EOTO #1

    For my EOTO presentation, my partner, Madelyn, and I chose to cover The Society of Professional Journalists. The Society of Professional Journalists, SPJ, is an association that focuses on protected and improving journalism one journalist at a time. SPJ's official title use to be Sigma Delta Chi Fraternity. This journalist fraternity was founded on DePauw University's campus in 1909. However, the name changed into The Society of Professional Journalists in 1988. 

Within taking Media Law and Literacy last semester and Media Law and Ethics this semester, I have learned the true importance of the first amendment. Within SPJ organization, they are advocates and fighters for the first amendment. In Media Law and Literacy last semester and the quick recap of the first amendment this semester in Media Law and Ethics, we learned the following:

                        

1. As a journalist and a citizen in society, we must be aware of our rights. 

2. We must know what the first amendment details and what is protected/unprotected.

                                       

The SPJ's key component of understanding the first amendment is to increase the awareness and to support the First Amendment through education. Many schools don't go into depth about how journalism and the First Amendment go hand in hand with one another. After reading the importance the First Amendment has on SPJ, I found a scholarly article by Clay Calvery. This article described the First Amendment, and Credibility. When talking about the news, we expect the broadcast journalists to be credible. In the article, it stated that" credibility is a mainstay of the journalistic enterprise", however many journalists "damage their own or their organizations credibility" by not covering both sides of a story.

                            

One of the other key components of the SPJ is their importance on their Code of Ethics. When any organization has a code of ethics, it showcases the backbone of the organization to help maintain credibility throughout the members. After reading the SPJ's Code of Ethics, there are definitely some takeaways that all journalists can use: 

1. Seek truth and report it 

-Take ownership by doing research on both sides

- Avoid stereotyping 

- Always Attribute 

2. Minimize Harm 

- Be aware of Bias 

-Don't stereotype 

-Check your emotions 

3. Act Independently 

-Don't pick sides 

-Serve the public 

4. Be accountable and Transparent 

-Civil Responsibility 

Civil Dialogue 

    Doing this project and writing a blog about it, helped me find a new journalist association to join. Not only did it do that, it allowed me to repurpose some key ideas of how journalism is essential to our society. Often times, I feel like we forget that journalism isn't just a newspaper or watching the news on television. Journalism is everywhere, especially on social media.