Moral Minefields

So in class this week privacy was rediscussed as a moral minefield.

But I wanted to discuss something that I have thought about quite a bit doing journalism over the past three years and that is journalism and reporting on wars or war torn countries.

I remember watching this documentary (if anyone else remembers feel free to remind me what it was) and I think one of the ultimate moral dilemma's was raised. If you are in the middle of an attack and are uninjured, do you drop the camera or your pen and help out? or do you keep the camera rolling to witness the destruction to show the world?

The documentary said it was a choice that had to be made in a split second. I question though, why can't you do both?

What do you think? Would you ever consider being this type of journalist?

I think this issue brings up the notions of objectivity and subjectivity. Is journalism ever truly objective?

Open democracy had this on their website:
Encouraging reporters to become emotionally involved in the stories they cover is a worrying new trend argues the BBC’s David Loyn. He calls for objectivity. Des Freedman sees this as admirable but naive; the problems lie with the larger commercial forces that structure news rather than individual journalists. (http://www.opendemocracy.net/media-journalismwar/issue.jsp)

Objectivity is the dominant ethos of modern journalism. It underscores notions of fairness, accuracy and lack of bias in the media. But although central to journalist behaviour, objectivity is a troubled idea. Is objectivity merely a code for journalists to go through the motions and avoid tackling the hard issues? Does a lack of bias prevent journalism from performing its watchdog function? Or is objectivity the core item that underscores all that is good about journalism “describing society to itself"?

In class, it was said that objectivity is impossible and that fairness is the best we can aim for. Walter Lippman, however, characterises objectivity as a method rather than stating it in relation to content. Is this then achievable?