Ethics and laws in field of journalism option

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Professor
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Institution
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Ethics and laws in the field of journalism
Introduction.
Ethics and laws in journalism refer to regulations that govern the conduct of journalist. The guidelines stipulate the working limits of a journalist. Media is a paramount institution in the society. The way the media delivers information it influences the perception of the audience in making decisions (David 16). For the media to be objective in spreading of information, it has to be ethical. This paper will focus on ethics and laws in journalism and how the regulations help a journalist to be objective in their reporting.
Importance of ethics and laws in journalism
Ethics helps a journalist to give reliable and relevant information. The laws develop instructions followed by the journalist to ensure equity in the society. The regulations are paramount since they help journalists to stick to their line of duty. The principles focus the interest of viewers, audiences, and readers first.
Ways used by a journalist to honor individuals’ privacy
It is the work of media to update the public on current issues. However, as they perform their duty, they are supposed to respect people’s privacy. The media honor people by various ways which include making some sources of information anonymous for security purposes, failing to disclose the names of victims of sexual abuse and lottery winners. In case of a war or accident, the media does not show the photographs of the people who died.

Major ethical frameworks that guide journalism
There are two major frameworks that guide the working of a journalist. The teleological and deontological framework (David 14). The teleological framework focus on punishment that accompanies the violation of the code of conduct. The deontological emphasize the ethical way of judging an action. The two frameworks guide the media in its performance. The journalist is able to know the need of being trustworthy, fair, and courageous and objective in their work.
The journalists use ethical decision making to be able to give accurate and reliable information. The journalist uses various steps of ethical decision makings which include: identification of the problem, a collection of relevant data, identification of alternative ways, application of ethical guidelines, decision making and implementation of the decision. The ethical principles enhance objectivity in the media. Objectivity enables a journalist to be fair in their reporting, and this leads to unity in society. Objectivity leads to the airing of the views of the minority group.
Conclusion
Ethical principles enable the journalist to put the public interest first. The regulations help the journalist to have good relations with the society. And to be objective in their delivery of information.
Work cited
Berry, David. “Ethics and Media Culture: Practices and Representations.” 2013, doi: 10.4324/9780080573809.