Code of Ethics

(picture from SPJ website)

Code of Ethics

By Adam Pinkney

This is my first time writing a blog. I have always been confused about the difference between blogs and forums. I researched a little about the two and this website called web strategy help me clear it up.  I then researched the term ethics through the website poynter.org. I found an article that contained the Code of Ethics from the Society of Professional Journalists. Many of these ethical codes tie into my research project. My research project will be in the form of a personal documentary. This documentary will deal with a tragic car accident that led to the death of my mother and younger brother on August 30^th, 2007.  Now I will relate my topic to contemporary media issues. These issues are outlined in the Code of Ethics. The first section of the code is to seek the truth and report it. During the time of my mother and brothers passing, Journalist failed to uphold this code by not reporting the correct information in the newspaper. I read the article many times and found all the mistakes and misinformation they had reported. One part I recall was the misspelling of my older brothers name. There was also inaccurate information on the obituary. Likewise I can remember the time my grandmother passed away and in the newspaper they had reported the wrong location for the funeral. 

In both of my cases, journalist did not uphold their code of ethics. Through my research on pointer.org I found a discussion board and in this discussion board it talks about the power of words that journalist have.  A journalist describes an incident of a mom calling in to the news capital because her daughter’s obituary in the local paper was inaccurate. Also the journalists that wrote the article had used insensitive language when describing her daughter’s death. This ties in with the section of the code of ethics that deals with minimizing harm. This was one of the most difficult things I had to deal with.  I can remember vividly after the incident happen I seen it on the news the same night. The news station used a picture of my younger brother and I broke down crying. I know they needed to report the news but at the time that was the last thing I wanted to hear or see. I do not believe they should have showed a picture of my younger brother. First of all he was not even 18 and they blasted his picture all over the news. It was kind of strange because it was four people that died in the car accident that day and my brother’s picture is the only one they showed. They also showed the totaled car that my mom was driving. Those images were very powerful and hurt me a lot. These pictures are something the news stations show to make the story more interesting.  

In an article I read called “Death in the mass media” it touched on the fact that the media is taking death out of context and selling violence. The ratings go up on television shows with more sex and violence and along with violence come death. In this article the author states that the media is “exposing the younger generation to a false view of death. In my topic I have personally dealt with the issue of ethics. For example, at the time of my mother and brothers funeral I decided that I wanted to film the funeral reception. This was an ethical dilemma that I had faced. However my purpose of filming the funeral was because my little sister Jessica was not able to attend due to the injuries she received in the car accident. I wanted my little sister to have something to remember them by. Also the funeral was huge and the whole McAlester High School was there to support my brother Jesse along with my mothers’ family and friends.  The funeral was held in a large auditorium and many people came out to support our family. I never knew people actually film funerals as a living. Here are some examples that I found on a couple of forums called dvinfo and the other forum called dvdoctor. Through my research I came across and interesting blog called The Good Death. This blog is a series of discussions on the way we communicate about death. And the website gives examples through personal stories, tv shows, movies, and youtube clips.

My Research Topic -- The Future of Public Relations! -- by Christina

When I first began developing my research topics I looked into my future. I thought about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to get there. After much soul searching I knew I did not want to go on to attain my doctorial degree, but rather wanted to go into the practice of public relations, either corporate or agency work. With this decision made, I had to answer the question of how my studies can help me get the job I wanted. My focus turned to what it was I wanted to get out of graduate school and how my studies could help me attain my career goals. I decided the best course of action would be to focus on the future of the public relations industry. One major portion of the future of public relations is the utilization of Web 2.0 tools in the practice of public relations. The industry to catching onto the importance of using Web 2.0, but there is not much scholarly work on the topic. I decided that I wanted to become a pioneer in the study of utilizing social media as a public relations tool that should be implemented into public relations campaigns. Ultimately this is how my research topic was decided. When it is all over, I want to use my newly found expertise in this area as a stepping-stone to the career I choose. Also, I strongly believe that social media is the future of public relations. Becoming an expert in implementing social media tools is something that every public relations practitioner must understand and use sooner than later.
The Public relations industry is beginning to show interest and see the importance of using social media in public relations, hosting multiple conferences to assist practitioners in this new, untraditional form. The academic side, however, has been slower in acceptance and studying about social media use in public relations. Our own Dr. Michael Kent is one of the leading researchers about the importance of using interactivity on Web sites in order to build relationships with publics. Being published in the next Public Relations Review, Dr. Kent conducted a critical analysis of blogging in public relations. Another scholarly article that is a key part of my research topic will be from Trent Seltzer and Michael Mitrook about the dialogic potential in social media for relationship building. Blogging is a key component of social media. Some of the most successful blogs that my research project could potentially study include Southwest Airlines, General Motors, as well as social media experts blog, like that of Giovanni Gallucci’s Blog and The Marketing Blog. The experience with my research topic so far has been wonderful, yet very overwhelming. There are many different opinions out there about what is social media even is, what purpose it serves, and many critics call it a fad. The most difficult part about choosing a research topic so new is that there are very little scholarly reviewed articles about this. Though there has been a lot published in the practitioner and trade journal world, most of it is not based on actual methodological research studies. Taking on a topic like this will be very rewarding and has great potential to be extremely significant to the field of public relations.