Essay Example on Journalism can never be Silent

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Journalism can never be silent that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault Grunwald as cited in Doole 2014 Basically journalism has two contradicting ethics the commitment to keeping the source of information hidden and the responsibility of exposing the truth of a news story As can be found in the list published by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press many journalists do their best to protect their source of information However in particular cases the source of information can be more or as essential to the news story rather than the information itself Journalists are often faced with situations where the source of information and the information itself are very delicate and crucially important for the public to be aware of According to Fred Brown in the article A Self Serving Leak one of the main responsibilities of journalists is to reveal the truth However protecting the source of information also means that the truth is partially being hidden The society depends on journalism for a particular level of protection This also suggests that masking the information source or part of the information means that the society is being deceived The society is not being given the right to know what is critical to be known Thus when it comes to information dealing with the identification of someone being involved in neglecting the law the journalist must reveal the true picture to the public It is the main aim of the free press to expose the deficiencies and weak points of any of the organisations or even individuals in a society

Unfortunately in particular occasions the source of information is kept anonymous for long enough to cause harm to other people or organisations A good example is what George Friedman informed the public about the covering up of Deep Throat where FBI took advantage of a news organisation in order to work against the president It is important to mention that the news organisation were aware of what was going on Protecting Deep Throat concealed not only an individual but also the story of the FBI's role in destroying Nixon Friedman as cited in Brown As Išerić 2016 stated in the Without the protection of journalistic sources there can be no media freedom and freedom of journalistic work the European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms agrees with the sharing of information sources when they are determined by the legislation It is also permitted to bring to light information which deals with harming the position of the society and its government When the information is more crucially concerning to the society rather than its concealing the journalist have the obligation to present the information as well The announcing of these flaws makes it easier for the government to handle particular delicate issues and improve the situation It is also important to discuss the promising of anonymity Nowadays it is challenging getting someone to share delicate information without the latter being promised anonymity Information providers usually demand for official confirmations regarding privacy In both of his articles

Brown mentions the reassurance of anonymity Brown states that report administrators place a lot of emphasis on not reassuring anonymity in fact several media organisations are including disciplinary guidelines when it comes to dealing with protecting both the information and its source Journalists should also be aware that the source of information can sometimes be misleading the latter having a particular aim in mind As found in the article Deep Throat and His Motive also by Brown sometimes the information provider can manipulate the truth thus misleading the journalist In such cases if the journalist realises that the material provided by the source is not truthful the former has the right to reveal the source to the public Thus not promising anonymity and source protection allows the journalist to be more flexible when discovering that either the source was not truthful or even when the information provider is more vital than the information provided Hence this suggests that journalists should opt for reassuring anonymity and privacy as a final choice when nothing else can be done so as to access delicate information In conclusion even though source protection is important in certain situations the revealing of the source itself can be more useful rather than the information itself 



The exposition of sources can help both the government and society to become aware of what is affecting their position so that action can be taken so as to improve any occurring situations One must have to admit that journalists do not have an easy job and their position is crucially important when it comes to civil and social management Finally as Steve Coll named his article No news is bad news 2017 References Brown F n d Ethics Case Studies A Self Serving Leak Society of Professional Journalists Retrieved from https www spj org ecs12 asp Brown F n d Ethics Case Studies Deep Throat and His Motive Society of Professional Journalists Retrieved from https www spj org ecs18 asp Coll S 2017 No news is bad news why we need journalism to survive Financial Times Retrieved from https www ft com content 4e6cefb8 8114 11e7 94e2 c5b903247afd comments Doole C 2014 Journalism can never be silent that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault Henry Anatole Grunwald Medium Retrieved from https medium com Cas777 journalism can never be silent that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault cad700f4b447 Išerić H 2016 Without the protection of journalistic sources there can be no media freedom and freedom of journalistic work Fairpress eu Retrieved from http www fairpress eu blog 2016 11 04 without the protection of journalistic sources there can be no media freedom and freedom of journalistic work


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