Ethics of photojournalism

Knowledge and Professional Development

Among the different issues and human demands that exist today, knowledge and professional development play a critical part in our communities. In practice, every member of a community must comprehend the events unfolding in daily life as well as the history of a society. In the same way, journalism is a type of mass communication that is closely related to informing the public about issues of welfare and progress. A free society, on purpose, relies on the power of journalists to transmit to them knowledge about events happening in other parts of the world that they cannot reach at the same time. Therefore, journalism and media personalities act as the supreme link between the society and the world around them. Notably, the term ethics of photojournalism entails two separate words. These are photojournalism and ethics.

Definition of Photojournalism

Photojournalism defines the art of communication strategies in the use of pictures and other images. Predominantly, a media technique applies in the documentation of events unfolding in the society through the eye of a camera technician. Tactically, this field of journalism embraces the surge for photo specialization in journalistic reporting. Ideally, the society has transformed in numerous sectors. Technology and development in the intellect of humankind have been a potential boost in almost all sectors of the economy in the world. At the same time, ethics derive from the principles of expectations within the cultural domain to explain aspects codes of conduct in the communities. Ideally, ethics are the expected professional codes of conduct that an individual should adhere within the cultural framework. From this discussion, ethics in photojournalism, therefore, means the boundaries of professional expectations demanded from a photojournalist by the laid codes of conduct. What is right and wrong in the aspects of a photojournalism practices in the profession. Hitherto, this paper seeks to exploit the ethical considerations among the photojournalists.

Situation Definition

Potentially, human history posits a rich archive in the universe that proves difficult to capture in a single narrative. The use of words alone may be deficient of the numerous aspects of historical impacts in the society. Some situations only demand the creation of photo albums to illustrate, clearly, what transcended at the point in time. Nonetheless, questions on what guides the actions of the much lucrative and challenging profession linger in the minds of many. The decision on the content of the photo, for instance, may present ethical challenges among the public. As a result, photojournalism is a very prolific sector of the communication and media in our societies that requires keen guidance and standards of operations in the world. An abstract of a gallery can tell the unfolding events as they happened in that short span of time in the life of the journalism.

Ethics in Journalism

Ethics occupies a non-disputable space in the development of human careers besides shaping the human values. Numerous aspects of ethics exist as norms of cultural aspects within the industry. Professionals understand that one of the most important roles of ethics in journalism is democratic inclusion in the story. It is clear that a declarative content in a photo should not evoke the emotions of the audience but also uphold the role of inclusiveness in the storyline. Consequently, ethics of journalism embraces the principle of commonality in the development of the stories. Specifically, stories within the photos should target the three pillars of communication. These include educating, informing as well as creating awareness in the society, notwithstanding the other elements of personality constraints within the cultures.

Values

In the study of communication in the media and social welfares, human values should the central capacity to dictate the direction of each element of the states. Values within relationships and communalism are majorly the concern of any social set up. Typically, they define what morals are. Additionally, the current era of technology present potential threat to integrity and ethics in the society. The digital age, concurrently, forgets the basics of human origin in most communities in the world. Taken has taken over the world. Photos might lose the credential values attached to them within the system. Supposedly, people take photos for fun and light memories. It becomes ironical, the rate at which moral decay has become a potential threat to ethics amidst generations afterward.

Stakeholders

Evidently, the pillars of change in the society are the communities. The foundation of integrity and humanity is only justifiable when we uphold the initial values of the society as a major bond among humanities. Interestingly, the current generation tends to neglect crucial aspects of ethics as to how they relate to family affairs and extends the zeal in the silent springs of journalism that lies in the social. Scholars established that the social is the fastest growing media platform that passes information faster than any other medium in the industry. Because of the allegations, the society currently focuses on the use of social media as means of mass communication in the universe. A close study of the same issues indicates that the fastest tool to moral decay and generation loss of values lies in the use of the social media which include the Facebook, Instagram, as well the twitter handles. These components propel the media content into a disrespectable society where nobody respects the standard norms of our cultures.

Media Industry and Stakeholders

Media industry is a comprehensive field that involves a number of stakeholders in the photojournalism sector. The photographers play the role of both video and photo capturing in the field as they occur. These include casualties such as accidents, family chaos, as well as natural disasters. Also, the team captures live events like periodic celebrations that includes festivals, cultural embrace, as well as the important occasions of a life time. Evidently, the need for total involvement in the same sector portrays the most fundamental quality of a character a journalist has to display in executing their duties in the society. This sector includes enormous resources in the world economy. It represents the sectors of the world economy that benefits, hugely, from the magnificent economic growth in the industrialization and the rise of technology in most aspects.

Historical Perspective

Historically, the use of photographic tools like cameras dates back to the history of technological inventions in the societies. Photography enjoys a reign of transformative movements that highlight the advancement in the logical concerns of the societies. A culture that embraces the history of their development reflects on the social achievements of the main stakeholders in the culture. As a typical illustration of the journalism focus on technology, one can analyse the concept of stakeholders in the sector. Nevertheless, numerous illustrations posit potential increase in the number of journalists in the same field. The industry has had a tremendous development in terms of the absorption rate. Very many fresh talents and experts enter into the field on periodic basis. Thus, the main stakeholders in the industry include producers, editors, photographers, and the public themselves who entail the target audience for the content.

