Journalism 1: Intro to Ethics

What does it mean to be ethical? Thefreedictionary.com describes ethicality as being " in accordance with principles of conduct that are considered correct, especially those of a given profession or group". Ethics are principles beliefs of right and wrong, moral values or guidelines. To be ethical one knows right from wrong and choses to make the right decision according to their code of morals. An ethical person is a morally right person. In some of life's situations it can be difficult to know which solution is the ethical one. An example of a dilemma like this would be if your best friend gave their address to a strange online; what should you do? your friend's decision could end up putting them in danger. Should you tell their parents, even if it would anger your friend and you could lose their friendship or should you just let the issue go because you don't want to anger your friend or be a tattletale? When making a decision on what to do in this situation there are a few things that one should consider. You should keep in mind the needs of your friend, the needs of your friend's parents, your friend's home life, the way your friend will react if you tell, and what your friend could get into if you don't tell; you must weigh the pros and cons before you make a decision. I find that the best solution to this dilemma is to tell my friend's parents. My friend could get hurt by their decision and I value their safety more that our friendship. My friend can be mad at me all they want, and their parents may be angry with them and my friend might get into trouble but maybe they will learn a lesson from this whole situation. I feel that the safety of one's friend is more important than anything in this situation. Ethics are applied to journalism daily. Most every news organization has a code of ethics that their journalists must go by. This code keeps journalists responsible for providing the world with credible news. Having a code of ethics in journalism keeps journalists thinking about making the correct decisions with their work. Resources: (2009).The Free Dictionary: ethical. Retrieved September 21,2012. from: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ethical