Three Ethical Dilemmas - Ain

I’m Ain from S2-03. The three ethical dilemmas that I chose are anonymous sources, biasness and offending or distasteful content. 

First, let’s talk about anonymous sources. Anonymous sources is when reporters get their information from unknown sources. For an example, a reporter or a journalist may have gotten information from someone who chooses to remain anonymous. In my opinion, I am neutral towards this ethical dilemma. To give a scenario regarding this ethical dilemma, a reporter or a journalist might have gotten an information from someone who chooses to stay anonymous. This is something that is negative because when the news is reported to the media, the public would doubt the reliability of the sources of the news. Although, this ethical dilemma is also a plus point as most information from anonymous sources tends to be of important information to the public. But then again, people might doubt the information because of the anonymity. Therefore, this ethical dilemma is a violation of ethical standards.

The next ethical dilemma is offending or distasteful content. I think that this is the most crucial ethical dilemma among the seven because it is, in my opinion, a horrible thing to do if one is a reporter. A good scenario would be is when a reporter or a journalist writes something that is displeasing for the public to read because he/she has her own opinion towards a certain group of people. I think that this is very wrong as the job of a journalist or reporter is to provide information and voice out the opinions of other people. Although the reporter might have a negative impression of a group of people and wants to point them out, he/she is not supposes to offend or show distasteful contents towards them, especially to the public. I think that this ethical dilemma is certainly a violation of ethical standards.

The last ethical dilemma that I chose is plagiarism. Firstly, this is illegal. A scenario would be when a reporter has spend hours and days to find information regarding a hot issue in the country. But on the next day, he sees his work being published in the newspaper without his acknowledgement or credits. I also think that this is something that is really important to journalists and reporters as they do not want their efforts to go off like that when other people claim their work as their own. This is also something that is really inconsiderate for reporters to do and it is also considered as “stealing” of work, which is a violation of ethical standards.

Ethical Dilemmas (Ben)

I think Bias would be the the most important ethical dilemma. Reporters will tend to be bias towards one side whenever they publish an emotional news that they feel only one side of the story is required for people to feel the same as the reporters. By doing this, journalists are limiting the viewers of their opinion and not being fair and impartial to the people involved in the news. Journalist should put aside their emotions and be as objective as possible.

Ethical Dilemmas ( Yeo Tzun Kai )

To me I think commitment to accuracy is the most important Ethical Dilemma in my opinion, as reporters may have some in accurate errors or misunderstood information in his or her news report and this may lead to inaccurate information shown to the public and the public might believe that the information is true. Therefore, the public might the wrong opinion and way of thinking so it is important that the reporter gets his or her facts right as accurate as possible before reporting

Ethical Dilemmas (Yee Theng)

I think that the most severe ethical dilemma out of the seven is being Bias. As stated in the Seven Ethical Dilemmas Journalists Face, as student journalists, we might not know whether we have been too biased in writing the report as in order to bring out more perspective of the story from various points of view, we might need to get various points of view, some of which might be more biased to one side of the story. Hence this might lead to the story to be only seen from a certain point of view.

Ethical Dilemmas - Michael Chun

I feel that being biased is the most important dilemma that journalist face. Everyone is biased by nature, and often we do not realise it. If the journalist feels biased towards one side, he would interview that side more and might even tweak his report to support that one side. This will only show the reader one side of the story, making it unfair for the other party. As a journalist, it is important for them to put their opinions aside and give every party an equal chance to speak, giving the audience a wider perspective of the whole story.

Ethical Dilemmas - Ibrahim

In my opinion, being bias is the most important ethical dilemmas journalists face. This happens because we tend to form our own opinion on the matter. Thus, journalists write his/her personal opinion of their observations and provide a bias information to the public. Being biased may make people have bad impression on the journalist. The journalist may offend someone and may also get fired. The journalist should write without being bias, without any unnecessary information and without his/her opinion about the subject matter.

Ethical Dilemmas Podcast Instructions (for class on 12 July)

Ethical Dilemmas Podcast Instructions

Choose THREE of the Seven Ethical Dilemmas and create a podcast (audio or video) explaining these dilemmas and coming up with specific scenarios for each one.

The focus should be on determining moral grey areas and if the scenario is a violation of ethical standards or not.

Come up with scenarios of your own creation, not from past news stories or the internet.

There is a time limit of 2 minutes MINIMUM—no maximum.

When completed, upload to the class EL blog BEFORE  your next English class.