by Elizabeth Lemuz
Discussions are always happening around us. There are discussions about who is going to win the big game on Saturday to serious topics that can affect us like what a well-trusted news anchor has lied about to the entire country. It doesn't matter what story is being told as long as it's following basic ethical rules.
At the beginning of this semester, we were asked to record ourselves answering why we think ethics is important in PR and why we think we need a class in ethics. I can remember my video and I struggled. It's not that I don't know the answer to that question, I just want to make sure that I say that appropriate thing. I believe that ethics is important in PR, because in this field, we are trusted with a company's brand to build a strong relationship with the public.
Media has increased tremendously in the past few years. Today, many people rely on social networks to find out what is going on around the world. Companies are adjusting to using social media because it’s where the majority of people are going to on a daily basis. Yes, there are still people out there that enjoy reading the paper every morning with a cup of coffee before heading to work. There is people that like to watch the news on the television after a long day at work. Thank goodness we still have our old ways of receiving information as well as the new ways too.
I believe that having this faster way of transmitting media is also a little harder for everyone to think before sending out that tweet or posting that status. According to Dictionary.com, ethics is defined as “...the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.,” We as humans don’t always make the best decisions. It’s a natural way of life from what I have noticed.
In the textbook, Controversies in Media Ethics by David Gordon, ethics is described to be important because it’s about doing what is right. “If everyone acts according to the categorical imperative that what is ethical for a person to do is what that person would want everyone to do, then there is no need for special efforts such as quotas. Equal opportunity would replace affirmative action.” Having situations where choosing to do the right thing is the first response, then there are no complications from there forward.
In media, it is important to be truthful and just because it is such a fast market. One most recent example of ethics not being present in media is the situation with Brian Williams. Williams has been the talk of everyone across the country because he decided that to embellish his news telling abilities by including things that weren’t ever real.
In The Washington Post, Williams is described as “a man who took such delight in spinning yarns that he could sometimes lose sight of where the truth began and where it ended.” Williams was a well-trusted news anchor for many years and no one expected this from someone in this position. It’s wrong to want to choose being a celebrity over because it creates a connection with your audience. This isn’t a real connection and because it isn’t true, the lies will eventually be discovered. Williams has been suspended from his position from NBC news and his reputation is tarnished.
One good thing about humanity today is that we are all very curious people. We are interested in knowing what is going on around us. When we have tools like the Internet, this allows our curiosity to be fed much easier than before. We all tend to search for the truth when we think we might have been given false information. I don’t really understand why lie to an entire country the way that Williams did. He didn’t share his story with the country once, he did it multiple times. He had claimed to have recalled the wrong thing, but that would only happen once and not many more times.
In my opinion being ethical is about doing what is right for everyone or the majority. It’s also about building trust with the audience. I believe that ethics is extremely important in media because it balances out everything that we say or do. Like I had mentioned earlier, today many people are going to the Internet to find out what is happening around us. As journalists, it is important to fact check everything that we claim to be true to the public. I know that when it comes to knowing about what is going on around me, I would like to trust my news sources to tell me the truth.
Being ethical doesn’t seem to be our first instinct because we are human, but it would make our lives much easier if it was. I’m not saying that we all struggle with this, but with all the examples we have seen in the media going back to the earlier days until now, it definitely is a constant struggle. It is important to be ethical in media because it allows us all to focus on more important issues than having to fact check everything ourselves that is mentioned to us.
Citations:
“Ethics.” Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, 2015. Web. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics?s=t
“Gavel Image.” Techno Buffalo. Disqus, 2012. Web. http://www.technobuffalo.com/2012/03/14/samsung-loses-highly-meaningful-lawsuit-against-apple-in-dutch-court/
Gordon, David, et al. Controversies in Media Ethics. Routledge: New York, 2011. Print.
“Story telling ability connected Brian Williams with viewers but also led to his downfall.” The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 2015. Web. http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/storytelling-ability-connected-williams-with-his-viewers-but-also-led-to-his-downfall/2015/02/14/def95228-b3a4-11e4-854b-a38d13486ba1_story.html
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