A discussion over at Facebook today got me to thinking about the reporting of news and how it can get to caught up in personal opinion and bias. One of the things that defines a news reporter from anyone else that talks about an event is the ability of the reporter to set aside their personal emotions and to report events based on fact. They are not unlike a forensic investigator in their need to bypass the hypothetical and rumors and make their way to the evidence, to the most baseline facts that will show exactly what happened.
The Society of Professional Journalists provides a Journalist Code of Ethics that outlines their guide to ethical decision making for professional journalists.
Beginning Reporting, a website within the Virginia Commonwealth University website, has an article on ethics in reporting.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
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