On Friday, March 16, 2012, Dan Gillmor spoke to Washington and Lee University students during an ethics institute day. Gillmor had an interesting take on what he believed made a journalist ethical. He summed up the principles for creators via the acronym TAFIT. Thoughtfulness, Accuracy, Fairness, Independence, and Transparency. In order to effectively succeed in each of these areas, the author must use hyperlinks when publishing online and always utilize an editor as well as at least triple checking facts with various primary sources and admitting when you have made a mistake.
The most interesting thing I took away from Gillmor’s talk was his hatred towards Apple. After our press conference on Monday, I thought it was difficult for people to consistently look negatively at this company. Gillmor enjoys their actual products but does not like the practices that take place in order to produce these products. He hopes that Apple is not off the hook for their unethical manufacturing practices. His other major issue with Apple is that if someone tries to sell his/her app in the Apple Store, Apple has the ability to turn down these apps. He poses the question, “When did Apple become your editor?”
Overall, Gillmor had a common outlook on journalistic ethics with an interesting take on specific conflicts in the past.
-Meade Brewster
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