Pleading the First: What Journalists do every day

The First Amendment to the Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law impeding the rights of freedom of speech, religion, press, right to protest, and right to assemble." The First Amendment dictates many of the actions that journalists take in their daily lives on the job.

Freedom of Speech is important because without this, a major right in the United States would not be allowed, and that is that people have the right to say what is on their mind without having to worry about consequence from government. Journalists use this whenever they have to write an opinion or type up a controversial story, and the Amendment protects them from potential backlash that could come from people who may not want the writer to say such things.

Freedom of Press also greatly affects the media because it is in this sense that any outlet can have an equal chance to succeed in the market of mass media. Because the government cannot sanction one news source as "the official one", this allows free speech to prosper in the press, and lets each outlet adapt its own identity as a choice for where people can get their news. And this freedom to choose what people read is an essential part of what makes America the land that it is today.

How the first amendment effects journalism

If it wasn’t for the first amendment, it is likely that the whole profession of journalism could not exist. The first amendment to the constitution gives Americans the right to free speech, along with freedom of the press. By allowing Americans to have the freedom to speak and right about what they want, Americans can write stories that are investigative and critical of government without fear of punishment. The first amendment was strengthened by the New York Times vs Sullivan case, in which the jury decided that public figures are not entitled to the same privacy that everyday citizens are, and that means that newspapers do not have to be afraid when they print a story. It is our freedom in media that allows us to speak our minds about any issue, and as long as the piece isn’t slanderous or libel it is fit to be published. Without the first amendment, journalists would be too scared to write stories and there’d be no such profession.

Ethical Problems for Journalists

Journalists may have a fun job, but they do face some ethical problems. Deceit is one of them. According to the book, Journalists who are covering a story and may use deceit should think about short and long term consequences of deception, the impact, of credibility, legal implications, motivations for actions, consistency of reasoning and action, and the congruence between the deceptive act and the organization’s editorial mission. Friendship is another problem faced by journalists. This can keep you from getting information that is important. To overcome this obstacle, it’s better if the journalist asks their editor to give the story to someone else, that way you don’t have to worry about getting information from your friend. There’s also payola, which means that journalists can’t accept payment for a story other than from their employer.
Another obstacle is freebies. If journalists accept free gifts from people, they cover, they may not stay objective, write stories that they might not write, and the public could see the reporter as someone who is suspected of or accepted freebies as an objective. In order to avoid any problems, journalists should not accept freebies at all.

The First Amendment and Journalists

According to the book Writing for Mass Media, the First Amendment to the constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” So why is this important to journalists? Well, when journalists have to write or broadcast stories, they have to be able to say what they want. It is important that no one can interfere with what they want to say. It is also important for journalists to express themselves however they want to.
However, journalists still have limitations. Journalists have to make sure they’re stories are accurate and true. There are three defenses against libel that exist. One is truth. Basically, you have to verify the information you published to make sure it’s true. The second is privilege, which applies to journalists who are covering any of the three branches of government. Finally there is fair comment and criticism, which means that journalists are protected as long as they don’t misstate any of the facts they base their comments on, and they don’t damage the information that they base their opinions on.

Journalists and Their Ethics

In spite of the First Amendment giving one of the greatest privileges to the journalism world, freedom of the press, there are still several ethical issues that journalists face every day while at work.

Journalists must always be honest in getting a story, never being deceitful. Relying on such a tactic could result in a journalist losing not just his or her job, but his or her credibility and reputation as well.

Another ethical issue seen among journalists is conflict of interest. If a journalist has even the slightest connection to a story subject or issue, it can result in a story containing unprofessional emotions and a very strong bias-a big no-no in journalism. Conflicts of interest include friendship, which can often be the biggest obstacle when obtaining information, and taking payments from other than their employer.

Plagiarism is also a large issue in the journalism world. If a reporter is caught plagiarizing another person's work, he or she immediately loses all credibility and, more than likely, his or her job.

To avoid such ethical issues, journalists should follow the model of moral reasoning developed by Dr. Ralph Potter. This model, known as "The Potter Box," includes four elements: appraising the situation, identifying values, appealing to ethical principles, and choosing loyalties.

The First Amendment: What's it to journalists?

The First Amendment is possibly the most important one in the world of journalism. This particular amendment is what gives not just journalists, but every American citizen, freedom of speech. There are four other different freedoms granted in this amendment, and as journalists, we especially appreciate and live by freedom of the press.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights). This and the freedoms granted to us in the First Amendment allow journalists to essentially do their job.

With these rights, journalists are allowed to publish whatever they wish, on the grounds that no slanderous or libelous statements are ever made. Journalism happens to be the only profession that is protected under this Constitutional Amendment. Such protections are what allow journalists to post stories about the country's government and its officials, as well as stories about any other social and economic situations that may affect their own lives and the lives of their readers.

ethics of a journalist

Being a Journalist is most likely one of the most competitive jobs, a journalist is required to produce a story first and have it be the best story with the most facts. Achieving both of these things is a very hard task.

Sometimes a journalist ethics comes into play when they are in a rush to get a story out, or need more facts than they currently have.

As taught throughout high school plagiarism is bad, however sometimes a journalist may resort to plagiarism because of how difficult it is to prove, in this case just making up quotes or facts.

Besides being ethically wrong the other issue with this is that a journalist should always give proper credit to whoever deserves it, this way the journalist is less responsible for what is said.

It can help a journalist to ask themselves, what is the overall purpose of them fudging facts, and why did they become a journalist, to have the best false story? or to find the truth and show the public?

Another ethical issue journalist come across is when facts or evidence are found but illegal to be used.

A journalist can often come across evidence that would go against invasion of privacy if published, however it is a journalist job to risk this the evidence found is of extreme importance.