What if there were no ethics in media or business, and we were left up to our own devices to what is right? Would it be a complete chaos or perfect harmony? In my opinion, it would be a little of both. On one hand, you have a group who wants to do what is right, and then you have the other group who has no interest in what is right. The latter will do what they have to get by to be successful or to get recognition, while the first mention group might be placed in the “nice guys finish last” category. I’m sure you can guess which group would be the majority and minority. Luckily, we do have standards of ethics to guide our minds away from trying to just get by.
With all the codes of ethics in place, people still manage to break them. Numerous stories have been reported over the years of businesses, government entities, and average individual not being ethical. From Watergate to Enron, ethical scandals have been at the forefront of businesses and media for decades. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was created in 2002 to introduce a new set of standards for companies when dealing with financial reporting. The act also states punishments if found guilty of violating this law. In March of 2010, Fortune interviewed Mike Oxley. The article was published on CNN.com. “Is Sarbanes-Oxley a failure?” described how Lehman Brothers used accounting loopholes to make their books appear as normal.
Oxley was asked many questions pertaining to recent Lehman and AIG scandals. According to the article, Lehman was accused of using its European arm to avoid US regulation. In response, Oxley stated that other countries such as Japan, the European Union and Canada have adopted similar regulations when it comes to accounting fraud. He admitted that some regulations are weaker or stronger depending on the country but that global regulations would make a difference in the fight to make companies accountable worldwide. When asked if the act was a success Oxley responded, “Even though the recent meltdown has hurt confidence again, things could have been much worse if accounting regulations had been as lax as financial regulations.” With Sarbanes-Oxley approaching it’s ten-year mark, it seems that the act has reduced the number of financial ethical situations due to the penalties attached to the law.
There are still many non-financial ethical issues in media and business. Simple practices are violated every year but violators are not subjected to harsh sanctions like those pointed out in Sarbanes-Oxley. Just last year, NPR was hit with a scandal in which NPR fundraisers and donors where recorded making anti-Republican and anti-Tea Party comments. This resulted in the resignation of the CEO and VP of Fundraisers for NPR. NPR also faced having funding cut due to this. In the USA Today article, “NPR sting raises questions about media ethics, influence”, many questioned the tactics of the journalist who recorded the edited 11-minute video. James O’Keefe was responsible for the ACORN video released in 2009 that caused ACORN to shut down the following year. O’Keefe and his crew have been known for “using false identities and misleading editing.” Jack Pitney, politics and journalism professor at Claremont-McKenna College, says these tactics, legitimate or not, states “it’s going to be used more frequently, because it works.” It seems that since companies are using unethical practices, it is leading news media to use the same practices in order to expose them. In my opinion, two wrongs don’t make a right. I think that journalists should be held to the same ethical standards as the businesses that they are looking to expose. As I said in the beginning of this post, people will use any tactic to be first.
Much like the recent Joe Paterno death fiasco with CBS Sports, media has started take the approach of being the first to report instead of being accurate. Those are practices that are not good for media or businesses. Some media outlets struggle with being creditable as it is, but situations like these only fuels the fire. When a major network like CBS makes these kinds of mistakes, it leaves the public thinking, “Who can I trust to bring me accurate news?” Accuracy should be the last thought entering someone’s mind when watching the news. Media and businesses need to think about their reputations when making unethical mistakes. It can cost them the trust of the public and will hurt them in the long run.
The need for ethics in media and business decision-making is imperative. We cannot trust those in media or business to do what is right. If we did, most of them would do what they had to just to see their numbers go up, and a small percentage would do things the honest way. We all in our own minds have a code of ethics. We have decided that there are things that we will do and will not do. However, there is no penalty if we don’t hold up those personal ethics that we have set for ourselves. A code of ethics in a business setting insures that we don’t have to wonder if the person we are doing business with is using ethical standards. It is true that one bad apple will spoil the bunch. I believe if we continue to plant seeds of ethics in future media and business leaders, there will be no more bad apples left.
