The First Amendment gives the freedom of
religion, speech, press, assembly and petitioning to all its citizens. As a
journalist, it is imperative that I know my rights and are conscious of
situations when these rights can be violated. Such knowledge will only benefit
my career and improve my understanding of how to perform my job ethically.
The
press has self-determined responsibilities beyond those given to all citizens
in order to produce objective, ethically obtained and portrayed stories. Using
sources that were influenced in any way violates journalism ethics. For example, ethical journalists do not pay
for information or receive payment for stories. Journalists are also expected
and instructed to truthfully and honestly represent every topic and subject of
their stories. How can the audience trust what the journalist says if the
journalist is not honest about his/her own material? When handling private or
controversial matters, journalists should reflect upon the newsworthiness and
necessity of such instances. Journalists need to ask themselves: What does this
detail contribute to my story?
Photojournalists
have an additional ethics code to follow since pictures and visual
representation are added to the mix. Just as journalists are expected to
represent subjects truthfully, photojournalists must capture honest, candid
moments of their subjects. Photojournalists cannot stage photos since this
would be considered influencing the subjects or perception of the event.
Editing imperfect images is extremely tempting, so photojournalists must be
sure to only crop and lighten/darken their images. Because photo captions
communicate basic and important written information about a picture, photojournalists must ensure that captions follow AP style.
Being a journalism student has both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes sources are more likely to open up and events are more likely to grant admittance to the student for reasons of empathy or educational purposes. Nevertheless, journalism students often experience pushback from their own universities—arguably where journalism students do most of their reporting. From the last couple years of classes, I have learned that practicing sound journalism ethics will improve my new value sense, my reporting abilities, and my career prospects. What workplace wants to worry that the new hire is going to put the company in a legal predicament? But most importantly, this lesson bestowed confidence in me to know my rights and know that I am entitled to certain information.
Being a journalism student has both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes sources are more likely to open up and events are more likely to grant admittance to the student for reasons of empathy or educational purposes. Nevertheless, journalism students often experience pushback from their own universities—arguably where journalism students do most of their reporting. From the last couple years of classes, I have learned that practicing sound journalism ethics will improve my new value sense, my reporting abilities, and my career prospects. What workplace wants to worry that the new hire is going to put the company in a legal predicament? But most importantly, this lesson bestowed confidence in me to know my rights and know that I am entitled to certain information.
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