I once had an English teacher who had joined the public sector precisely because of an ethical concern. She had an interest in reading and writing, as well as a strong sense of social justice and a desire to make a difference in the world. At her first job, she was assigned to cover rapes in the area. Her editor wanted plenty of detail, and he seemed to want the stories covered in an excessive way. Constantly covering the same, rather unpleasant topic depressed her. However, she was even more concerned by the fact that she felt she was doing more harm than good. Interviewing the victims and their families seemed to be causing injury to them, and she could not see what good it was really doing anyone. She eventually became a high school English teacher.
Stories like this concern me. I wonder what I would do in such situations. Journalists have a responsibility to the public, but we can never forget that the public is made up of individuals. If individuals are being hurt by a journalist's reporting work, then red flags should go up. Elements of Journalism offers a solution to my former teacher's problem, explaining that "for journalists to be able to exercise their conscience, managers and owners have to create an open newsroom" (231). Other problems can also be solved by this. I like to think of the clip from the movie Hitch where the editor questions whether the reporter feels comfortable running a story in which she had a conflict of interest.
Truth, to me, is obvious. I was surprised by how much organizations themselves have to say about ethics. I was impressed with Code of Ethics for the LA Times. Ultimately, though, the importance of ethics boils down to a statement by Carol Marin, "A journalist is someone who believes in something that they would be willing to quit over."
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