Is journalism ethics dead?

An interesting blog post states ethics is dead. Media ethics is a widely debated topic and the level of success and failure generally depends on whom you ask. As the posting suggests ethics just died, it just happened. This mainly looks at journalism in the USA. The writer believes that this demise began in 1982. Describing also, that in this present time there are no limits, morals, or conscience in the mind of journalists. Bias is more in abundance than real facts.

This post does pose some interesting questions about the role of ethics today but saying ethics is dead might be a bit exaggerated. The USA does have one of the biggest media presence in the world and it does have its flaws. A journalist’s role is to report on issues and events for the benefit of the public. They have the responsibility to report these issues and events with accuracy, objectivity and relevance not betraying the trust and need of their readers. The reality is that with the advent of the new media, there are many diverse news sources that provide the information we desire. The rise in social media has created citizen reporters posting photos, videos and messages relating to world events, which can spread very fast. This creates strong competition for professional journalism.

Even with the rise of resources to find and report information, there are those that still adhere to ethical guidelines making good journalism survive. A case that has proved this is Fareed Zakaria and his recent plagiarism scandal. This shows that even a professional journalist has problems obeying the rules and these kinds of bad moves can destroy one's career forever.