There were many topics presented in the blog entries that I found especially interesting, and through reading them I learned a lot about ethical values and decision-making. Being in the sports journalism field since high school, I have always been exposed to ethics. I took a mandatory ethics class my senior year at Indiana University in the journalism school, which initially opened my eyes to how gray the topic was. This class really solidified for me the idea that every person views ethics with a different lens. This could be innate or because of the way someone was raised, but regardless of the reason, the truth is that there are many ways to view an (un)ethical situation.
It is hard to choose just one blog topic to focus my
attention. With having a class of 20+ people, it was interesting to see some of
the articles and topics people found to post about. I tended to concentrate on
articles and issues close to my field of work, so seeing entries on personal
training, recruiting and law, for example, was refreshing to look at in my eyes.
Take a look at some of the topics of past blog entries…
The Reds manager’s outburst… was it ethical?
The wrestler who let a kid with downs syndrome win a match…
was it ethical?
Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison’s comment to Frank Kaminsky… was
it ethical?
The quick firing of former BGSU basketball coach Chris Jans…
was it ethical?
The list can go on and on from the topics students discussed
in the blogs and in class, but the one thing that remains clear to me is that
there is no right answer. Everyone has their own opinion of what is moral and
what is ethical. Who I am to tell someone what they think and feel is right or
wrong. It takes a patient, understanding person to ultimately respect someone
else’s opinions on a controversial topic. I truly believe this course pushed us
to do just that; be respectful of others’ views.
Thanks for an interesting semester, Dr. Spencer.
Throughout this semester I found it difficult to determine what I believed was ethical and what was not. Similar to what Alexx pointed out, it is not black and white. There are so many sides to every story and we all come from different backgrounds, experiences and even fields of work. As young professionals, I think it is especially challenging to judge the ethical implications of the situations we discussed in class because we are inexperienced. However, it is essential that we look at these situations as a guideline for challenges we may face in the future. I think we learn a lot from first hand experiences but reviewing certain cases and discussing what others had to go through in their decision making process can be extremely helpful to all of us working in the athletic field.
ReplyDeleteAllie McDavitt