Reputation is something valuable. It is the first thing that people have a particular opinion of when they hear a name, a brand, or a company. For many people their reputations have been ruined by slanders and libels. Reputations have been damaged by reporters and journalists that say or published the untruthfulness in their work, before gathering all the facts that they need before publication. Even after reporters recant their statements personals can still face the consequences of the original false accusations. For Mary Alice Firestone her reputation went on a 180-degree flip once she filed for divorce. Her husband Russell A. Firestone, Jr. who was an heir to the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company filed for a counterclaim on the grounds …show more content…
v. Firestone, (1976) Mary Firestone had to prove five things to win her libel suit. First, she had to prove that the statement from her former husband, that she was cruel and committed adultery was false. Then, she had to prove that that statement was harmful to her reputation. As a former schoolteacher in the Palm Beach community she had a certain standard to uphold, with the article being published it damaged her creditability. Committing adultery is also a shameful crime, and damages a person’s creditability. The counterclaim divorce from Russell A. Firestone, Jr. was then published in the Time, Inc. under the Milestone section. Mary Firestone was clearly identified by her soon to be ex-husband’s full name, a reference to his family heir, her full name, her age, her career, and even her son was mentioned. Lastly she had proven that the journalist acted negligently and did not have all the correct facts. Even when the journalist found out that he or she did not have everything correct they did not retract the article and counteract the mistakes that were …show more content…
Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility.” (21). The goal of journalist is to earn the trust of the people and publish the truth to the public. Each journalist should find truth and report it objectively. Although the first amendment protects the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and to petition the government, it does have limitations. For example, a reporter cannot spread lies that harm a person’s reputation or ability to earn a living. That includes books, newspapers, magazines, radio, televisions, and the internet. In the case of Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., the Supreme Court of the United State established the standard of the first amendment. The first amendment permits the states to calculate their own standards of libel for defamatory statements made about individuals. The court decided that, as long as they did not impose liability without fault, states are free to establish their own standards of liability for defamatory statements made about
A) McGeary, Johanna. McCarthy's First Slander. Time, 3/31/2003, Vol. 161 Issue 13, pA28,1/4p 1bw; (AN 9349282)
In Rushworth Kidder’s book “How Good People Make Tough Choices,” Kidder provides a series of different methods, codes and examples of what being an ethical journalist could mean. He gives examples of different situations where a person’s ethics are tested and what would be a good way to deal with these situations. He starts by explaining the difference between things that are right-versus-right dilemmas, and those that are right-versus-wrong dilemmas.
In 1954, Sam Sheppard was accused of allegedly killing his wife, Marilyn. During this time, the media went absolutely wild. The way they obtained their stories was completely unlike any way they had gone about getting stories before. They completely invaded Sheppard's privacy to obtain "good" stories for their papers and television newscasts. Also, more stories were written about the case than any other event that had been covered in the past. Even the way stories were written was different than the usual style of writing used for that time period. Ethics were completely disregarded during the case. Because of this, Sheppard was released from prison, with the reason that the media had influenced the case so that the jury found him guilty based on the news stories. This had never happened before. Due to the unethical practices displayed by the media, the field of journalism instituted practices, which limited the power of the press.
Professional journalists have various responsibilities. They must keep the public updated on current events. Their news reports must remain unbiased and without error. Above all, journalists must adopt a watchdog role and ensure that individuals in positions of authority act ethically and don’t abuse their power. Muckraking, or investigative journalism as it is known today, is vital to American democracy. Muckrakers disseminate information that the public may find unpleasant or disagreeable, but regardless of public outcry, their work is pivotal. Because publicly exposing the truth positively impacts society, it’s an honor to be called a muckraker.
Our reputations are beliefs and opinions that are held by our friends, family and even complete strangers about bout us. Someone’s reputation determines how they will be seen before even meeting them, almost like a first impression. Which is why your reputation is something you need to handle with care and protect, however some will go to extremes in doing this for instance the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. It is a look into what it was like back in the 1800’s during the Salem witch trails. During this play Miller makes the strong argument of the importance of reputation and the countless ways people will protect it. In the play this occurs with many of the characters some more than others yet it’s of importance to everyone in some way or another. The protection of one’s reputation also occurs outside of the play, an example of this would be in politics and sports. In the play The Crucible, Author Miller makes the argument that reputation is incredibly important and people will go to great lengths such as betrayal and lying to protect it, quite often ones morality will become altered when protecting their reputation.
