Ethical Journalism

I took the "ethics in the news" description literally for this assignment because it seems as though there is very little in the way of ethical journalism these days.  I used the above apology from Brian Williams as an example of journalists being unethical in their delivery of news to further their "credibility" and in turn, attract more viewers instead of honest, thought provoking news reporting the public needs to form valid opinions.  Another instance that comes to mind is the end of Dan Rather's career where he was embroiled in accusations of failing to verify the authenticity of reports used in an attempt to discredit the President at the time George Bush.  In failing to verify the truth of the documents, he ended what was a great career and called into question many of the stories he reported on throughout his career.  It is said that to have a successful democracy, freedom of the press has to exist, but the public requires honest, ethical reporting of world events.  With so many journalists attempting to outdo the others on the news they deliver instead of factual reporting, they are failing the masses that rely upon them.