Lecture 8: Ethics

Ethics is everywhere. After finally finishing discussing ethics in my statistics class I wasn’t too excited to be revisiting it in Journalism. But with a guest lecturer and interactive layout it was quite an enjoyable lecture.

The big question that stuck with me was where do you draw the line between ethical wrong doing or just tacky and bad taste? I would say I have a fairly open mind. I am not easily offended so how do I tell the difference between right and wrong, and good and bad.

Of interest are the ethical theories that insure a Journalist doesn’t cross the line of right and wrong. These are:

• ·         Deontology
• ·         Consequentialism (aka Teleology)
• ·         Virtue

Deontology is most easily described as the study of what is morally obligatory, permissible, right, or wrong (Encarta Dictionary). It is made up of rules, principles and duties which ensure that as a Journalist you do the right thing.

Consequentialism focuses on the end justifying the means. Basically it’s about getting a ‘good’ or ‘right’ outcome that matters, not how we got there. Thus it is also known as teleology it is primarily focusing on the end result.

Finally, virtue is similarly related to how virtue is reflected in our normal life. ‘Goodness’ comes from good habits of character. These habits or virtues include courage, justice, temperance and prudence. And these habits of character are the ‘golden mean’ of behaviour. So if a journalist acts in a virtuous way then they will likely remain ethical.

Ethics is important to a journalist to ensure they remain on the ‘right’ side of a story. But how different is it to your everyday life. What is it that Grandma always said ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all’. I guess if you live and work by that rule you will probably be okay.

But where is the fun if there isn’t a little bit of controversy?

Till Next Time…