Ethics Blog: Write a blog article discussing a case where traditional values and principles might be applied (or considered) differently in a new media contex than in the old. What is different? Why? What are the most important ethical principles and why?
The explosion of social media across the internet has elevated journalism to amazing new levels within the past decade. With sites like twitter and facebook, reporters can share content, publish headlines instantaneously, and reach many different audiences more effectively than ever before. This has been tremendous for gaining quick access to breaking news. In some cases, however, traditional journalistic values should hold true to their old media context.
The case I am examining is the one in which Berny Morson, a Rocky Mountain News reporter covered the funeral of a 3-year-old boy who died when a truck crashed into a Baskin Robbins. Before looking deeper into the victim or the victim’s death, for some reason I assumed it was the funeral of a celebrity, because much of twitter content is generated by or about celebrities. When I learned that the deceased was not only killed in a tragic accident, but was also a toddler, my opinion of the matter changed entirely. This is not to say that it would be acceptable for a celebrity’s funeral to be tweeted from live, but it definitely is of more general interest to the public and is presumably already out in the public a considerable amount. I think this reporter was trying to give the public instant information, but it is an invasion of the family of the boy’s privacy. Much like obituaries, I believe there is a certain level of confidentiality that a reporter must respect. In this case, it was hardly necessary to tweet that “the father is sobbing over the casket. 'I loved him,' he says. others are sobbing.”
Since news of this boy’s death was obviously widespread due to its tragic nature, Morson should have instead put out a piece on the funeral the following day and held true to journalistic ethics and the family’s privacy. It almost seems as though he is exploiting the family’s grief on what is possibly the more public forum that exists today. I appreciate the use of quick, breaking news on new mediums like twitter, but not for purposes such as these. This is a case where traditional journalistic values should not cross with new media, or at least not in this manner.
