Jour1111 Lecture Monday September 10

I know it's late, but as promised here's my reflection from Mondays lecture, which was on Ethics.
We were graced with the presence of Donna Meiklejohn a broadcast Journalism specialist.

Particularly, Mondays lecture was about the ethics code in Journalism and ethical dilemma's Journalist encounter on the job.

Firstly we looked at advertisements, that play on ethical controversy, things that cause its viewers to gasp and talk about it, and we discussed whether using controversy to stand out or get points across was ultimately, ethically ok.The image to the left is an example Donna presented us in the lecture, and immediate looking around the room you could tell students felt uncomfortable, this advertisement demands a reaction which I believe all good Journalism pieces should do, so I guess in my opinion positions me fore ethically controversial advertisements and play on words etc, but I believe that's the easy part of the great ethical debate, Journalist or anyone working in a commercial profession might encounter. The real question and ethic struggle comes when people and emotions are involved.

How do we base our decisions on what is right and wrong? When do we stop thinking as a empathetical human and more as a Journalist whose job it is to get the story? Donna told us about her experiences in this in which she had to cover a story about 3 young boys who had tragically passed away after being electrocuted. It was her job to as a Journalist to come to the house of the grieving parents and ask for an interview right after the incident had occurred, either that or she'd be jobless. At that point she recalled a strong ethical compass and felt uncomfortable with the initial idea, considering these poor people had just gone through the ordeal of a lifetime and in a human context rightly needed space to grieve and cope, but without getting the story and for filling her work brief she also feared losing her job and journalist have bills to pay too, so put on a brave face to get the story. When she got to the grieving parents house she saw a swarming of other Journalists who, one by one, went up to the front door and asked for an interview, then it was Donnas turn to do the same, she went up to the door, offered her condolences and politely asked for an interview, which luckily enough for her resulted in an interview. Perhaps it wasn't luck, perhaps it was Donna's sweet condolences and polite human quality she as a fresh unjaded Journalist possessed. Either way she knew after a while she'd have to develop a somewhat tough skin to listen to some of the gut-wrenching stories Journalist have to report on.

To cope Donna suggested, that much like a surgeon that could become a little uncomfortable if he/she everyday was reminded about having to cut up other humans in an emotional aspect, you must sometimes remove yourself from reality in a way and just think of what you do as a job to pay the bills, rather than something that morally defines you as a being.

There are codes Journalist follow in order to help justify the means of there work:

These were further looked into in the lecture, but of late, I've found these reflections are getting ridiculously long so figure those interested can look them up in detail. For now I'll stick with the important stuff, like noting that,
 

To better understand and learn about coping and making the right ethical decision we looked at three ethical theories:

Deontology: The idea of just following the rules, you do the right thing ethically by following the rules,duties, principles - Which catergorises most Journalism/reporting jobs

Consequentialism: The idea of outcomes e.g "this might be bad or uncomfortable at present but if it raises awareness and ultimately is for the greater good, the ends outweighs the means"

Virtue: The idea of right and wrong, and is directly aligned with "does the decision I'm about to make align with the person I am or want to be, as an individual. If I inturde the privacy of a grieving family, am I that media hungry savage?
-But then do you quite your job?
 

I think ultimately you have to remove yourself as a human sometimes in order to get the job done, conservatory creates public interest, public interest pulls in audiences and audiences pay money to keep Journalists in work. In saying that, I don't see why you cant still be personable and humane to your interviewee's, but perhaps that's a highly naive point of view and over time my opinions will change. At the end of the day, Journalists need an income and in most cases cant just walk away from a job cause they've got bills to pay too. You've got to trust yourself I think and perhaps be able to personally justify your means for yourself, no one else. I believe and hope, that my ethical radar is in tune enough that when I step out into the big wide world as a Journalist I too will be able to determine what is uncomfortable but my job, and what is completely wrong and against any means of ethics.