Ethics

Ethics. There is perhaps nothing more subjective than one's interpretation of ethical conduct. This is to be expected; a universally accepted code of conduct does not exist (if it did, society would be considerably more peaceful). Yet, many professions stand by such declarations of ethics. I wonder whether such articles, such codes of conduct are as much a PR ploy as they are idealistically irrational creations. This is perhaps the reason behind the creation of the Journalists' Code of Ethics, a subjective list of guidelines that Journalists are supposed to follow. Of course, it should be no surprise that these guidelines aren't always followed, or, at the very least, are cause for controversy as a result of conflicting interpretations of said guidelines.

Such a perspective is, quite clearly, cynical (but I believe realistic). Don't get me started on the oxymoron of the concept of a code of "ethics" for lawyers.

Ethics in Journalism

One of the first things that crossed my path while my tenure here at Mizzou, was the holy law, "Conflict of Interest." Apparently I could have been in some sort of violation of this important law if I weren't "freelancing" at Adelante! and The Maneater. When "Conflict of Interest" happens it means that your interest intersect with our other duties, creating a type of biased danger in decision making, or at least that's what I got from conversations and warning with the staffers at the Maneater and Adelate!. I spoke to Katherine Reed, advisor for Adelante! and Lee Logan, editor in chief for The Maneater, about my activity and they both agreed that I was legitimatly safe because of my status of a "freelancer." These types of ethics, at least on the professional scale of journalism take high priority when attending meetings, making suggestions or the type of coverage undertaken in stories. The great thing about Mizzou is that this place is like the mecca of journalism. Sure I have screwed up a couple times with stories in The Maneater and I didn't have my ethics down at first, but that's what this place is about... putting you into place and not just for reprimanding reasons, but to scuplt you into a professional individual. Ethics in journalism aren't just humble and great, they're very good-looking too and with this type of polishing added into your daily scrub, you'll be dying to wake up every morning in the best of anticipations.

Journalism Ethics

Ethics are great! Reading this ethics sheet we got in FIG class, i'm presented with a few things I was unaware of. For instance, the example presented in class of a journalist posing as a factory worker and subversively sneaking into a Nuclear Facility I would not have thought to be ethical. In looking closer, it does seem to be the only way to get that story. Other ethic problems aren't so difficult. Such as reporting troop movements in a war. It's a terrible idea to report those on air, for obvious reasons.
Ethics should always be foremost in a reporter's mind when writing a story. Bring the truth, and bring it fairly. Otherwise, all credibility will be lost.

The Issue of Ethics

It is important for Journalists to have high standards of ethics. Im sorry I didnt mean that...It is VITAL for Journalists to have high standards of ethics. Remember that people all around the world can read what you write. Lives could hang in the balance. When Dutch Newspapers printed a cartoon depiction of the Muslim prophet Muhammad (And I know I spelled that wrong) several innocent people were killed in the insuing mob violence that followed. Now all Journalists have some bias but its ethical to keep that bias out of your articles. When people read news articles they want to know what happened, not what the writer thinks about what happened. Ethics call journalists to be objective while writing their articles but they can still write subjectively in the form of opinion columns or even books. I agree with what someone else said on this blog, ethics in journalism can many times be a balancing act and often it comes down to a personal call on the part of the journalist.

Ethics in Journalism

Obviously ethics in journalism is important. Without ethics, or morals, people could do whatever that had to just to get a story. Crazy tactics could be used so reporters could get their information and their quotes. It could be like an interrogation and not an interview. Even worse would be if reporters started making up stories. If you herd some big news story and got all excited about it and it turned out not to be true, you would be baffled. An example of this might be if somebody reported that Terrell Owens tried to kill himself with pain medication, but he really didn’t you have know idea what to believe and what not to believe. That makes T.O. have a press conference and deny the whole thing, then it becomes some big PR thing. Anyway, without ethics journalism would not be the same.

ethics in journalism

Ethics and journalism and why they are important. I'm struggling here for some reason. Ok, so no one would respect journalism for starters if we didn't have ethics and standards, which means no one would care about it and it might not exist or at least not as a career. That is the basis for having ethics in journalsim, respect. Ethics and morals are sort of the same thing. People who don't have morals aren't usually well respected so the same goes for journalism, no ethics, no respect. Ethics are not always set in stone. Many times it is a personal call on whether or not something is considered to be ethical.

