saugus.byu.edu/writing/contest/fall2002/ethical_journalism.html
Third Place Informative Research Paper Ethical Journalism During the Vietnam War by: Daniel Evensen During the Vietnam War, a rift between government officials and journalis ts emerged. The American government felt the need, for various reasons, to censor many war developments. In an attempt to act ethically, the pre ss fought the censors, trying their hardest to report the truth to the g eneral public. Despite claims of bias and distortion by several prominen t government officials, these journalists acted completely ethically, al lowing the general public to obtain a fair, informed opinion. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) provides a very clear and t horough Code of Ethics, which serves as a good definition of ethical jou rnalism. According to this code, an ethical journalist must try to minim ize any potential harm done to people directly involved with the event b eing reported. Such a journalist should also act independently of any pe rsonal biases, and be responsive to any criticism of their work. Finally , a truly ethical journalist must seek to find and report the truth (Soc iety). When one thinks of ethic al behavior, one usually thinks along terms of being truthful, appreciat ive of others, acting responsively and using fair judgement. All of thes e concepts are explicitly stated in the SPJ's Code of Ethics. Minimizing harm done by journalism in times of war is a difficult task. N aturally, there are bits of information that the government needs to kee p secret for one reason or another. There is also the danger of victims' stories being exploited and sensationalized. The SPJ's Code of Ethics r ecommends that journalists should "treat sources, subjects and colleague s as human beings worthy of respect" (Society). During the extremely con troversial Tet Offensive of 1968, the ethicality of journalists in this regard was put to the test. Researcher Clarence Wyatt described this inc ident vividly. The South Vietnamese had captured and beaten a prisoner. In front of several reporters, Brigadier General Nguyen Loan, who was ch ief of the National Police, shot and killed the prisoner at point blank range without saying a word. Unbeknownst to Loan, there were cameras rol ling as he executed the prisoner. Eddie Adams, a photographer from the A ssociated Press, took a picture that would later prove to be one of the most memorable images from the war. As if that was not enough, Vo Suu, c ameraman for NBC correspondent Howard Tuckner, shot film of the incident . The photo and the film would dramatically shock the general public (Wy att 165-167). By reporting this simple event without sensationalizing anything, Adams a nd Suu gave a classic demonstration of the ethical nature of American Jo urnalism. As Wyatt states, The photograph and film speak of the presence and characteristics of Ame rican journalism. Adams, Tuckner, and Suu were skilled reporters with a n instinct for the dramatic incident. The pictures they shot that day w ere valued examples of that sort of reporting.
North shield hailed the film as "an important and powerful statement of the r eality of war" (166-167). Clearly, this was an example of ethical, mindful journalism. As a result the public was better informed of the reality and emotional issues of wa r They were better able to form an opinion on Vietnam. Considering the political turmoil of the late 1960's, unbiased coverage o f important political events was essential. During the famous riots at t he 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, police in riot gear attacked s everal members of the press. As the New York Times reported, "newsmen fo und themselves special targets of the police action" (Lukas 1). Had thes e reporters claimed to be victims and acted defensively, the end result would be a severely biased stance. Instead the New York Times' lead edit orial two days later read "when clergymen, young women and reporters .
it is the cause of law and order and freedom and democracy" (Mayor Daley's Ci ty 32). Rather than writing about the violence and misbehavior in general terms, the New Yor k Times editor took the issue one step further, putting it in the contex t of liberty and democracy. These two examples show that the press presented the war to the public wi thout bias for two specific situations. Colonel Henry G Gole, who served in Vietnam, believes so. There ar e many critics of Vietnam War coverage who claim that it biased public o pinion against the American cause. Mr Gole disproves such arguments by showing that the quick change in public opinion in 1968 was due more to a shattered false sense of security instilled by government control of n ews than by actual journalists coverage of the war. The leadership tried to present an inaccurate summary of what was going on in Vietnam, and w hen things weren't going as well as they said, the public became angry. As he puts it, "happy news was reported, and unhappy news was suppressed . The American public had every reason to believe that all was going wel l in 1968 when the bottom seemed to fall out. Leadership, not the media, had failed to prepare the nation" (Gole 151). So, if the American leadership, not the journalists, facilitated the change in opinion, one would naturally conclude that those journalists did not present the war in a biased manner. Spiro Agnew, Vice President under President Nixon, disagreed. In a biting speech on November 13 1969, he directly attacked television's coverage of current events. Referring to coverage of a recent speech by Nixon, Ag new claimed that "a small band of network commentators and self-appointe d analysts, the majority of whom expressed in one way or another their h ostility to what he said" biased their coverage to an audience of millio ns (Mid-West Regional Republican Committee). One week later, Agnew gave another speech, this time specifically attacking the New York Times. His concern was that the Times chose not to give events that he considered important the coverage that they deserved (Montgomery Chamber of Commerc e). The New York Times gave a fair and impartial analysis of both speeches at once. Among the many editorials and opinion pieces, the Times ran an im partial study on TV News written by Herbert Gans, an MIT sociology profe ssor with no prior connections to the Times, just over a month after Agn ew's second speech. Among Gans' many findings was that "the audience pla ys an infinitely greater role" than the opinions of journalists on what was covered. Apparent biases in the way that television covered the news were merely extensions of what the public generally believed (Gans 224) . Since The New York Times acknowledged these criticisms and responded t o them with an impartial source, it's editors acted in an ethical manner . The central point of the SPJ Code of Ethics is that journalists should se ek to find and report the truth. Finding and reporting the truth was dif ficult because the government tried to censor the war. Addressing this c ensorship policy specifically, Clarance Wyatt traces a policy of "divers ion and deception" from President Johnson, who attempted to downplay maj or war developments, through the end of President Nixon's involvement in the war. In attempts to only let the public hear what they were told, t he government attempted to withhold important pieces of news (Wyatt 168- 215). Despite this censorship, there were many reporters who attempted to repor t the war without bias. Edwin Emery noted the coverage of the war by Har rison Salisbury (of the New York Times) during December 1966. As Emery s tates, "Salisbury's series of stories, filled with detailed observations , directly contradicted much of the claimed success of the US bombing pr ogram." Emery then goes on to note that Salisbury "was denied a Pulitzer Prize . for what most newsmen conceded was the outstanding news bea t of 1966" (622-623). Emery goes on to list journalists such as Peter Arnett of the Associated Press, Ward Just of the Washington Post, R W Apple Jr. of the New York Times, Robert S haplen of the New Yorker, and Denis Warner of the Reporter, each of whom provided a view of Vietnam that was not j...
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