Final Draft Code of Ethics

Final Draft Code of Ethics

Final Draft Code of Ethics

Preamble
This Code of Ethics will be for television. More specifically, it will be for news
reporting. It will explain the values a news reporter needs when finding and reporting the news.
These values include accuracy, fairness, privacy, and respect. It will also include real life
examples of current dilemmas in news reporting such as reporting about religion and the overuse
of the term breaking news. Then it will take a look at a philosophical analysis of those issues
based on Aristotles teachings.
The main purpose of this code of ethics is to make sure news reporters are reporting the
news to the best of their ability. This includes making sure the news is truthful and gives all
sides of the story instead of being biased. Reporters should be able to give the news without
voicing their own opinion. This will make their reporting better and keep them from not facing
consequences.
Values
The first value for my code of ethics is accuracy. Accuracy is very important when it
comes to reporting the news. If reporters do not check their sources and verify all of the
information they receive about a story then their story will not be true. As the Radio Television
Digital News Associations Code of Ethics states, Journalism verifies, provides relevant context,
tells the rest of the story and acknowledges the absence of important additional information
(RTDNA, 2015, Para. 6) and Scarce resources, deadline pressure and relentless competition do
not excuse cutting corners factually or oversimplifying complex issues (RTDNA, 2015, Para.
8). Reporters need to verify all of their facts before reporting a story. They have to make sure
the story is 100% true and nothing is missing. If they are under tight deadlines or cannot find

Final Draft Code of Ethics

enough information to verify everything, they should not report the story and need to wait until
everything checks out.
The second value for my code of ethics is fairness. Fairness is important in news
reporting because if a reporter isnt fair then the news they are reporting turns biased. As
National Public Radios Code of Ethics states, To tell the truest story possible, it is essential that
we treat those we interview and report on with scrupulous fairness, guided by a spirit of
professionalism (NPR, n.d., Para 7.) and Whenever we quote, edit or otherwise interpret what
people tell us, we aim to be faithful to their meaning, so our stories ring true to those we
interview (NPR, n.d., Para. 7). The reporter needs to stay neutral to the story and cannot pick a
side even if they have strong beliefs on the story. They have to be fair to the person they are
talking to. Reporters cant make up something about what an interviewee says. Instead, they
have to remain true to the facts and be fair to the interviewee.
The third value for my code of ethics is privacy. Privacy in relation to television is the
freedom from damaging publicity, public scrutiny, secret surveillance, or unauthorized disclosure
of ones personal data or information, as by a government, corporation, or individual. It is
important for people in television to respect others privacy when they air a story. For example,
when a murder occurs, news stations dont release the name of the victim until the family is
notified. This gives the family privacy, so they have time to cope with the loss before the media
bombards them.
The fourth value for my code of ethics is respect. Respect is to show regard or
consideration for someone. The media has to have respect for anyone they are showing on
camera. They cannot bombard people in order to get a response from them. They need to wait
until the time is right to talk to the person. A press conference would be an example of this.

Final Draft Code of Ethics

Ethical Dilemmas
One of the current ethical issues going on in television is reporting on religion. Religion
is one of the most controversial topics to discuss on television. According to iMediaEthics.org,
Fox News got in trouble with its wrong claims back in January that parts of Europe have no-go
zones that are under Sharia law and where police and non-Muslims dont go (Smith, 2015,
Para. 13). People have different views on religion, and they want to make sure their view I
stated.
Religion is a difficult topic for reporters to discuss. With there being a lot of different
view points on religion, reporters have to watch what they say so they dont offend the other
persons religion. On one side, media coverage of religion and ethnicity can reinforce existing
social relations and the status quo, and perpetuate stereotypes and prejudices. On the other side,
journalists can demonstrate a full awareness of the dangers of discrimination being furthered by
the media and do their utmost to avoid facilitating such discrimination (Rupar, 2012, 5).
Reporters have to be careful of what they say about religion. One wrong word and they could be
in serious trouble with the head of their station, as well as people who follow that religion.
A second ethical dilemma would be the over use the term breaking news. News stations
are calling almost every story breaking news whether it is breaking news or not. For example,
after the Vice Presidential debate, the local Fox station airing it had a big title across the screen
saying Breaking News: The Vice Presidential debate ended. Breaking news is a news story,
which involves the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report
its details. When television stations do this, it annoys the viewer and will eventually have them
stop paying attention to the headlines and they might stop watching the station all together.

