PressEthic

Journalists get paid for the work that we do. Photo journalists, broadcast journalists, reporters for online and print publications all receive payment for our submissions. The questions that arose here regarded the source of payment for ten journalists in South Florida for submssions to a network understood to be anti-Casto.

Little Havana does not veil its passion for a Casto free, Communist free Cuba. Those sentiments can easily be seen as reflective of the U.S. government. Radio Marti and TV Marti broadcast within Cuba exclusively, due to anti-propoganda laws in the United States, and those signals are blocked by the Castro government to the extent possible.

What piqued my curiosity about this is the story that wasn't revealed. What were the mechanics of a government representative approaching a journalist and asking for a certain story to be aired, or researched or developed further? Is there someone designated by the U.S. government to act as a sort of editor who journalists pitch stories to? Is the content of these stories dictated in any way by the U.S. government? The greater ethical dilemma could very well be that the U.S. government held influence in any way over journalists working in the United States -- regardless of the intention or eventual place of publication/airing.

Moreover, it is perception in today's ethics-sensative media culture that is also of great importance. The ethos that created Air America and Radio Free Europe are vastly different than the realities of the War on Terror, the Iraq War, the internet, global media and the United States as the lone super power which so pervasively characterize the current era. Government involvement, especially U.S. government involvement, on what people hear, see or read in the media is an ethical bridge that should not be crossed by journalists.