Well thank goodness I finally was able to get this thing up and working!
Mizzou is amazing, but this week has made me realize how much skill it takes just to go to class, get homework done, study and arrive promptly for meetings. I'm hoping to get the hang of all the commotion here within the next couple of weeks. After i become a little more accustomed to the daily ins and outs,I have alot of things I'm looking forward to getting involved in. My sorority to begin with, I want to start to get more involved in committees and boards, I also want to be very involved with this year's Greek Week...Go Kappa! I also want to get involved in leadership type organizations and clubs. I know they are out there just waiting for little freshman like me to become active in their group. I think it is very important to be involved in numerous activities that are very different from each other, I like so many different things and I want to meet other people with diverse interests as well. So I might be getting involved in the Pychology Club, and a few off the wall ones too. One volunteer opportunity I look forward to taking part in is the theraputic riding for the disabled. I love horses and I have seen how well this program actually works, and how well it can develop motor skills for individuals.
Hopefully things will settle in quickly, I'm anxious to get started!

Involved & Informed

Being involved at MU is a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. It isn’t hard because I don’t know how to get involved or I’m scared, but because each activity is so much in itself. I’ve had a hard time going above and beyond as I usually do because of time constraints. Each activity is so intense and time consuming that adding writing for the Maneater, participating in community service, attending football games, homecoming prep and work on top of being in a sorority is too much to handle, even for an over achiever! I came here with every intention of being the new “Miss Mizzou” for my class, but it’s a little harder than I thought.
So after I realized the challenge that lies within being involved at this amazingly opportunistic school, I’ve adapted my goals a tiny bit. After being admitted into a sorority (check number one), I decided to run for a position on the executive board on my pledge class. So not only am I in a sorority but also V.P. of campus relations for all 2006 pledges. Now, with homecoming around the corner we’re knee deep in grudge work and preparation. I am planning on adding a couple more activities to my agenda. Besides working at the Rec Center 12 hours a week, I plan on joining the student choir at the Newan Center, getting involved in two or three service organizations, writing for the Maneater and possibly getting a 3.5 GPA or above this semester. Whew!
With all these ideas and plans under my belt, I know I’m going to be very busy managing school and activities, but my homesickness dissipates with each activity I pursue and all the new friends and connections I make increase the feeling of a home away from home that Mizzou so willingly offers me. So, all-in-all I hope to accomplish many things by the time I leave this place, but for now I’ll stick to basics and try and keep my sanity intact.

Ethics/News Stories

So far I've attended only a couple of news meetings for Adelante and written two stories for the Maneater.
Both of these stories have been new stories covering the Asian American/International Student Orientation, UnificAsaian and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Soriety's Girl Talk event.
To further extend my portfolio I plan on writing more stories for the Maneater, hopefully something outside of news story format and a little bit into the Arts and Entertainment type of stories.
I have also been attending various meetings held by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, an association which was opened to MU last year. Alongside with my membership in NAHJ, I hope attain a wide variety of internships this coming summer or attendance at their regional conference.
Throughout high school I wrote for my yearbook two years in a row, mostly covering Student Life and Clubs/Organizations. With that and my additional clippings from my newspaper at school, I hope to bound together a good work portfolio, which I will need when applying to the Journalism School.
I wish they had water bottles at the Emporium.

Blog-tastic Involvement

So thanks to Carolina appearing to have more technical prowess than I do when it comes to Blogger.com, I now have access to this blog.

