Right or wrong. Ultimately, this is what the lecture was
about. How do we know when something is right or wrong? Where is the line
between ethical and unethical? To be completely honest, my thoughts in the
lecture were not focused on our guest speaker, but rather I had a moral debate
with myself to try and justify whether I thought made-up situations were
unethical or not. I ran different scenarios in my head and tried to determine
what I would do if I was in that dilemma. I sound crazy right? Wrong. Although
it might be an odd tactic, it really did help me clarify my personal values and
form the line in which I would begin to regret what I was doing.
Let me run you through one of the scenarios that I would
establish in my head. I had a thought about what I would do in a situation
where someone had leaked me information that had the potential to be a breaking
news story. As in, big enough to make a career. To be my big break in the
journalist world. However, this information would result in the dismissal of a
person and possibly result in their inability to get future employment. Morally,
I decided I could not do anything with the information. The source may pass it
onto someone else; however I could never personally destroy someone’s
livelihood. It would be against everything I stand for; every value that I was
taught when I was raised would be compromised.
So would that make me a bad journalist then? I would be
choosing not to publish information in the public interest. Sure there are
other directions in journalism, but you will be forever faced with these
ethical issues at one stage or another. Now I suppose I just have to figure out
how to deal with them when they arise. And decide if I want to be in a field
where my personal values are constantly negotiated.
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