Sit Down, You're Rocking The Boat!

Ethics and taste in journalism can be somewhat likened to the balancing of weight in a boat; it need’s to be just right otherwise the whole thing will tip. Therefore, a journalist must balance the scale of what sells in relation to what is in good taste to avoid rocking the boat.

To avoid becoming a titanic remake, Journalists therefore must analyze their reporting based on a ‘grid of ethics’. This papaw’s ad, while employing a sexual innuendo, is still in good taste, and there sit like so on the ‘grid’.

This Coopers ad however, takes their sexual innuendo too far and see’s their boat start to sink to the lower part of the grid marked in ‘bad taste’.

However, while this ad is considered in bad taste, it still does not drift into un ethical waters. Material considered unethical can fall into three categories: Deontology, consequentialism and virtue.

The first, Deontology, follows rules, principals and duties. All ethic codes are deontological and there MUST be followed (otherwise you may have to find yourself deciding whether it’s Jack or Rose who gets to survive on the door…).

Consequentialism’s practice however, relies on simply receiving an outcome that benefits ‘the greater good’, never mind how this was achieved. It works for the ninety-nine percenters, sometimes at the disadvantage of smaller parties, which is usually not the case with journalism virtues.

Virtues rely on journalism ‘goodness’ . These virtues in journalists include courage, justice, temperance and prudence. These virtues create fair and ethical journalists (wouldn’t that be nice?).

Just remember, while money’s pretty, it’s not much use at the bottom of the ocean…