Reputation is something that is immensely valued among humans. People care so much about their reputation that they will go to unimaginable lengths to keep it intact. This is shown in the short stories If I quench thee, and Slipper Satin also in the film Easy A and the short film Day Trip. the characters in these texts all gain a bad reputation for the decisions they make or the people they associate with. These characters in one way or another try to regain their reputation or decide to just live with it.
Reputation is an aspect of life that everyone cares about because it is the societal definition of someone. People often will go to great lengths and “invest substantial resources to maintain a good reputation” such as adapting a “cooperative behaviour…that is individually costly, but socially beneficial” (Pfeiffer). This is due to the fact that reputations are eternal, unlike its human counterpart. Even after death, people are remembered for certain
According to Abraham Lincoln, “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”. Shadows don’t always reflect their objects accurately as the shape and length of a shadow will change depending on where the sun is in the sky and reputation is like a shadows as it isn’t always an accurate representation of their owner’s character. Additionally, people judge others based on their reputation and not based on who the other person is. Reputation plays a huge role in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The Crucible is a play about the Salem Witch Trials in which a group of girls led by Abigail Williams accuse innocent people of witchcraft so that the members of the group will benefit.
Sources Balin, R., & Bayard, S. (2014, June 25). New York Decision Protects Author's Speculation on Paternity as Opinion Based on Disclosed Facts — Oleniak v. Slaton. Retrieved November 24, 2015, from http://www.medialawmonitor.com/2014/06/new-york-decision-protects-authors-speculation-on-paternity-as-opinion-based-on-disclosed-facts-oleniak-v-slaton/ Blake, M. (2013, April 12). ' Long-lost father' sues genealogist who appeared on Oprah for claiming she's his biological daughter in new book.
Integrity is important because it keeps journalists in line and create a truthfulness and trust within the media, the trust allows journalists to write and speak about more sensitive material and have the trust of the
What is reputation? Reputation is the joint of beliefs and opinions that are created because of certain actions or situations about someone or something. It is something that has greatly impacted society, it determines how you are viewed to those around you, reputation comes with connections, promotions, rewards and more. Reputation has been a huge impact on society for a long period of time, it has been from Shakespeare’s time in the play “Othello”; a play about a black man going through deceived betrayal, to all the way in modern time in the “O” film; a young black teen facing through the same deceiving betrayal in modern time. While comparing both the play and film, there are many similarities but one comparison that stood out was how much
The introduction of the internet to modern society has brought about a new age of information relation. Since there is no longer a need to wait until the next print day, news from all over the world is available at a person’s fingertips within hours or even minutes of the event. With this advent of such easily accessible information, new problems for the news media have also arisen. Aside from potentially losing good economic standing because newspapers are no longer being purchased in the quantities they used to be, the credibility of the information itself is also put into question. No one would argue that credibility of news sources is unimportant, but there is a discrepancy in what takes precedence; economy and speed or getting the information out correctly at the first publishing by taking the time to make sure all facts are checked. The importance of having a system of checks on all information submitted is paramount. People trust what they read and believe it to be so without always questioning. If all information were to not be checked thoroughly, there would be instances where people read an article only for information included to be wrong and they go on believing such information. This can be very dangerous as misinformed people make misinformed decisions. With an increase in errors being made by citizen bloggers and even major publications, many are worried that journalistic ethics and credibility in the news media are being sacrificed in order to maintain swiftness in the news circuit and to retain personal profits. Though getting information to the masses quickly is a major part of the media’s importance, this should not mean that the credibility of that information being presented should be sacrificed for it...
The civil liberties that the American people have are inalienable rights. The most important of these is the freedom of speech. Yet freedom of speech is not entirely protected; using hurtful, false, or damaging speech is not allowed. But how can the American government control something as basic as speech? There are laws against libel and slander but how are they perpetrated? This essay will explain how the court cases and laws have evolved and been clarified throughout America’s history up to present day.
She has a duty as a journalist to "truth in reporting", which defines the lack of accuracy and
Meyers, C. (2010). The 'Standard Journalism ethics: a philosophical approach? Oxford University Press. Nordenstreng. K. (1995)