Ethics and Mobile Phones

Journalism is an industry regulated by the trust and confidence of viewers. News moguls like CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox News rely on producing fair and balanced content to maintain their reputation. And they know, jeopardizing content jeopardizes viewership and the sometimes decades-old reputation built on honest reporting.

But what about blogs? Many, if not most, don't seek to provide readers a balanced outlook but rather their own perspective - sometimes honest yet sometime malicious. In the online world, where millions of blogs come and go daily with no warning, who's to regulate content? Who's to prevent me (other than my professor who regularly checks my content) from spreading a horrible rumor?

Transferring the ethical code that has evolved throughout the many years of professional journalism into this new medium where access to publishing is almost universal is, what I believe, the first dilemma behind the industry. The second, how do we make money off it?

Now lets segue seamlessly into the second part of my post: mobile news.

I use an iPhone and recently, before being assigned to do so, downloaded an application sponsored by the Associated Press that provides up to the minute feeds of the latest stories and photographs published by the A.P worldwide. I found the application very convenient, user friendly, and effective in providing me minute by minute news feeds.

In addition, the iPhone's full browser allows me to access any news website, which many, have mobile-specific platform tailored specifically for acceess among cell phones and Smart Phones.

Literally attached to the hip of almost every American, mobile devices are becoming the starting point for consumers of news.