Media Law and Ethics

AMENDMENT I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

#First Amendment,  Source: Constitute.org  

Photographers are forced to make difficult decisions when they are covering a story. The decide whether to take a photo. To make this decision a photographer must go through their ethical foundation. According to the book Photojournalism: The Professionals’ Approach by Kenneth Kobré the foundations of ethical decision-making are Utilitarian, Absolutist, and The Golden Rule. Utilitarian means they must consider if the picture they are taking is doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. One example is taking a picture of a tragedy so people can learn from it so the tragedy does not happen again. Absolutist means some people have rule or principle they will never break. Some photojournalist might refuse to take a picture of a dead body. Finally, the Golden Rule of “do onto others as you would have them do unto you” is important because no photojournalist should ever do something that they wouldn’t want done to themselves. I take the last one seriously, and if I would not want to be shown in a certain situation, I won’t take a picture of someone else in that situation. I will always way the pros and cons of a picture before allowing it to be published, if the picture can make a big difference, then I will take the picture and publish it. #journalismethics

            According to Kobré’s book photographers can shoot in any public area at anytime with restrictions on airports. Public areas are the most limitless places for a photojournalist while the most restrictive places are in medical facilities. Another place that photojournalist might face difficulty are government buildings. According to tripsavvy Operators of potential terrorist targets, such as the Pentagon, may forbid photography. Other places that require permission are courtrooms prisons military bases and legislative chambers.

Manipulating a photo is deceiving the reader. If a reader knows the photo was fake, then they might not trust the rest of the story to be real either. Using a photo that is fake will cost the publisher trust over time. People don’t like to be lied to. One of the biggest restrictions of a photojournalist according to Kobré’s book it is illegal to go into somebody’s house and take pictures without permission. #privacymatters If it is not a public place, you need somebody’s permission to take photos. Privacy and defamation laws are the biggest limitations of a photojournalist. Another battle that photojournalists must fight is police lines. According to ACLU.org there has been an issue of people being harassed by police for taking still and video photographs in public places has emerged across the country. The ACLU writes that “Taking still and video photographs of things that are plainly visible in public spaces is a constitutional right — and that includes the outside of federal buildings, as well as transportation facilities, and police and other government officials carrying out their duties.” The only thing that is illegal for photojournalists to do is cross the yellow police line. Most laws favor the rights of photojournalists so it is important that they respect police and firefighters to make sure they can do their jobs, but they should never stop fighting for their rights. #pressfreedom