I am completing PR & Journalism majors and in both of these courses I have completed ethics units. These units taught me about acting socially responsible and about being a good person when I get into the work place.
Unfortunately, I think these values leave us as soon as we get into the workplace, where money and career development take over.
I am completing my work placement at a hospital and I work at another hospital. I constantly deal with journalists to give out ‘condition reports’ on patients. A condition report is usually, ‘stable’ or ‘critical’. There are often things that happen which have a lot of media interest. A recent event occurred where a lady was driving to work with two of her children and she unfortunately had a crash and her five year old son died in the accident. She was also injured and her other son was in a critical condition at children’s hospital.
The event had a lot of media attention and I had journalists constantly calling up for information and condition reports. First of all, I couldn’t believe how many of the media outlets (online, tv and print) were completely inaccurate on the events that take place (one thing we are taught in uni is to check and confirm all facts). Secondly, I had a journalist ask me, on the day this happened, if the mother was up to talking to her. This made me so angry, I just wanted to say to her, what do you think? So I politely said, because her son died today, and because her other son is critically ill, and because she’s in hospital, then no, she probably isn’t ‘up to talking to you today’. The media ended up coming to the hospital and approaching the family anyway.
I know that coming out of university I wouldn’t dream of asking such a question. But are journalists so eager to get a story they would ask this of this poor lady?
I hope that we, as future employees, can keep some of those great ethical values we learn at university and take them into the work place.
Jodie Leishman
6 comments:
Jodie that is horrific!
I’m very impressed that you managed to keep calm in a situation like that. If I was in your position, I’m thinking a bit of screaming or just slamming down the phone may be in order. I dread having to work side by side with journalists like that.
I’m wondering if your uni ethics units were enough for you to feel prepared in this kind of situation, or if your hospital had trained you in some way to deal with it?
Also having studied journalism, I find it hard to imagine doing what that journalist did. On the other hand I suppose it is their job. In order for them to report on a story they need quotes and as much information as possible.
Imagine if you where reading that story. You would probably want to know what happened to the mother and the other child. I think working as a journalist you have to be prepared to do things that people would normally think is unethical. I once heard a presentation from a journalist who followed a nazi war criminal to their church and waited for them in the parking lot to get an interview.
In saying that, I don't think I would be able to call or go to a hospital to interview a mother the day her son died.
I can relate to that feeling, it makes you wonder if being a journalist means abandoning all human virtues such as courtesy, sympathy and plain old respect.
I myself observe callous behaviour at my placement at Princess Margaret Hospital more than once.
On this one occassion the Sunday Times covered a story about a programme the hospital was running to promote healthy eating amongst obese children. The PR department at PMH helped by supplying all information requested. The story's headline turned out to something that referred to obese children as "Fat Kids".
Needless to say the PR manager at PMH was apalled at the inappropriate way this paper had referred to these children. As a journalist I suppose you want to get reader's attention and will go to any length to do so but as a PR person you are there to look out for the best interest of your organisation and all within it, so this insensitive headline was hard to take.
The PR manager made a note to let that journalist know PMH was not happy with their handling of that story, and because he was in constant contact with PMH's PR department we all knew she would.
Oh dear!
Sounds really bad..
I think these journalists are probably desensitised to such news. I suppose if they did not cover that story, someone else would; and the world of journalism/news possibly can be very cut-throat.
Not judging or condoning the journalist but I've been in situations where besides my better judgement, I've carried out some instructions because of higher orders and because I have to report back and answer to them.
Increasingly, work is work and we're all so caught up that we all want to just carry it out and finish it without thinking of consequences.
That is a terrible situation you were in Jodie.
It sounds like you handled it very well! Like Dana said I don't think I could have been as courteous with those reporters!
It is hard to understand where along the line they become so career obsessed because after just completing an ethics course you could never even dream of asking a grieving mother for comment in that situation!
I guess we just have to hope that people like this become more scarce in the industry
Hey Jodie,
Doing journalism and PR too, i think this is an incredibly difficult situation for both parties.
I hate to play devils advocate, but the ethics of death knocks is a topic i've recently been tasked with doing and the burden of stress thats placed on a journalist to do that is immense.
I'm not saying it's right, because its horrible to do that to grief, but from a PR perspective its a bit like doing a cold call, except one thats freezing.
On the other hand, they should have been well versed in the fact that grieving familys are to be given time to overcome the issue, rather then forced on the spot.
Either way, the situation is trully tragic.
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