Lecture 8 Reflection - ETHICS

“Ethical decisions are the choice between the

lesser of two evils.”

In this afternoons lecture, guest lecturer Doctor John Harrison made me realise that everyone has a different view about what is ethical and unethical, and what is tasteful and not tasteful.  This was evident when we did an exercise where we had to rate still images and videos.  Everyone looked at the images and videos in a different way.   There were a lot of different opinions and thoughts on what images were ethical, and what images were not. 

Doctor John Harrison talked about the code of ethics that is involved in journalism.  Determining what is ethical and unethical, and deciding to do the right this is obviously a huge part of a journalist’s job.  As previously mentioned, ethics can be very controversial.  The career and work of Kevin Carter is a perfect example of how controversial ethics in journalism can be.  Kevin Carter photographed one image which caused so much controversy throughout the world; it sparked an ongoing international debate about ethics. 

 

I believe that although the particular image that Kevin Carter captured is very harsh and brutal, it encapsulates the reality of what he was seeing.  By exposing this horrific reality of starvation in Sudan, he opened the world’s eyes to see exactly what was going on, which in itself is ethical, as he accurately portrayed what was happening. 

Everyone has a different ethical view, which is based on and influenced by their personal character and upbringing.  Our concept of ethics is also determined by what we have been exposed to throughout our lives, and what we believe to be normal or acceptable.