Opinion: Ethics of New Media

Posted by Lauren Drablier on October 15, 2008 at 10:27 AM

The media has been focused on a recent incident involving a story posted by a blogger on CNN's site, iReport.com, a citizen journalism site that is not reviewed or checked by any editors. The blogger published a story about Apple's Steve Jobs suffering from a heart attack. The news sent the stocks tumbling until it was revealed that the story was in fact false.

Edward Wasserman, Knight professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee University questions the ethics of New Media and the basic principles of journalistic practice in his article, Boring old values and the New Media.

Wasserman, asks the important question, "is CNN on firm ethical ground nurturing, promoting and lending its immense prestige to a site whose content it does nothing to ensure conforms to even minimal standards of accuracy? Obviously, the Jobs tale got traction because it ran on a CNN branded site."

Wasserman goes on to question, "if nowhere else in CNN's vast operations would staff pass along dramatic news of material consequence without lifting a finger to verify it, why is that acceptable in the name of ``citizen journalism''?"

To Wasserman, reporting ethically has nothing to do with technology or profession; it's a basic value that should be respected by anyone. Harmful information should be verified he states, and "not because you're a journalist, but because you're a moral person."

Sources: The Miami Herald