February 29, 2008
· Filed under gay, politics · Tagged america, Clinton, gay marriage, gay rights, Obama
I’ve been following the race for the US presidency fairly closely and I am thrilled that it looks like the next president will be a Democrat… fingers crossed.
The problem I’ve had is deciding which candidate I want to win. Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton? And so I thought, what is the one issue that is most important for America to evolve? The most important thing is human rights and, more specifically, the one area that the US has always ignored is gay-rights.
The LGBT community is the last group of people in society who are still routinely discriminated against and treated like second-class citizens. In the US they still do not allow gay marriage in most states. Same-sex partners are not given equal rights as straight couples and some states don’t even let gay couples adopt.
America is the most powerful country in the world and everything they do sets the standard for the rest of the world. If they equalize rights for all, the rest of the world will begin to follow suit and that is why it is so crucial to have a president who believes everyone is equal.
It seems both Obama and Clinton want to make a change. For the first time ever, the candidates are actually reaching out to the LGBT community and both Obama and Clinton have sections on their websites dedicated to gay Americans. And both Obama and Clinton have released open letters to the gay community detailing the change they hope to make for gay Americans including making away with the “Don’t ask don’t tell” policy and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
For the last eight years Republicans have been in the Whitehouse. Republicans have disgracefully suppressed the gay community throughout American history. Vice-President Dick Cheney, whose own daughter is a lesbian, repeatedly voted against gay marriage is the US.
In the US 40 states have laws banning same sex marriage. Gay marriage became legal in Canada on July 20th, 2005. I remember the day very clearly. We were unsure if the law would pass and Carlos and I were scared of what might happen. It’s moments like that that remind me of how proud I am to be a Canadian. I couldn’t imagine living in a country that thought that my love was illegitimate or that I was a second-class citizen. Oh Canada!
So to all you Americans, I ask you to do your research and vote for change! And do not vote for this guy!
February 13, 2008
· Filed under Canada, journalism, politics · Tagged ethics, journalism, Ken Peters, photo
Ken Peters is a reporter for the Hamilton Spectator. In 2004, Peters was held in contempt of court for not revealing a source. Earlier this week Ken came to Mohawk College and talked to a group of first and second year journalism students. He talked about his ordeal, the court case and how he was personally affected by trying to protect his source.
Listening to Ken Peters speak was a valuable experience. He pointed out the fact that it could have happened to anyone and how important it is to portray the truth and protect your sources.
“I did nothing wrong. I did not break a law,” said Peters.
He also recalled his first time on stand where he said to the Justice, “If I reveal my source, I would also have to give… my notice of resignation as a journalist to The Hamilton Spectator.”
I feel like personal ethics and journalistic ethics come hand-in-hand. If I wouldn’t turn in an innocent person in my own life, why would I do it as a journalist? That being said, I also feel that if I knew someone was guilty of committing a serious crime, I wouldn’t protect them just to write a story about it. It’s a tough line to draw, but it is important to make every decision based on right and wrong. Ken Peters’ source exposed an abnormally high mortality rate at a Hamilton retirement home. I think both Peters and his source did something good by exposing the Retirement home’s poor conditions.
As a journalist the most important thing is to maintain your journalistic integrity. Ethics play a role in every story you do. You have to portray the truth. Protecting sources, being impartial and completely free of bias are essential to maintaining your integrity.
In today’s age of technology it is easy to manipulate photos and videos, but as a journalist, it is integral to never manipulate a story. Whether it is removing a blemish in a picture of a flower, combing two photos into one or placing a disheveled teddy bear in your shot of a disaster area, it is not a journalist’s job to enhance a story by manipulating the truth.
In our social journalism class, we discussed the ethics in removing blemishes from photos. A lot of my classmates said it was OK because you see it all the time in magazines, TV and in movies, where air-brushing is common-practice, but my opinion is that Hollywood is about creating stories, but journalism is simply about telling true stories as you know them to be true. And that is what I strive for as the future of journalism.
