Introduction to Ethics

What it means to be ethical is pertaining to the morals of right and wrong. Doing what you think to be the right decision instead of the wrong. Some situations in life may make it hard for you determine which is the right choice, but if your are truly an ethical person you will always know what the right choice is. Life is never going to be a hundred percent easy or worry free but by knowing your morals and ethical decisions, it just might help to ease the stress of life's situations.

The situation described in this lesson is considered to be an ethical dilemma because although you know the right thing to do is to go and tell your best friends parent's about what she has done, but on the other hand you don't want to deceive your friendship by running off and telling your friends secrets to her parents. What your friend did is serious, giving out her address online to a complete stranger is incredible danger and needs to be dealt with by your friends parents. I believe she should deal with this situation by telling her friends parents what she has done so they can try to fix her situation. Although it might jeopardise their situation, making sure her friend is safe and out of danger is what she needs to focus on the most.

Ethics applies to journalism because it is their ethical duty to present people with accurate information. If a journalist wants to be respected by not only the readers but by the entire media business as well, they need to make sure everything they say is completely one hundred percent true. A journalist who broadcasted lies in their story would be looked down upon in society and would probably never get an other job in the media world again because no one would trust their stories or morals.

Televsion

For this assignment I choose to watch an hour news cast from Entertainment Tonight. Entertainment Tonight is classified as an entertainment news broadcasting show. Because this is an entertainment news show, all of their stories are about different celebrities and what scandalous things they did, or what new hot fashion trend the celebrities are now wearing. Entertainment tonight provides their viewers with anything and everything going on with the daily lives of the Hollywood celebrities. For example, the show I watched talked about the Emmy Awards and the status of Robert Pattinson's and Kristen Stewart's relationship.

For this show there were not any opinions being given on the topics being broadcasted. The news casters simply stated the information about whatever story they were airing first. With the story about Robert and Kristen, the reporter told the story as it happened and never gave her opinion about their current relationship situation. The same case goes for all the stories ET did on the Emmy Awards. They said what celebrities attended, what they were wearing, and what awards were given out.

This show was effective in informing me about the topics displayed during a entertainment show. Unlike local news shows and sports shows, entertainment shows focus on what Hollywood celebrities are doing not who won the football game or what body was found and where. Because Entertainment Tonight is a more celebrity based news show the atmosphere of the show is a lot more laid back then it would be on Channel 13 news. The news reporters of ET know what exactly to talk about that will keep the viewers hooked on their show. They know that the juicier the gossip story the more viewers they are going to receive. 

  

2.01 Newspapers

• What are the differences between weekly and daily newspapers?

 
Daily and weekly newspapers are both very common to find, but they both have their own unique qualities. Although they may look the same on the surface, they each have there own reasons for being called “daily” or “weekly” and have characteristics that journalists must follow to fit the type of newspaper they write for.
 
A daily newspaper is exactly how it sounds, a newspaper that is printed every day. Some examples include The New York Times, Washington Post, and the Orlando Sentinel. A daily newspaper usually consists of: a news section with either straight news reports or analysis, opinion pages or editorials, a sports section and an arts and entertainment guide. Daily newspapers were once the go-to source for what was going on in the world, but now the circulation of major newspapers has dropped over 50% over the last two decades because of the battle against online news organizations.

However, a weekly newspaper is a publication that examines and expands on the news rather than trying to break it.  Some examples include Florida Keys Weekly, Pacific Sun Weekly, and Metro Weekly. Weekly papers such as New York City-based, The Village Voice, take a step back from the daily news grind and often give a perspective on the past week's events as well as predictions regarding what will happen in the near future. Features often include: profiles of public figures who are involved with a hot-button issue, or reports of a long view look at what's coming up in the arts scene. Just like the daily newspapers, the weekly newspapers have also had a steady drop in circulation across the U.S.

 
 Work Cited:
1. http://antoinettehaynes.edublogs.org/2011/09/17/what-are-the-differences-between-weekly-and-daily-newspapers/

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weekly_newspaper

4. http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/horoscopes/weekly

5.http://www.nydailynews.com/

6. http://www.theawl.com/2009/10/a-graphic-history-of-newspaper-circulation-over-the-last-two-decades

2.00 What is news?

News is the communication of selected important events. The question is who decides what is important? Sometimes it is the journalist themselves, while other times it is the public that decides what stories become important enough to listen to. The information can be delivered by printed articles, written on the Internet, broadcast on television and radio, or by word of mouth. News that is broadcast on Television or printed in the newspaper is more about recent events that are not more than one to two days old.

With so many available sources to get the news from today, most people choose the source that takes the least amount of effort to access. I receive most of my news through the Internet or by watching Television for the very same reason. The unfortunate problem with television news; however, is that they are not always as biased as they should be. They also have a tendency to focus only on what is negative in the world.

News is different from other types of communication because news is basically a one sided conversation. As your watching the news in the morning you can't have a back and forth conversation with the anchors during the broadcast. On the other hand, other forms of communication such as, debates or one on one conversations offer the opportunities for both sides to give their opinion. News is also different from other forms of communication in that journalists and news anchors are supposed to remain unbiased without taking a side or giving their opinion on the topic.

1.02 Evolution Of Journalism

 

In this lesson I learned about the history of Journalism and how it has evolved from then to now .  Journalism first came about in 1690 through the creation of America's first newspaper, called the Publick Occurrences. As time went on, the colonies developed into states. The population grew and news worthy stories had no means of being reported. In 1729, Benjamin Franklin created the Pennsylvania Gazette which became very popular among the colonies, and helped pave the way for many other newspapers to form during the 1720s and into the 1780s. In 1851, the New York Times was created and is still one of the most popular, and well respected newspapers in the world.

 

Journalism evolved even further through the creation of technology such as radio, television and computers. These advancements in technology improved journalism by making it more efficient and accurate by allowing news to be reported to the people faster than ever before.

 

Finally, journalism has evolved through freedom of the Press or freedom of the media allowing for the freedom of communication and expression through different vehicles including various electronic media and published materials. Freedom of the Press ensures that the public receives accurate and unbiased information. For this reason, the media is able to post any information they feel is important for the public to know without any reprocussions from the government. 

 

 

Sorces:

1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_press

2.http://learn.flvs.net/journalism1_v11/index.htm