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10/24/2004 09:34:44 PM · #1 |
I read this article recently in the magazine of the National Press Photographers Association. The magazine is called âNewsPhotographer.â
Here at DPC, we have frequently had discussions about âphotographic integrityâ and how it affects our views and beliefs about certain photos. We have also had in depth discussions about our own definitions of what is and isnât ethical for our purposes here.
Journalists, including photographers, are taught about ethics in their work.
Can Ethics Be Taught?
Posted with permission from the authorâ¦
By: Susan Zavoina â Chair and photojournalism sequence head of the Department of Journalism at the University of North Texas
As a photojournalism professor for more years than I care to admit in print, frankly, Iâm not sure. I inundate my students with writings from NPPA Ethics and Standards chair John Long, ethics policies, Poynter Institute for Media Studies publications, and teachable moments that arise in the professional media when an ethical dilemma is broached.
Some people just donât get it. I remember a comment from a colleague when the Los Angeles Times (Iraq War) photo composite ran and was discovered. The message (to paraphrase) went out across Listserv: âI guess he was absent the day ethics was discussed.â But photojournalism educators, journalism teachers, and professional photo editors and directors preach ethical decision-making daily. In higher education, photojournalism programs have stand-alone ethics classes and incorporate this information within photojournalism classes when discussing assignments. The best photojournalism textbooks cover this area comprehensively, some exclusively. But it seems some are not listening or understanding.
Recently, I attended a meeting for the Accrediting council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. An informal discussion centered on the amount of plagiarism, in text and pictures, that is occurring within university journalism programs. Because of this, many programs are instituting codes of ethics, honor codes, and/or professional behavior policies.
So, can ethics be taught? Or is it something that is inherent within a personâs moral compass â knowing what is right and what is wrong? As John Long has written and said many times, âThe ethical standards each person arrives at will be based on his or her cultural background and the basic principles on which his or her life is based.â
Examples of how higher education formal programs teach ethics include:
Teaching the definition (and basis) of ethics and ethical decision-making
Discussing mistakes and major mishaps that have occurred (such as turning in a photo composite to a photo editor as a single news image)
Role playing situations that might occur (If you had to describe how you shot that picture to your editor â out loud in a newsroom â would you be embarrassed to tell the truth?)
Having students write their own personal code of ethics and discussing them in relation to the NPPAâs new Code of Ethics
Advising student publications on a day-to-day basis
Going to websites such as the Poynter Institute site to discuss case studies during class lectures
My favorite piece of advice: Donât do anything (shoot or manipulate) you wouldnât do in front of your mother â Oh, I mean editor.
Many people still confuse matters of policy or taste with ethical decisions and issues. Again, some just donât get it. With all the discussion occurring in the classroom and in the profession as these situations arise, why do ethical breaches still occur in both student and professional media?
A recent national survey of photo directors found that technological advances are increasing the influence and working role of the photojournalist and photo editor â giving them a stronger, more powerful voice within the newsroom. The photo editor is seen as a key player in the newsroom with complete decision-making authority. This extends the opportunity for many to inform and educate others in the world of ethics and photojournalism as situations like the Los Angeles Times photo incident arise.
A national ethnographic study conducted recently by one of my masterâs candidates found that many photojournalists feel pressure to deliver THE image, at all costs, for national contests. The study found that entry-level photojournalists felt ill-informed of the long-term career paths in the current media environment. Entry-level professionals also expressed concern that professionals AND educators should be aware of this environment in todayâs professional photojournalistic market.
A former student, landing her first job, remembered something Iâve had pasted on my office computer screen for more than a decade. She told me she remembered seeing it when we had advising sessions and remembered talking about it in class. After beginning her first full-time professional job and dealing with the day-to-day situations she experienced as a photojournalist she told me she understood the importance of this saying:
Respect for self
Respect for others
Responsibility for all your actions
So, hey, maybe ethics can be taught.
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Some links to go along with this:
NPPA â //www.nppa.org
Poynter Online - //www.poynter.org/
NPPA Code of Ethics - //www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics
NPPA Digital Code of Ethics - //www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/digitalethics.html
These last two links that contain the defacto standard âcode of ethicsâ for press photographers are quite interesting. If you take the time to read these, you will see that they have NOT spelled out what specific types of editing are legal or illegal. It seems that the bottom line is that the photographer is responsible for representing his subjects in a way that does not deceive the viewers. The latitude of this scenario is quite wide when it comes down to the types of editing we normally do on photographs.
