Thinking about Journalistic Ethics - Brydan Zbytovsky

I think it is important for journalists to have a code of ethics because if they did not have rules they would do and report whatever they felt like not caring about what people think or what people see. They need guidelines to know what people like and what they want to know, because if journalists report stuff out of peoples interest no one is going to care about news stories. Also people will never want to talk to the journalist if they are allowed to twist and do anything they want to your story because then the story isn't really true and everything we would hear about would be false.

There are many kinds of rules journalists should observe when they report a story, they have strict guidelines towards a story which all should be followed. There should be no bias or slant towards any story. You can find the rules journalist have to follow here; http://www.caj.ca/?p=20

I don't think a journalist should tell everything he or she knows, there are somethings that you know that you shouldn't report. Sometimes you have to leave some parts of the story out that really don't need to be in the story like the race or sex of a person, or complete details because it might offend someone or put you in danger to the mafia.

A journalist should tell his or her subject everything about the story their about to report. If this does not happen the subject might think the story is going to be fine but if the journalist lied to them what the story was going to be about they could twist the story, and the subject might not like that. The subject wants the truth to both sides of the story not a twisted story, and they want to make sure they have the right facts because they might catch something the journalist didn't.

Yes i think their are limits to what should be reported, the journalists have to watch information that is confidential and personal towards families and police. They could put other people in danger or themselves, also by giving graphic details about a crash for example could really hurt a family.

I think a reporter and the subject should just have a business related relationship and nothing more. This is your job as a reporter to be treated and known as a professional, nothing should change this. No matter what the relationship is off the job it should not change what you write about or the story, it is your job to have the facts and not to have a slant on the story.