Wrongful Writing

Extract

[...] That's because his lies appeared in the pages of one of the world's most respected newspapers, The New York Times. By his own admission, reporter Jayson Blair lied or plagiarized the work of others in dozens of stories he wrote for the Times. Why would a person who originally chose to dedicate his life to seeking the truth turn to lying, as a way of (Couric, para. 1). Blair crossed the line of journalistic ethics when he reported ‘live' from locations such as Jessica Lynch's home in West Virginia, from two separate soldiers funerals (one in Ohio, one in Texas), and from the Iraqi War. [...]

[...] Many close family members later wrote into the paper complaining about the articles, stating that they were insensitive and unneeded (Brecher, para. 7). Brecher was one of the journalists who found out that writing stories that involve privacy for one of the members involved can be a difficult subject matter. But as a journalist what should happen? There are two choices- cover the story correctly or leave out some of the facts for the purposes of keeping the privacy of someone or someone's. [...]

[...] Other privacy issues that can come up with journalism include: privacy for public figures when they do something wrong (but leave office after getting caught; when public should remain private; the silence code with homosexuality; and answering the question of whether the public needs to know or not. Journalistic codes of ethics both aid and hurt a journalist's purpose. According to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) there are fourteen keys to proper ethical behavior. Since 1936 journalists in Britain and Ireland have attempted to keep to these fourteen keys, in order to make the media more accurate. [...]

[...] Plagiarism is not an easy subject. Editors, publications as a whole and individual journalists struggle with the topic of plagiarism and the question of how much usually arises. Plagiarism could also be categorized as wrong writing, and that it is. Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar for Poynter Institute, wrote an article honing in on the topic of plagiarism and the writers who take part in it. Clark stated, “Every editor I've talked to has a plagiarism story of some sort” (Clark, para. [...]

[...] Codes of conduct: The journalistic codes of conduct, as put together by the NUJ, give journalists a reference guide toward better, moral behavior. Plagiarism and the cost involved: Plagiarism is one of the deadliest sins of journalism and it is a subject that is not taken lightly. According to the Investigative Reporter's Handbook journalists should avoid “breeches of ethics, fairness, factual accuracy and contextual accuracy (within their stories) (Houston, pg. 538). When journalists cross the line from ethical to unethical in their stories they are indeed crossing into wrongful writing. Works Cited Miraldi, Robert. (May 1990). But I thought [...]