Standards in Journalism

I want to discuss something that I believe is important to highlight in this post. It is something that is touched on by Gisondi (2018) in the Field Guide to Covering Sports. That is the Code of Ethics published by the Society of Professional Journalists (2014). Over the past five years journalists and the media have come under unprecedented attacks; the most recent attack was during the insurgence at the Capitol Building on Jan. 6th. We have all seen the videos that came out that day of people threatening journalists, and destroying expense equipment. People nowadays are too busy playing the “Armchair Quarterback” that they lose all common sense. What I mean by that is people don’t do their own research before commenting or acting. Instead, we are quick to judge others based on incorrect information or make opinions based on bias data. It’s easy to dismiss what we don’t like especially with all the social platforms available. These platforms give us a sense of safety at best and unaccountability at worst.

While I started off this post with focusing on politics this also applies to sports as well. How many times have you logged into your social media account or your favorite sports website and saw the comments from random people being overly critical about a player, a coach, a whole team, or the journalist?

There is a paragraph from Gisondi (2018) that states “A sports fan can say a goalie sucks. But a sports reporter needs to be more detailed and more diplomatic” (p.3). As this text points out there may be information that we do not know but a journalist doing extensive research would; like maybe that goalie is playing while still injured. This would explain the goalie’s poor performance during a game. While a journalist would uncover this fact in their research for the story, someone watching at home may not know this fact unless the broadcaster points it out. But it’s often the case that we make quick judgements. At home watching the game we have no responsibility to anyone but ourselves. However, what if we are hosting a Monday Night Football party or a Super Bowl party and we have guests over? When someone makes a comment it is broadcasted to everyone in the room. If one of our guesses simple agrees with the comment without fact checking it they are likely to spread that comment around. So, what is my point with all this. Well, it’s simple, good journalists follow a code of ethics.

Society of Professional Journalist Code of Ethics

“Seek Truth and Report It” this means “Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting, and interpreting information” (SPJ, 2014).

“Minimize Harm” this means “Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect” (SPJ, 2014).

“Act Independently” this means “The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public” (SPJ, 2014).

“Be Accountable and Transparent” this means “Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public” (SPJ, 2014).

Conclusion

Journalism and freedom of the press are part of the backbone of our democracy. We rely on them to report on everything from politics, world news, entertainment and sports. While there are some journalists that practice unethical journalism, the vast majority do not because they believe in fair reporting and take their career seriously. Also, unethical journalism would not be accepted in major news outlets. We can be critical of reporting but do so with caution and restraint. There is no reason for us to attack journalists for doing their job and reporting on current events. I would like to hear your thoughts on this topic so please leave a comment.

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Society of Professional Journalism. (2014, September 6). SPJ Code of Ethics. Retrieved from https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp on Jan. 20, 2021.

Gisondi, J. (2018). Field Guide to Covering Sports (2nd ed.). CQ Press