproduct of journalism, even when its closely aimed to help citizens. Good journalism involves uncovering things people would prefer to remain hidden or finding the element behind a problem that no one seems to want to take responsibility for. Ethical journalists try to fulfill their duties to citizens and the subjects of news, while also trying to avoid or minimize harm to them or even work to prevent it. Being able to consider and defend your actions using the journalistic way of ethical decision-making can make your job a lot more fulfilling.