Carol Kinney Student ID 503951 JRN349-AE Writing Assignment 3 March 21, 2013 Bronson and Pinson discuss the possible ethical decisions that editors face in the normal course of their professional duties. Five of those issues are “selecting material to fit a preconceived story idea (121),” “accepting special privileges or gifts not afforded the general public (122),” “involvement in politics or causes (123),” accepting “ads of harmful products (124),” and accepting “restraints from the owners or managers (125).” I believe I would handle each of these differently depending upon the situation. For example, I might accept a gift if I were an editor who was also in charge of product reviews. I simply could not afford to purchase every product or service, but it would depend upon the value of the item. I also believe that all journalists/editors may pad stories with quotes, research and data that fit into every story. Once the writer/journalist gathers information, a certain amount of bias forms, regardless of how objective the person tries to remain. Additionally, I do not think I would take issue standing up to an owner/manager to defend my ethics because I am bound to my Christian ethics to do so. I do question the supposition of the harmfulness of advertising. Would my own Christian perspective be different from someone who wasn’t a Christian? I also question the authors’ stance on how much a journalist can be involved in “politics or causes.” I have seen journalists from local, regional and national print and broadcast media as official and unofficial spokespeople for a wide variety of causes. i As Bronson and Pinson point out, it does depend upon outlet policies; however in my opinion the policies on this subject seem very lax. Because so much of ethical editing depends upon the individual outlet policies, editors need references in which to turn to gain insight and help in making ethical decisions. One such reference is the Society for Professional Journalism. The society is helpful because they feature a whole section on
their website devoted to ethics. On this page, the society offers cases where ethical editing and journalism have recently come into play, making the information not only useful but current.
i Examples of journalists who are spokespeople for causes A.
B.
C.
A. Desert Star (Palm Springs, CA) Editor-In-Chief, Jackie Deveraux gives her preferences for holiday charitable giving. B. Bill Worden, former newscaster for WKTV in Utica delivers on-air Christmas address from a Christian perspective. Google Images: wktv.com. C. Rachel Maddow of MSNBC for the American Library Association’s “Read” campaign. www.ala.org Sources American Library Association (2010). Rachel Maddow poses for “Read” campaign for the organization. Retrieved from http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2862 Deveraux, J. (28 Nov. 2012). Image and article by Editor-In-Chief of Desert Star newspaper features her recommendations for charitable giving. Palm Springs, CA. Retrieved from http://desertstarweekly.com/2012/11/28/the-bell-ringing-truth-about-charities/. Society of Professional Journalists. “Ethics Case Studies: New Cases Added.” Retrieved from http://www.spj.org/ethics.asp Worden, B.(1991). Worden, formerly of WKTV of Utica, NY delivers on-air Christmas address from a Christian perspective. Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c_Urb942Ck. Image of Worden retrieved from Google images: wktv.com.