Final Draft Code of Ethics

Calling every story breaking news could potentially cause the girl who cried wolf effect, and
when there actually is breaking news, people may ignore it.
CNN also has a tendency of doing this. They call lots of stories breaking news even
though they are just regular news. For example, Since that Malaysian Airlines jet with 239 on
board went missing on March 8th, CNN and its sibling Headline News have clung to this story as
if their shot-callers made a conscious, desperate decision to bleed it dry, to advance it every hour
as fresh, breaking news when theres nothing new to report other than that theres nothing new
to report (Mushnick, 2014, Para. 3). This story along with the Fox story are nowhere near news
at all, so are news channels going one step further and calling it breaking news.
Philosophies
To analyze the ethical problems I have chosen, Aristotle will be the best philosopher to
use. His ideas of virtue ethics play great into the two dilemmas chosen. I will also use his idea
of excellence through daily activity; happiness is the ultimate human good, as well as some of
his other sayings to analyze the dilemmas. I will also use his Golden Mean, which is virtue lies
at the mean between two extremes of excess and deficiency. This relates to the breaking news
issue. There has to be a medium of the term breaking news. It should only be used when there is
actually breaking news.
People and their acts, not rules, are the basis for moral activity. To behave ethically
Aristotle says to know what you are doing, select the act for its own sake, the act must spring
from a firm character. In relation to television, reporters must not do anything that would
damage the reputation of them or the news station. They want to remain neutral when it comes
to two sided situations and they want to avoid any conflict at all cost. They will also want to
watch what they say and post on other media sites because one bad post and they will be fired.

Final Draft Code of Ethics

This also applies when reporters are reporting the news. If they say one negative thing they
believe about a story then that act will most likely get them fired.
Revision
Over time this code of ethics will change. The television industry is always changing, so
adjustments must be made to the code of ethics. I might change some of my values if more
relevant ones play a bigger role than the ones I chose. For example, say Wikileaks is determined
to be legal then I would have to change my privacy value. Television stations would be able to
report on everything Wikileaks leaks, so it is no longer private information. The ethical
dilemmas might change as well. If any of the ones I choose are resolved or no longer relevant
then I will need to change those. For example, television stations may stop calling every story
breaking news. The philosophies might change as well. If the ethical dilemmas change then it is
likely that philosophies will change because they might not agree with my new dilemmas.
Conclusion/Summary
To summarize, the values for this code of ethics are accuracy, fairness, privacy, and
respect. All four go hand in hand because they touch upon similar issues. The current ethical
dilemmas that are going on in news reporting are reporting on religion and the over use of the
term breaking news. These issues are all analyzed by Aristotles Golden Mean and virtue ethics.
In conclusion, television news stations hold their reporters to high standards. If those
reporters dont follow the values given by this code of ethics, they will most likely suffer
consequences. They also have to make sure they abide by the ethical dilemmas and not say or
post anything they would regret because it could cost them their job. This code of ethics will
keep reporters in check and television stations can focus on reporting the news.

Final Draft Code of Ethics

Reference Page
Mushnick, P. (2014, April 19). CNN finally taken to task over breaking news that isnt.
Retrieved October 24, 2016, from http://nypost.com/2014/04/19/cnn-finally-taken-to
task-over-breaking-news-that-isnt/
NPR. (n.d.). Retrieved October 06, 2016, from http://ethics.npr.org/
RTDNA - Radio Television Digital News Association. (2015, June 11). Retrieved October 06,
2016, from https://www.rtdna.org/content/rtdna_code_of_ethics
Rupar, V., Dr. (2012). Getting the facts right: Reporting on ethnicity & religion. Retrieved
October 21, 2016, from http://www.media-diversity.org/en/additional-files/documents/b
studies-reports/EJI_study_FINAL for Web.pdf
Smith, S. (2015, December 31). Top 10 Media Ethics Issues of 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2016,
from http://www.imediaethics.org/top-10-media-ethics-issues-of-2015/