In class last week we learned a lot about the ethics of journalism. It was SWEET! I've never had to put myself into some of those positions. The group presentation made journalism so much more exciting! They taught us that by following these guideline called "Poynter's Questions for Ethical Decisions" we can decide whether pursuing or running something as a journalist is a good choice.
2. What is my journalistic purpose?
3. What are my ethical concerns?
4. What organizational policies and professional guidelines should I consider?
5. How can I include other people, with different perspectives and diverse idea, in the decision making process?
6. Who are the stakeholders - those affected by my decision? What are their motivations? Which are legitimate?
7. What if the roles were reversed? How would I feel if I were in the shoes of the stakeholder?
8. What are the possible consequences of my actions? Short term? Long term?
9. Where are m alternatives to maximize my truth-telling responsibility and minimize harm?
10. Can I clearly and fully justify my thinking and my decision? To my colleagues? To the stakeholders? To the public?
After the presentation we got down to the boring part of class. This part. (Yay chart, I love charts, they put me to sleep, yay...)
A) Mediterranean or Polarized Pluralist Model: France, Greece, Italy, Por-tugal, Spain
B) North/Central Europe or Democratic Corporatist Model: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
c) North Atlantic or Liberal Model: Britain, United States, Canada, Ireland
Newspaper Industry
A) low newspaper circulation; elite politically oriented press
B) high newspaper circulation; early development of mass-circulation press
C) medium newspaper circulation; early development of mass-circulation commercial press
Political Paralellism
A) high political parallelism; external pluralism, commentary-oriented journalism; parliamentary or government model of broadcast governance; politics-over-broadcasting systems
B) external pluralism especially in national press; historically strong party press; shift toward neutral commercial press; politics-in-broadcasting system with substantial autonomy
C) neutral commercial press; information-oriented journalism; internal pluralism (but external pluralism in Britain); professional model of broadcast governance; formally autonomous system
Professionalization
A) weaker professionalization; instrumentalization
B) strong professionalization; institutionalized self-regulation
C) strong professionalization; non-institutionalized self-regulation
Role of the State in Media System
A) strong state intervention; press subsidies in France and Italy; periods of censorship; “savage deregulation” (except France)
B) strong state intervention but with protection for press freedom; press subsidies, particularly strong in Scandinavia; strong public-service broadcasting
C) market dominated (except strong public broadcasting in Britain and Ireland)
So the chart is boring, but the content is actually pretty interesting. It's crazy but, our system doesn't seem to be the absolute best... I know, WEIRD! America might be the Promised Land but it's still got some work to do. (Vote Romney! Yay!) While we have no state intervention, which seems ideal, Northern/ Central Europe has the highest circulation out of all the models. Makes you wonder, should our press be somewhat controlled by the government? Is that the solution to the industry's problem? Maybe... but I don't think anyone will ever go for it.
Poynter's 10 Ethical Questions:
1. What do I know? What do I need to know?2. What is my journalistic purpose?
3. What are my ethical concerns?
4. What organizational policies and professional guidelines should I consider?
5. How can I include other people, with different perspectives and diverse idea, in the decision making process?
6. Who are the stakeholders - those affected by my decision? What are their motivations? Which are legitimate?
7. What if the roles were reversed? How would I feel if I were in the shoes of the stakeholder?
8. What are the possible consequences of my actions? Short term? Long term?
9. Where are m alternatives to maximize my truth-telling responsibility and minimize harm?
10. Can I clearly and fully justify my thinking and my decision? To my colleagues? To the stakeholders? To the public?
In class I made the wrong choice. In our scenario I chose to pursue the story, but in the end, the source committed suicide because of the pressure I put on him. Oops! If I had been more focused on questions 8 and 9 rather than my selfish desire to find out why this guy was such a sneaky sneaker, maybe he would have lived, and I would have had a free conscious. Now I'm stuck with blood on my hands. Yup... that cartoon guy is me. Fetch...
The 3 Models of Presses
DimensionsA) Mediterranean or Polarized Pluralist Model: France, Greece, Italy, Por-tugal, Spain
B) North/Central Europe or Democratic Corporatist Model: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
c) North Atlantic or Liberal Model: Britain, United States, Canada, Ireland
Newspaper Industry
A) low newspaper circulation; elite politically oriented press
B) high newspaper circulation; early development of mass-circulation press
C) medium newspaper circulation; early development of mass-circulation commercial press
Political Paralellism
A) high political parallelism; external pluralism, commentary-oriented journalism; parliamentary or government model of broadcast governance; politics-over-broadcasting systems
B) external pluralism especially in national press; historically strong party press; shift toward neutral commercial press; politics-in-broadcasting system with substantial autonomy
C) neutral commercial press; information-oriented journalism; internal pluralism (but external pluralism in Britain); professional model of broadcast governance; formally autonomous system
Professionalization
A) weaker professionalization; instrumentalization
B) strong professionalization; institutionalized self-regulation
C) strong professionalization; non-institutionalized self-regulation
Role of the State in Media System
A) strong state intervention; press subsidies in France and Italy; periods of censorship; “savage deregulation” (except France)
B) strong state intervention but with protection for press freedom; press subsidies, particularly strong in Scandinavia; strong public-service broadcasting
C) market dominated (except strong public broadcasting in Britain and Ireland)
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