As a speaker and consultant on the topic of ethical behavior, I have been blessed by the thousands of people from all walks of life and every shade of politics who “follow, friend and connect” with me. From time to time there are ethical issues that clearly fall into relevant categories and in this case it’s journalistic ethics.
The following story is a “political” topic, and I am not endorsing the position one way or the other but pointing out where the relative journalistic ethics are leading all of us. If you would like, please feel free to substitute words such as “cauliflower” or “bunny rabbits” if it will help.
Katie Couric recently made a documentary on guns. According to Variety magazine (May 31, 2016):
“Katie Couric has apologized for the ‘Under the Gun’ documentary…saying she regrets the editing process that was ‘misleading.’ The documentary came under scrutiny when it first seemed like a group of gun rights activists were stumped by her question about background checks, taking eight seconds to respond:
‘If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from walking into, say, a licensed gun dealer and purchasing a gun?’”
Again, this is neither a pro- or con- blog, however as it turned out, the documentary intentionally inserted an eight second pause after gun advocates were asked the question above. In truth, no one paused. They responded immediately to the question and they answered her question thoughtfully and fully. This is an example, in my opinion, of journalistic ethics gone wrong.
Additional Ethical Factors
The group to which Katie Couric asked the question was the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL). They are pro-gun position. They are not stupid people nor unable to answer the questions that were posed. Yet, in inserting the pause, the intention was to give the impression that they were incapable of reason. How could Couric think that this form of editing was reflecting appropriate journalistic ethics?
However, even though Ms. Couric stepped up to the plate and apologized, the documentary team could not help but add their own editorial back-tracks. The film’s director stated that the pause was simply a “beat” to “give the audience a moment to consider the question.” All well and good, but in your mind please make up a “beat,” and then compare it to a full eight second pause. I think this is a way to rationalize a clear lack of journalistic ethics.
The director expanded her position by saying:
“There are a wide range of views expressed in the film. My intention was to provide a pause for the viewer to have a moment to consider this important question before presenting the facts on Americans’ opinions on background checks.’”
While I agree that in regard to any issue in a balanced piece of journalism that we need to hear all sides of an important topic, no complaints were registered by those who are “anti-gun.”
In this political year, I must admit that I have never heard as much anger, rhetoric and general mean-spiritedness as I have heard over the past months. Quite often, the politicians “vent” about the bias of the media, both left and right. And it’s not just politicians. It’s most of us.
In a recent Gallup poll (September 28, 2015) entitled: Americans’ Trust in Media Remains at Historical Low, it was found that 40% of Americans only have a “fair” to “moderate” amount of faith in the media. Most of us have lost confidence in the media. The era of Walter Cronkite has long passed and for most of us that was an era where there was faith in journalistic ethics.
Perhaps when politicians, associations, corporations and the community in general talk of media bias, it is more than simply posturing, it may be an accurate representation of what is occurring in many sectors of journalism.
Whether one agreed with Katie Couric’s piece – or not, is not at issue here. Unethical portrayals of what people believe or how they respond, helps none of us and only fans the flames of discord.
At a time when we need to come together, unethical journalism only pulls us apart.
YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!