Ethics in Journalism
Nancy Durham is a freelance video journalist for CBC, cable news, and British
Channel 4, to name a few. Her journalistic objective is to "make viewers care about ordinary
people trapped in wars". While investigating the Balkan area, she met an 18 year old girl named
Rajmonda that was recovering in a hospital from the trauma of seeing her sister, Quendressa,
killed in a Serb attack. She expressed to Durham how she was thinking about joining the KLA.
By the request of the news stations, Durham returns to KLA headquarters to do a set of
follow-ups on Rajmonda. This is how Durham finds that Rajmonda not only lied and was already
a member of the KLA before she met the reporter, but her sister is in fact alive and well. Nancy
Durham's story had been reported in three different countries and more than once. How could
she effectively remain a credible journalist while still holding her vow to help those "trapped in
war"? Should Nancy run(ignore the fact that her story is false) or should she stay and face it?
See Nancy run. Nancy Durham can now be accused of deceiving the public and
fabricating the facts, even if it was mainly Rajmonda's abuse of the publicity she granted to her.
She has a duty as a journalist to "truth in reporting", which defines the lack of accuracy and
research in her depiction of war in the Balkan area. Nancy Durham could completely ignore the
mistakes she made in hopes that it would fall out of the news. But then she would be constantly
worried that interested news stations would appoint another journalist to follow-up on her story,
hence, exposing her inaccuracies. See Nancy fall. Her fleeing of the dilemma, could be the very
thing that signifies her guilt a...
... middle of paper ...
...in a war ridden land. She also has an obligation to
Rajmonda to illustrate the cause of her exaggeration. Durham should tell the audience how it was
for a good cause...for the good of her people, "her family". This also supports Mill's perspective.
Rajmonda did this for the "greater good" of her people...it doesn't make a difference that she lied.
"The ends justifies the means" Clearly, she did it to bring awareness to the forgetting outside
world. Even if it isn't her story, it is someone else's story. Nancy Durham must write a
follow-up article stating the truth, but bringing recognition to the fact that Rajmonda had no other
choice but to lie. This way not passing the buck onto Rajmonda, a young girl who has obviously
been through a lot. By doing this, Nancy Durham remains employed and Rajmonda sustains the
public's sympathy and support.
knowing that she needed to do something to support her child. After the war, she
reported that she had been abducted from a parking lot and raped by a black male ("A.B. Butler").
clearly did a good job of getting to know her fellow secret-protesters. But did that make
turn the light of truth upon,”10 which is something she truly fought for and succeeded
lived in demanded her to give up her conspirator or bear the consequences of the
the distain she holds for the accusers only serves to accentuate the differences between her and
What her reasons for it were I don’t know. But she did a good job. She raised twelve children. She led a good life.”
...ontradicting herself, and pointing the finger. Although she most likely has experienced these acts of unjust treatment, she seems to put the reader in the position to doubt the credibility of what she has to say time and again.
excused it on the pretense that her views reflected the past times in which she
In “IND AFF, or Out of Love in Sarajevo,” Fay Weldon uses the setting of her story to teach a young woman a lesson in morality, and about life and love. This unnamed young woman narrates the story from the first person point of view, giving the reader a private glimpse into her inner struggle. The young woman is the protagonist in the story, and is a dynamic character; learning and growing in the few pages Weldon gives the reader a chance to get acquainted with her. Setting the story in Sarajevo allows Weldon to use historical events to teach the young woman about life. The largest role that setting plays in “IND AFF” is the historical event, which took place in this small town in Bosnia. An assassin named Princip took the life of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, in Sarajevo. This event is said to have propelled Europe into war, a war that came to be known as World War I. Visiting the town of Sarajevo the young woman ponders Princip’s decision to murder the Archduke and his wife, and these thoughts move her into a different course of action.
During the Vietnam War, a rift between government officials and journalists emerged. The American government felt the need, for various reasons, to censor many war developments. In an attempt to act ethically, the press fought the censors, trying their hardest to report the truth to the general public. Despite claims of bias and distortion by several prominent government officials, these journalists acted completely ethically, allowing the general public to obtain a fair, informed opinion.
Robinson has dealt with a tremendous amount of controversy and abuse for her job, yet
This goes to show that she is more greedy than her sister and her words are also
...o persuade her audience through her strong assumptions and facts of evidence from her researched work.
the answers as to why she wrote about it constantly. She explains her reason for