Principles in Photojournalism

Majorly, ethical principles in the media guide individuals with interest in the industry. Enormous codes of conduct, agreements, charter statement and numerous regulations set in this sector seek to conceptualize the context of principle basics of understanding in the field. Numerous principles exist in the same sector as obligations to duty among journalists. The underlying cardinal principle is based on representation of the truth as it is while taking into account the social impact of the matter. Thus, to guarantee the truth, one should enhance accuracy in the process of gathering information in the field. Similarly, where the informant failed to in cooperate specific aspect of the information then clear indication must be available for the public concerns.

Moreover, a principled photojournalist should be very fair and not partial in the intents of the information systems. They should do no harm to any human being in the society as well as enrich the society the relevant information at the relevant time and for relevant reasons. These issues must approach the critical elements of the human welfare in the society.

Ethical Issues in the Digital Age

Several scholars illustrate their concerns on the ethical issues in the current generation as a matter of critical urgency. The use of technology has manipulated the rise of the application of photojournalism in the current generation with vast dynamism on the application of gadgets. Studies show that more than 70% of the young generation demonstrate clear interest on the use of technological gadgets in the society. A majority of people in the society embrace technology as a major factor in life changing techniques. One does not have to create a physical archive of photos anymore as it used to be in the history of the photography.

Ethics in Reporting Accidental Scenes

Accidental scenes may posit life-threatening case that requires deep application of ethics in the industry to help embrace the use of technology. Some fatal accident presentations may present ambiguity of human conscience in ethics in the society. Researchers report that death is the most destabilizing calamity in the human life that affects the psychological performance. Ethics demands that such scenarios should get special attention from the presenters. The recent case studies displayed a common element of contention to help demonstrate the application of ethic in photojournalism.

Privacy and Personal Information

Personal information and data resources are vital aspects of photo sessions that demands keen attentions of the media personality in the society. According to various sources, privacy is a common factor that most individuals in the community must adhere to in the same systems. The most influential aspect of privacy is that the subjects have the right to withdraw information on the case at stake. Therefore, a qualified journalist has to find ways of taking the photos without violating the rights of these individuals at the scene of events presented for the case. Contemporarily, the society responds to the media context as a matter of informative agent in their cultures. Conspicuously, most individuals may lack the ethical prowess to embrace the concept of moral standards in the same system. In the recent case, the rise of platforms such as you tube and WhatsApp has allowed the infiltration of unethical media content into the public. People act insane videos and upload into these platforms thus tarnishing the image of the informative nature of the social media.

Political Influence

The political atmosphere bears huge impact on the progressive development of media personalities. A good journalist should not be influenced by the political figures in the society. As mention earlier, this system should be independent and impartial in the presentation of news to the world economy. In essence, the photographer should take the information based on the intention. They should

Literature Review

Methods and Argument

Conclusion

Work cited

Lester, Paul Martin. Photojournalism Ethics: Issues, Scenarios, and Solutions. Routledge, 2014.

Lester, Paul Martin. Photojournalism: An ethical approach. Routledge, 2015.

Shields, Minla Linn. "Ethics in Photojournalism: Authenticity and Sensitivity in Coverage of Tragic Events." (2014).

Moore, Jennifer E. "Bearing Witness: Picturing National Identity and International Conflict." (2015): 228-229.

Wright, Terence. The photography handbook. Routledge, 2016.

Grayson, Louise. "Citizen Photojournalism: How photographic practices of amateur photographers affect narrative functions of editorial photographs." Journalism Practice 9.4 (2015): 568-579.

Vakkai, Fatima D. "Media and Ethical Issues in Photo-Journalism." nature 4.4 (2014).

Dube, Bevelyn. "To Lie or Not to Lie: Interrogating Codes of Conduct on Photo." Media Law, Ethics, and Policy in the Digital Age (2017): 44.

Sobers, Shawn, and Rob Mitchell. "Photojournalism and ethics: In search of a peace journalism." (2015).

Mortensen, Tara. "Comparing the ethics of citizen photojournalists and professional photojournalists: A co orientational study." Journal of Mass Media Ethics 29.1 (2014): 19-37.

Symons, Sandra. It has to be seen to be believed: the rise of photojournalism and development of its ethical values. Diss. 2014.

Mäenpää, Jenni. "Rethinking Photojournalism." Nordicom Review 35.2 (2014): 91-104.

Campbell, David. "The integrity of the image." (2014).

Keith, Susan. "How do we tell people they cannot take a picture or cannot see something?" Visual Communication Quarterly 21 (2014): 61-71.

Morris, T. Randahl. "Bending the Frame: Photojournalism, Documentary, and the Citizen." (2015): 129-130.

Grayson, Louise. "Editorial photographs and patterns of practice." Journalism Practice 7.3 (2013): 314-328.