Shirley Sherrod and the Shame of the Scoop

Social media, the internet, even cable TV and radio have all been technological advances used to bring us news faster than ever before. Until recently, though, there was still a delay. Stories would be developed, written and then published on a cycle (generally daily, with a deadline). With the advent of these faster means of communication this cycle has been broken down into a rough guideline.

This has great benefits, and great failures. News can be tweeted, tumbld, and blogged by anyone anywhere (Mumbai and Iran are two great examples I can think of off the top of my head).

Because of the speed of the news, many sources seem to be ignoring the ethical code of journalism in favor of being the first to break the story. Such is the case with Shirley Sherrod.

Shirley Sherrod was the director of rural development in Georgia for the USDA, that is she was director until a conservative blogger, Andrew Breitbart, posted a video clip where Sherrod was telling the NAACP about a time when she didn't want to help a white farmer based on his color (Sherrod is black, by the way).

As soon as Breitbart had posted this video, it was picked up by Fox to be aired on TV. However, what is even more amazing is that before the video was aired, Sherrod was fired.

The best part of the whole ordeal? The video of Sherrod was (almost definitely libelously) edited to make her appear racist. The rest of the video clip shows her discussing how she didn't act on this thought and instead helped to save the white farmer's land from foreclosure and how they've formed a very tight friendship ever since.

After the full video was exposed, the USDA offered Sherrod her job back and she declined.

So what's the moral here?

Journalism in America was founded on a system of ethics. The People should be able to trust their news sources to be actually fair and balanced. The lack of research done by news organizations (who still reported on Sherrod's supposed racism all day after the video broke) is absolutely astounding. Did anybody bother to look at the rest of the tape? Did anybody bother to find a source other than a blogger with an agenda? WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE IN THE MEDIA TODAY!? Please, next time you find a lead for a story, do your job. And in case you aren't sure what to do, here is a link to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.