Ethics of Journalism

After reading "To Be A Successful Reporter", I've selected which I feel to be the most important aspect of such. For me, hands down, it has to be honesty and the integrity of reporting honest facts and facts with respectable claims.

"A good reporter is honest. He seeks the truth and acts independently. He does what he says he's going to do, and doesn't do something he promised to avoid. He returns his calls, and he's willing to say no. He's obsessed with accuracy and double checks his facts with call-backs. He sees both sides to every issue. He doesn't treat people as a means to an end."

What this means to me is very straightfoward. Think of it this way: If all reporters created their our sources, and weren't concered with the integrity of their facts, how would that reflect upon the media and news and information as a whole? Not too well. However, that's not too far from a reality. It seems to me, in reading the newspaper, or reading factual books trying to prove a point, that the ethics of journalism have gone down significantly. It's not so much about reporting what happened, but sugarcoating what happened to the point of explaining a story that has no relevancy at all. Also, reporters, and not all of them, but a select few ruin the images and and gained reputations of respectable reporters by creating a source and presenting it as fact. It's sad what it has become.

However, another ethics of journalism that upsets me that doesn't directly portray to honesty, but is HONESTLY ignorant, is that Ms. Britney Spears makes front page news being on MTV over the War in Iraq, or the 2008 Presidential election (by the way, the latter two actually matter to the future of this country). It blows me away.

Television Wiki Link

The television wiki link is to my wiki page dedicated to the history of TV and it's impact on our society and our media.

The bathrooms at EHS.

Above all else, what bothers me the most at EHS is the bathrooms. However, I find that to be somewhat of a positive because it is only the bathrooms after all and there could be much worse things to complain about. What upsets me the most though, is how students conduct themselves in them. They're trashed. You'd be hard pressed to distinguish the difference between a trash dump and our bathrooms. It is no wonder why the nicest bathrooms in the school are locked except for special occasions. I don't blame the janitors, or the school for that matter (although it would be nice to be able to experience cleanliness at EHS). Now, I know it isn't every student that disrespects the bathrooms, it is a select few, and they know who they are. But, why do they do it? What's enjoyable about trashing a bathroom? Have some respect for not only the school, but above all else, yourself and how people percieve you.

Welcome

Welcome to David's blog.