Ethics as a foundation

By David Fortier

Introduction

Ethics, as a subject, interests me. It draws me in. It drew me in when I was taking the required course for my master’s, and it left me with many questions that have continued to haunt me. I figure ethics would draw other people in.

However, among the questions I had are a few that are integral to how this project took shape, and, consequently, to the plans for this website.

One question was, If people understood the ethical underpinnings of journalism would they be less inclined to point fingers and accuse journalists of biases and appreciate what they do to keep us informed?

Another was, If people understood some of the ethics of journalism, would they be in a better position to control the negatives of social media?

I have thought about local journalism for the longest time, even before I started my degree program in 2014. So it was inevitable, following this line of questions, that I would begin to wonder about whether a group of committed individuals might be able to come together to produce their own online publication, especially since costs associated with online publishing are so much less than print

I had had some experience with print and I am very familiar with the price tag.

I think you can see where this is heading: Right to this project and the plans for this online publication, with the question being, Could citizens, volunteers, having considered journalism from its ethical foundation, take more responsibility for the quality of their local journalism–either by challenging the existing news media to raise its standards, i.e., investment in community coverage, or by producing its own journalism?

Of course the research had to support this. It’s all in the proposal and will be in the final paper.

Below:

Ethics

For the purposes of The Bristol Edition (TBE), several concerns oversee journalistic ones. An example is a concern about citizenship, and the role of citizens to inform themselves in a time of 24/7 news cycles and overload from social media, the blurred lines that come from ideas like fake news, bias and blame. Another is about citizens regaining a sense of themselves as active participants in our communities.

The answers, I hypothesized, would come not come from outside us, but from within, and we need guiding principles, ethics, that we can agree on to get better answers than the ones we accept.

Definitions

For the purposes of this project, then, ethics exists on three levels:

  • Personal—applies to morals and values of an individual
  • Professional—core values required from working in a particular discipline, i.e., medical, educational, and journalistic ones.
  • Organizational—the cultural values promoted in a work system or culture, i.e., that is how well does and organize abide by its professed or stated values.

This project acknowledges the first, will address the third, but focuses primarily on the second.

Here are two short videos with some background about the changing nature of journalism and professional ethics that participants in this project considered:

  1. Ethics 101: What is Journalism And Who Is A Journalist,
  2. The 5 Core Values of Journalism.

Some conclusions regarding his approach

Some conclusions from the project follow:

  1. The participants immediately took to this ethical focus. Some of their reactions are presented in the next section, Ethics in action.
  2. Backing into the practice of journalism from this perspective helped focus the discussion substance when it came to what is news for our community, what is the best way to find it, what is the best way to deliver it.
  3. Citizens have responsibility for the quality of news coverage in their area. They cannot simply accept what might currently constitute “news.”
  4. No longer do news media exist among the fray, but must be partners.

Other considerations

Several issues might arise in the discussion about journalism that need to be addressed.

  • First among these is the law. There are laws about the press, beginning with the First Amendment, that need to be part of this discussion. This is true. However, for the purposes of this project and the development of the website, the position is that an ethical account keeps the conversation from being one of right and wrong, which is the purview of the laws.  Of course, these need to be addressed, but they would be after time spent on ethics. In some ways, ethics is not only a good introduction to the practice of journalism, but also to the law that its must abide by.
  • Second among these are the skills associated with journalism. How is it possible to an authentic experience with journalism without reporting and writing skills. First, there are ethical considerations for each, so it helps to being with ethics. Next, the project introduced participants to just enough of these activities for participants to understand ethics come into play and would guide editorial decision making.