On the other side of the coin, none of this applies to artistic photographyâ¦
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10/24/2004 09:44:47 PM · #2 |
I refuse to believe there are people on this earth aside from infants that do not know what wrong is. It's not a matter of ethics, it's a matter of wanting money more than they want to be honest. The same thing drives people to chase a princess until she is fataly killed,,, for a photo. Or rent helicopters to photograph some 'star' taking a few laps around the family pool. But one must ask themselves, What is worse, taking the photo or paying to see it? I believe these 'ethic-less' people would be out of a job if avg people would quit caring if britney spears is getting into her car with a cup of starbucks, or if she has a bit of celulite on her thigh.
It's a classic 'Frankenstein' story. We create these monsters and then question their ethics. Instead of judging someone elses actions (we should leave God's job to God) just don't buy the magazines that print this kind of 'unmoral' garbage. If we stop buying it they'll stop having money to pay the vultures to circle the carcass, so-to-speak.
Joe
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10/24/2004 09:51:35 PM · #3 |
When you begin to look at ethical judgements from an academic perspective (which is what I'm doing a bit of in one of my classes) you realise that an ethical judgement is made through a very complex process. Ethics are based in values, and different individuals and cultures alike have different value systems.
We must make a value judgement on the intrinsic nature of an 'unaltered' photograph (which cannot, it can be argued, actually exist as any presence in a journalistic sense will alter the event somewhat) over what the image can potentially accomplish on a social, cultural, political, monetary etc level if it were altered in any way.
Furthermore, this value judgement must be made not on one's own values but on the audience's, and according to any code of ethics which they're adhered to. As we've seen at DPC, trying to predict what people value in an image is difficult indeed. As you've pointed out, the codes often don't specify what constitues an altered image and thus people will necessarily interpret things differently.
Message edited by author 2004-10-24 21:54:10.
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10/24/2004 09:51:57 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by magicshutter:
It's a classic 'Frankenstein' story. |
The code of ethics in the tabloid press is obviously quite different. This is one reason you keep hearing about lawsuits against them. They go as far as to break laws doing what they do. They pay dearly for it when they do, but you are right. They make enough money by doing it that it's still filling their pockets.
I don't consider those people to be real journalists. It seems that a majority of what they write and photograph are designed to make people (and other subjects) look bad. They create stories where there is no real existing news to start with.
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10/24/2004 11:43:29 PM · #5 |
I'm wondering just how much the photojournalist is responsible for the composites and manipulations and how much the editors are. There must be an unwritten rule for these journalists form higher management that say give us what we want, or your job is in jeopardy. If the beat journalists are the ones manipulating the images, most then probably choose to keep their jobs over ethical principles.
The pressures inside of a newsroom must be great since there is usually a time deadline that must be adhered to so that if a story is running and they don't have the exact photo they're looking for to accompany the story, then they may indeed produce one. I would also imagine that tabloids are more guilty of violating these codes of ethics, though not exclusively, because they are more interested in sensationalizing for the purpose of sales, than reporting a true and accurate story/image. |
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10/24/2004 11:59:36 PM · #6 |
The unmentioned basic reason is that these people select this avenue because they have a political agenda to shape the minds and opinions of the viewers. These people feel it is their duty to bring about a change in accordance with their belief. Ask any of them why they chose this as a career and they will tell you that it is to help make a diffrence in the world of ideas, namely theirs.
The writer wants to prove his point and the photojournalist, often of the same mind is a willing accomplice. There was a time that when caught ot would prove a disaster. Lately, it just happens and often the editor will dismiss the deed as not that serious.
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10/25/2004 12:19:46 AM · #7 |
The public used to expect and require objectivity in our media. Nowadays we are willing to accept someone else's political agenda as long as it is mildly entertaining. And the owners of the media have fostered this weakness and exploited it for monetary gain.
Message edited by author 2004-10-25 00:21:42. |
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10/25/2004 02:08:47 AM · #8 |
How rampant is the use of heavily altered photos in journalism? (I don't include tabloids as journalism) I always assumed that the vast majority of images in the reputable press are legitamite... Am I way off base here?
As to the original question of "Can ethics be taught?" I am a parent and have been a teacher of everything from 5th grade through middle-aged professionals for the last quarter century... I can say with some certainty that Yes, Ethics can be taught. However it is much easier to teach them while the student is still young. Someone's parents and Kindergarten teacher will have a much greater influence on their ethics than a college professor will.
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