Do Ethics Matter? A Fury Editorial

I’m not a journalist as you can tell by my writing, but I know most professions have some sort of Code of Ethics.  Doctors, lawyers, public officials ect.. all have them in hopes of providing guidelines for proper ethical decision making.  As I watch the nightly news, read newspapers or view on-line news our media is doing us a disservice.  This disservice ranges from our current fights in Iraq and Afghanistan, the oil spill in the Gulf, politics, health care and sports.  The Ben Roethlisberger saga highlights a true disservice by the media and illustrates a true disregard for that profession’s ethics.

The Society of Professional Journalists was established in 1909 and sets forth a Code of Ethics that in theory are to be used as guidelines for its members.  Summarizing the Code’s key points:

·         Seek Truth and Report It: Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.

·         Minimize Harm: Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.

·         Act Independently: Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know.

·         Be Accountable: Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other.

The full version can be found here: http://www.spj.org/pdf/ethicscode.pdf

Our media outlets today clearly violate the first bullet, “Seek Truth and Report It.”  The media today is good at reporting stuff but rather than reporting the news, the media makes the news.  The media has always been accused of either left or right bias and that will remain since everyone has an agenda.  However, back to Ben’s saga and using the journalist’s ethics outline, it is clear to anyone that this code is meaningless.

Recently, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation released 50+ recordings of Ben’s accuser during the interview process.  As the tapes were revealed, so was the slinging of mud.  “Ben has a temper”, “I was afraid of Ben” and others became the headlines for ESPN, YAHOO Sports and other outlets. 

The so-called journalists failed to seek the truth, minimize harm and be accountable.  They made some money though. Ben’s reputation will never recover.  Even if both accusers admit that they fabricated their stories, the damage to Ben is done.  I don’t doubt that Ben is a royal jag-off and got caught up in power, fame and money at a young age.  But I’m certain a DA who has the chance to make a name for himself by prosecuting a star will do so.  In Ben’s case, the DA could not do that.  There was no evidence to support a claim. The DA most likely tried all the tactics to stretch the evidence and they still couldn’t make anything stick.  This is fact, not opinion.  After the tapes were released, the media could have easily used a headline “College Girl’s Story in Roethlisberger’s Case Has More Holes than Swiss Cheese.”

Most Americans don’t take the time to think, research or make informed choices.  They go with what the news says.  Walter Cronkite could have reported the oceans dried up and most Americans would believe that or take it as face value.  I submit that most football fans have a poor understanding of the rules of the game.  If there is a questionable call and John Madden proclaims that call as horrible, millions of people now consider it a horrible call.  Madden could be completely wrong and not understand the rule himself but his word is taken at face value. There are scores of so-called Steelers fans that want to run Ben out of town just because of something at face value.  The facts have yet to add up and you can be sure that many are trying to get them to add up. 

Ben’s situation cost him 4-6 games and some shrink visits.  He tarnished the image of the NFL according to Roger Goodell by violating the personal conduct policy which is as vague as a Congressional Bill.  A month ago I wrote a piece about Roger’s Slippery Slope he is soon to be sliding down: http://www.steelerfury.com/content/goodells-slippery-slope-editorial  Ben did achieve getting the NFL in the news, albeit in a negative manner.  Most employers don’t like this publicity.  Unfortunately it appears  Ben’s punishment is proportional to the amount of news that he generated.  It will be interesting to see what happens to Vince Young prior to training camp opening.  Vince was arrested and got nailed on a security camera assaulting someone. V. Young isn’t getting the publicity that Ben received though.

 I can live with Goodell’s policy.  I can live with suspensions if warranted.  What is hard to live with is this policy, while vague, is going to prove inconsistent and unfair. It appears that Goodell will come down harder on a player that generates news; the same news that is reported by those that forgot their own code.