Media Ethics and Society - Ethical Dilemma

Khalil Hart

Broadcast Journalism

Assignment 2

Ethical Dilemma

        There are too many things going wrong with the ISIS and the acts they are committing. Various media outlets and social media powerhouses have different outlooks on how to cover the propaganda.  News stations have had plenty debate on how much exactly should be covered and if they should pry away from showing the brutal graphics on display. There are many reasons why the code of ethics is broken and there should definitely be some restraint on showing any of these gruesome videos.

        The first thing that should be thought about is the courage of the reporters to even step for over there in the Middle East. There can be truth found and reported on this matter without having to show video of journalists getting beheaded. Anonymity should have been considered in this case simply because someone was in danger and there were plenty of people at harm as a result. According to the Washington Times post ‘’using the voice of the executioner’’ breaks ethical code and moves the idea of this being news to ‘’lurid curiosity’’. Social media outlets such as YouTube and Twitter had no control of the videos that were spiraling all throughout their sites and that created various problems.

        Due to the lurid curiosity used in the news provided from this tragedy the idea of minimizing harm is out of the window. There is not a balance of the public’s need for information when it comes to discomfort or harm because it is nothing but harmful acts. There should be compassion shown to the victim’s in these videos and their families should be thought about and considered in what should be put out there for the world to see. ‘’The Society of Professional Journalists has additional codes that further support the argument that showing the ISIS videos (at least the graphic footage) would be going against SJP’s ethics.’’

        In this case, there are all types of conflict from this which breaks the ethic code as well. Unavoidable conflicts should always be disclosed and vulnerable individuals should be a consideration in every editorial and ethical decision. ISIS used these executions to receive more followers and to win a propaganda war which in other words is not acceptable.

        In conclusion, there is plenty of debate amongst what exactly to cover when it comes to this ethical issue, but more often than not it is believed that less should show from this propaganda. There are too many factors that break the code of ethics and there is too much backlash from these beheadings that would potentially harm many innocent people.