ENG 398 Fall 2016 Assignment: Ethics in Journalism

ETHICS IN JOURNALISM
Name:
Institution:
Course:
Date:
Ethics in Journalism
Journalism ethics is till a gray area that has fueled heated debates on various stories that make to publication. Sometimes journalists wrestle with big decisions about information in their custody and how best they can publish it without infractions on their professional code of ethics. The professional code of ethics for journalists becomes the guiding principles that help them to make informed choices on how to handle various situations to avoid litigations whilst ensuring they carry out their work diligently. One of the complex issues with grave ethical implications is to determine whether a journalist can become an arm of law enforcement. There is an ethical dilemma in regard to how journalists would treat the information that has implications on law enforcement. Their media houses can also have laws that directly or indirectly affect reporting of information regarding law enforcement.
In one instance, CITATION Bob03 \l 1033 (Steele, 2003) covers the issue of ethical conduct with information that shows loopholes and laxity of internal affairs in dealing with importation of radioactive materials. NBC had earlier imported depleted uranium and observed that the ministry of internal affairs did not detect or investigate the importation duly to guarantee that dangerous materials such as uranium cannot be imported by individuals to the United States. In their coverage, NBC sought to bring to realization an existing loophole in the ministry of internal affairs that could threaten American lives. In the view of public interest, such information is important and can help the government to reevaluate its policy implementation at the country’s ports. It is still unclear if NBC broke any law in their pursuit to build and publish the story. If they did, is there a justification to their actions, especially in putting ethical obligations over legal disobedience.
This information is meant for the public good and to prompt the government to step in to address the issue. Its significance is undoubtfully positive and welcome. However, is legal disobedience the only avenue the media has to use to publish the story. Did they exhaust any other means of getting the same information before turning to legal disobedience? One could argue that the information justifies the method, but in this case, they probably broke the law. It is wrong to engage in criminal or illegal activities to create a story for the public. As Steele observes, it is like breaking into a bank to show that their security system is weak. The bottom line is, their actions contradict the spirit of journalism and its ethical code thereof. Thus, these actions must be weighed against their intentions to justify them. Is it really worth it to break the law to show you can import potentially harmful and illegal materials to the United states? It would be better to obtain information on how such imports are processed to highlight on the issue rather than committing the crime.
CITATION Jon09 \l 1033 (Jones, 2009)features another story of a journalist who was arrested for trespassing. In the story, a photojournalist covers a story of citizens demonstrating the excavation of a mountain for...