Why is ethics so important in journalism? The key word here
is trust. As a journalist, that trust you earn from the
audience is all you can count on. It´s the only capital a
journalist can gather through it´s career, and it´s the big
difference between success and failure in this profession.
As it´s been said many times, trust is something that takes
years to conquer, and seconds to lose.
Probably like never before, the basic ethics of journalism
has been under fire. Attacked by politicians that never
liked our role as counter balance of their power, by the
change in business and the proliferation of things like
native advertising. And by the overexposure generated by
social media. So earning and keeping that trust from the
audience is harder than ever.
This brings me to an issue that has surfaced a couple of
times during my stay in Cronkite, and that is the limit
between what´s considered “objective” and what
we could call “opinion” journalism. I have heard
many times professors complain bitterly about the loss of
those glorious times where people like Walter Cronkite would
talk to the country from above political party lines, that
would be heard and respected by people of all visions. And
how these times of partisan cable tv news are hurting the
profession. It stays clearly on my mind a presentation of
professor Pucci where she explained how students were not
allowed any kind of personal expression, when handling
social media acounts and in their journalistic work.
Even though I can relate to the old timers feelings having
spent all my life in a newspaper, I think it´s useless to
keep crying for the past. We have to address the challenges
of the present. And one of the biggest challenges we have
now as journalists is to make our voice heard, identified,
and respected. In times when information has become such a
cheap commodity, a journalist needs to have an identity, to
brand himself, in order to be noticed in the chaotic sea of
today´s news landscape.
This means that you need to have a voice. You need to
develop a personality. You need to expose yourself, your
values, your vision, your stance. Audiences no longer want
an impossible neutral journalist acting like if he was a
robot with no feelings and no passion. They know no one is
really like that in real life, and they can´t trust you if
they suspect you are forcing yourself to be something you
are not.
So the key word here is not objectivity. It´s honesty.
Audiences are willing to accept a journalist that has
different political visions, as long as they are honest with
what they say, with how they cover issues, and especially as
long as they don´t suspect that you are altering reality to
fit into your own ideological frame.
The big problem with this is that it demands that
journalists have a bigger ethical sense probably than ever.
We are journalists, not activists, not politicians, not
salesman. We need to know the limits of our work, and that
we are here to serve our audiences, no to convince them. Not
to make them aware of anything.
And these limits can´t be taught. As ethics can´t be taught.
The biggest challenge we face today is to develop our own
sense of ethics, one that is compatible with the one our
audiences demand. And to be honest with it even under the
toughest circumstances.
If we manage to do that, a good part of the walk to become a
successful professional, would have ben walked.
Journalism ethics is undergoing critical challenge. We need to rethink it.
Knowing the limits of our work – that can often be challenging!
Hello, I really enjoyed your post and liked that you pointed out how honesty rather than objectivity should be the focus. You’re right when you said that one of the biggest challenges journalists face is making our voices be “heard, identified, and respected.” As someone just at the start of their career, focusing on honesty seems a much more feasible way to carry out good ethics as a journalist.
Well, I think there is room for opinion journalism where some journalists take stands on issues of the day. However, it’s reporters who should stick to fairness, balance and objectivity. When reporters slant news for partisan political or other interests, that erodes trust in the practice.