This is a big question, one people are constantly asking. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve!” declares biblical prophet Joshua. “Follow your heart!” coos the Disney Princesses. “To thine own self be true!” chokes Hamlet character Polonuis before he dies. It seems obvious that your first loyalty should be to yourself. We should never have to compromise our values to please others.
So, as a journalist, who should you be loyal to?
Later during this class, we'll create a code of ethics that outlines the personal beliefs we have that we should be loyal to. We generally accept that we must be true to ourselves and follow our heart and so on.
But the question asked by group 4 is complicated and interesting: As journalists, should we be loyal primarily to the citizens or our businesses?
We have an obligation to both, to be sure. If the business of our paper is unsuccessful, then the citizens are not getting information, and you're probably out of a job. But I hope that the answer in all journalist's hearts is an emphatic, "We are primarily loyal to our audience!"
Elements states in nice, bold text, "Journalism's first loyalty is to citizens." I believe this. We, the writers, compilers, and presenters of news, must have truth and accuracy as our primary goal. Information is what makes our society free and democratic.
We are the “middlemen.” We connect the newsmakers with the news-consumers. Our loyalty is not primarily to our boss, the corporation, the business. It’s to our audience.
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