Ethics.

I feel as thought there is so much to keep in mind when talking about ethics in journalism. My own personal opinions on the subject vary. I know that this is something that is supposed to keep journalism fair and moral. However, I often feel like it sometimes has the opposite effect.

There were a few parts of the reading that particularly caught my attention. I found the section on deceit interesting. If someone who is not a journalist were to read this section and read the words "lie", "misrepresent", and "steal", their initial reaction would probably be something along the lines of, "no, of course it is never okay to do these things." In fact, that was even my reaction the first time i read through the section. However, upon my second read, I realized that these are things that journalists have to seriously consider, and the dilemma of where to bend the rules is something that, as journalists, we are probably bound to face. The important thing to remember is that it's all about circumstance. What is the situation? What is bending the rules will help to reveal some major corruption in government or a corporation? What is it will help reveal information that will help a vast majority of people? In my opinion, you have to seriously look at the outcome. Is it worth it?

The second thing in the reading that grabbed my attention was the section about friendships. Personally, this is something that never even crossed my mind. I always just figured that establishing a rapport with your sources could only result positively. You gain someone's trust, and they help you out. But, in our field, it's a little more loaded than that.

Finally, I was particularly interested about the subject of paying sources. Personally, this is just something that makes me pessimistic. I don't think that it is ever okay to pay a source for information. That just takes journalism and makes it into something it isn't. For me, journalism is about informing the public; sharing knowledge. It's not about who can pay the most to get the best story.

I found the online readings very interesting and very uplifting. In my opinion, online journalism has a lot to offer. It can take many different forms of journalism and combine them into one, making a story more interesting, more accessible, and more complete. For, me, personally, online journalism is something that is very intriguing. As I mentioned in my blog about broadcast journalism, I am also a photographer, and am very interested in the concept of using compelling images as journalism. However, online journalism is something that can combine words, video and photography to create a more rounded story.