Ethics And Ethical Issues In Journalism And Journalism

There are often several cases that pose ethical issues in regards to journalism and publication. In this instance, 18-year-old Andrea Bell’s reputation of being Youth Ambassador of Bathburg is at stake. The photos of her that were sent by Andrea’s former boyfriend, who remains anonymous, causes great risks and would require both moral and ethical considerations before taking any form of action.

For an issue such as this, there requires a certain criteria for ethical decision-making. As stated by Frost (2011: p. 11), “ethics is a way of studying morality, which allows decisions to be made when individuals face specific cases of moral dilemma.” A main issue for journalists these days are the individuals right to privacy verses the public 's

Doing coverage of this story would definitely open the community to public debate, but at least the publication would not be deemed wrong or controversial, as it would take Miss Bell’s side. As for the source, it would keep it confidential, as the Code demands it.

Truthfulness and accuracy are definite imperatives. One key way of defining a good journalist is a reporter who is a good writer, reliable, truthful, and someone who is able to get the exclusives. This does not necessarily mean that all of these aspects are ethical, however. The balance between a good and ethical journalist is mostly distorted when dilemmas such as this arise. According to Frost (2011), a good journalist is someone who gathers topical, truthful, factual based information in a morally justifiable way.

To stoop to the notion of sensationalism is not considered good journalism. If photos were published without a source or photographer, it would be difficult to credit a picture, creating more problems for the publication. It is important to utilise and follow the Codes of Practice when it comes to the ethical side of journalism, otherwise a journalist would not be doing their job