The archetype of the journalist is often a shady character. Journalists are portrayed as vultures in sitcoms and contemporary culture. Frequently viewed as having no scruples, merit, or morals—journalists walk a fine line between speaking the truth and offending others. This delicate balance is depicted better by some journalists than others. “It’s the outliers, the few that skew the perception of journalists—that’s all it takes,” said Kathy English, public editor of the Toronto Star. Just like a bad apple, bad journalists can ruin the reputation of the profession at large. “Our core product is our credibility,” she said.

Journalists need to seem and be seen as “above the fray,” This means that you need to restrain from exhibiting your own personal beliefs online and in the field. The appearance of objectivity is as important as the role objectivity plays in journalism. When journalists cross that line, they risk losing the trust of their reader. 

It is hard for any journalist to not have a bias when covering stories. Being unbiased doesn’t just happen, you have to regard your opinions as merely a filter on what you’re viewing. When you remove that filter, you see things as they are—not in relation to your own personal beliefs—then report things as they are and nothing more.

A lot of journalists get a bad rap for taking advantage of people’s most vulnerable moments. This is something that even I myself am torn with as an ethical dilemma. I feel it’s wrong for a journalist to bombard a grieving family to get an interview or a photo right after they lose someone dear to them. I think broadcasting their heartfelt experiences while they are in a state of grief is immoral—but it’s also very powerful to humanize a story. These are the ethical dilemmas that journalists face every day and what they do with it is a matter of their own ethics. It isn’t always up to the individual journalist, sometimes there is pressure from editors to get the scoop. When people push you, you need to go in prepared with your reasons for what you will and will not do. 

Part of the issue for journalists is the gap between ideals of journalism practices and the reality of getting a story. It’s okay to have a handbook with rules on how to not deceive people, but at times you may have to in order to get the inside scoop—like going undercover. Sometimes “off the record” statements can make readers feel deceived and it makes the story lose credibility. The issue now is that information is accessible all the time with the 24/7 news cycle. This is definitely the cornerstone of the credibility issue because journalists are expected to pump out multiple stories a day with short turn-around times, that may fall short of time spent on assuring accuracy.

Journalism has changed who is now considered a journalist. The surplus of information that’s floating around on the web isn’t all quality journalism. According to a Huffington Post Canada survey, bloggers are three times less trustworthy than journalists.

The biggest mistrust may be the source of news itself. Canadian Press and Reuters are the major news agencies that Canadian media draws from to get their content. Media organizations gather the same information and report it in similar ways to their audiences. The primary source of news is the wire and re-writing copy stories, taking pictures and video from the wire and reporting on it in a generic fashion is journalism. This is the biggest ethical dilemma I think journalists face today because they aren’t always creating their own original content and as much as CP and Reuters is credible, it also raises the question, who is in control of the message?

In the history of journalism, the cartel controlled all of the news agencies – Reuters, Associated Press and Wolff. Today we face a similar authoritarian predicament because there is a concentration of media ownership. Few media outlets are independent, and most are owned by major corporations like Bell, Shaw, Rogers, Newcap, Quebecor and government run, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

How can people trust what they read in the news when they can’t even trust their cell-phone provider who may own the media outlet?

With the advent of the internet, the independent voices of the media—bloggers, freelancers and citizens journalists can finally have their stories heard. I think that the credibility of journalism is evolving into new avenues and the line between who is and is not a journalist is being blurred. This evolution of news is proof that people want to separate from institutions and might even be a wakeup call for the big businesses that have ties to media organizations. The internet has breathed new life into freedom of speech, creating a platform for anyone to speak out and journalists are just at the forefront of that.