So, getting involved. There's many ways to do it, but I came in with a plan and so far my plan is working out quite well. In high school I was active in many activities, my most favorite being the school theatre department. I was the lead for several productions and when I saw that there were tryouts on campus for a musical I leapt at the chance. Lucky for me, I made it in, so now my nights consist of three hours of learning choreography and singing. It's very entertaining and everyone should come see the show Oct. 10th through the 15th.
Down the journalism path, I decided to try and get involved in the Maneater. I have succeeded there as well and have since been published twice in the Maneater. Three more and I start getting paid!

My work study job has been set up and I start on Thursday, which will be probably my final foray into the world of MU extracurriculars. Unless of course I find the ever elusive Model UN team, which as far as I know, still doesn't actually exist on campus. If anyone finds it, for the love of all that is holy let me know. All I've managed to find is a single mailbox that I left a note in and never heard back from.

Getting Involved at Mizzou

I've never really been a social being (as those who know me can tell.) Im perfectly happy keeping to myself and staying in my room however the world will not permit me to do this and besides, this is College and your supposed to get involved. So im joining up with a JuJitsu Club on campus that meets from 6pm to 8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I also have a wish to get involved with one of the school newspapers though I may put this off till October when my evenings become more open but until then If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I would gladly welcome them. Other than that I currently do not have any other plans to get involved though this may change.

Getting Involved

During my time here at the University of Missouri I will be getting involved in many different areas that this wonderful institution has to offer. As of right now I am involved in MUTV23 and Tigers Layer. On MUTV I will be working for the sports trivia show Triple Play. Which everyone should watch because it will be great. I think the Tigers Layer counts as getting involved because we did have to sign something saying we would follow the rules.

Some activities that I would like to get involved with are intramural sports and working for the radio station. I don't want to work for the NPR station because I think that would be boring, but I think there is another station that I could possibly get on a sports talk show. For the intramural sports part, I would like to play soccer, basketball, flag football, and many others. As of right now that is all I am planning on doing, but who knows I might change my mind.

Getting Involved

Alright, I'll come out of the closet... I've never had much school spirit. Getting involved has never been an area of speciality for me and I hope to change that this year. I'm a member of the Latin Dance Club at the moment, but it won't end there. Beyond dancing with passion I plan to look into the shooting club and the paintball club, both of which are focused around familiar activities for me.

Furthermore, I intend to get involved with MU football-by watching the game on KOMU. Let me see, I love videogames way more than I should so perhaps I will look into writing some videogame reviews. By the way, Saints Row was a great game, with the exception of a poorly executed ending, no pun intended. Ha ha ha.

How I Am Getting Involved

Dear Blog,
This week I had the fortune of sampling many events here at MU. Though I wish I could be involved in everything, including Female Self-Defense Class, I did have to make my choices. Because I am interested in Broadcasting I got in touch with some people at KOMU to help work on KOMU.com. I also have started taking Mambo lessons with the Latin Dance Club. It is alot of fun, and we go to the Spanish Fly weekly.
To work up a sweat, I decided to join the Fencing team. There is a tournament in November, and hopefully I will work my way up the ranks. We practice twice a weak, so its also a good workout.
It's my goal by the end of the year to be a strong force in both Fencing, and KOMU, and if I can pick up some dancing on the side...Why Not?

J School Fair

I was in Ellis Library when Carolina (not me, but the sophmore) called for a favor. She asked me to deliver a package to Brandon, another member of NAHJ (National Association of Hispanic Journalists). So I met her outside of Domino's, which she drove to in her Convertable Mustang. Got the slim FedEx box and dashed off to Middlebush 13 for my MicroEconomics lab with Dusty Sweet. Class ended at 2:50, I met Brandom at Peace Park around 3. Brian Brooks and various other J School Staff were there fixing displays and setting tables down on the green. I helped Brandon open up the FedEx box and we placed the Fact Sheets and Applications on the table in a wind-resistant fashion. Helping out and giving information about the organization to freshman, while being a freshman was an odd experience. Tiger Stripe ice cream was delicous though. I plan to buy some in bulk soon. The most interesting booth was the NPR kbia radio station. Everybody also had way too much candy. Nobody needs this much candy.