I think ethics factors into any kind of job, not just a media specific position. There is always going to be a time in someone’s life, professional or otherwise, in which you are trying to figure out the “right” thing to do. Of course, people’s definitions of “right” vary greatly from person to person and this is due in a large part to upbringing. Children, hopefully, usually learn the difference between right and wrong at a young age and so grow up being able to differentiate good versus bad. However, some people never receive that kind of lesson and so it becomes harder for them to make ethical choices.

While I don’t know exactly what my future career will hold, I do know that ethics will most certainly come into play in some form or another. There are always opportunities when you have to speak up for something you think is right, or maybe a time when you don’t agree with someone but have to defend your beliefs anyway. In my opinion, a large part of this is learned or taught behavior and is something that needs to be instilled in a person from a young age. I do consider myself to be an ethical person, and I think that comes from the way I was raised and shaped by my family.  I also think it is just a part of growing up and maturing in which you learn more about yourself and the differences in what is right and what is not. In addition to this, there have been times in my professional life when I have disagreed with someone, like my boss, because I felt that she wasn’t making the appropriate decision.  Those are the kinds of situations where you think to yourself “what should I do here?” which is essentially the question ethics attempts to answer.

            There have been many important ethical cases in the media, spanning backs years and years. Things for instance like news manipulation, where the public is unsure of how much they are hearing or seeing is actually accurate and true. There is also the idea of photojournalism which is something I have always found interesting. There have been many cases, even nowadays, where people take issue with magazine covers photoshopping their models or celebrities to such an extreme that they no longer look like themselves.  Sometimes celebrities, whether in print or even in music, even speak out against this because it has become such a problem in today’s society. A topic even more relevant in our news today is the idea of freedom of speech; as we have seen so recently in France, people were killed for creating cartoons in a newspaper.

            I think there will always be ethical dilemmas because our world is constantly changing and advancing and there will always be people who disagree with others. In terms of my own tools, I was raised by parents who helped me to make good decisions and who helped me to be a responsible person.  In terms of this course, as mentioned, I am interested in the idea of photojournalism, and people who distort images to make their points more valid. Other than that, though, I think there is so much constantly happening in our culture and our society with regards to media, like Facebook privacy rights, NSA and Edward Snowden, distortion of media, and more, that there is a plethora of things to discuss. I look forward to learning more about it!