Michael Brown  On Ethics


ETHICAL POLICIES, COMPANY POLICIES, MORALS AND MONEY

When you start beginning, talk about ethics, you also are talking about value judgements. If everyone is not coming from the same frame of reference...you may have a company ethics, see that's a different issue. Can you legislate morality? No. You cannot legislate morality. Morality comes from a frame of reference, of culture, and religion. A system of doing things, a method of doing things. We begin to talk about ethical reporting, that's a fancy word that means diddly. 'Cause all you're talking about, "What is my company policy?" And it comes up to the managing editor, and the city editor that makes the call, "We don't write it like this." It's not ethics, it's policy. And that's a fancy word that J school must begin to address. That's bull crap. It has nothing to do with ethics. That's what I believe. You see, at the Chicago Defender, we have publication philosophy. As opposed to editorial policy. Editorial policy changes with every person. Also you have a company policy. Which mandates certain things. That's your frame of reference. It has nothing to do with ethical reporting. It has to do with what is the frame of reference or in this case, I'm being redundant maybe, what is the company policy? As a reporter, as the managing editor, as the city editor, it's my call to say, "We don't write this like this. We don't say that in this paper." That's it, it has nothing to do with ethics. Has to do with the way we think, what our editor says, or what our publisher says, is correct. If our publisher say it's correct, it is morally correct for this paper. Bingo. Subjective. Other stuff, they're dancing in the wind. And that's why a lot of those metropolitan papers don't make it. That's why a lot of those reporters have difficulty when they go there. 'Cause the school did not teach the bottom line is money. The bottom line to selling this newspaper, write the newspaper so somebody will buy it. Why do you think some newspapers have people who sit up and do nothing for eight hours to write headlines? That's all they do. Write headlines. Change leads. Bingo. For what? I know what this company wants, I know what they need to sell this paper, I'll write the headline. Just that simple. But for one reason. This is not a public service. Newspapers are in business to make money. Has nothing to do with ethics. Has to do with what's gonna make money for this newspaper.

COMPROMISING PRINCIPLES

See, when it comes down to that you have to find out what are you best comfortable with? I've talked about this with some of our students. And it's what you're comfortable with. You can be bought once for a dime, and twice for twenty cents, once you compromise your principles. Once you compromise your principles, you're nothing. So what is it that you can best live with for yourself? That's what it comes down to.