The Ethics of Tabloids

We in society make our decisions based on what we know and the information given. When you're in a media whether its TV, radio, newspapers, anything, you have to present it in a manner that is professional. You have to put your thoughts on it based on evidence, information, and what people have said. You'll get positive and negative feedback, and that's what makes tons of stories of subjective, even if the information is true or false. A sense of ethics, morals. Then you have places like TMZ and Inside Edition that make it easy to hate journalism. I said this over a year ago regarding Kareem Hunt's incident. It's no different than ambulance chasers.

The first to report the death of Kobe Bryant was through TMZ. And the backlash they are getting is severe and rightfully so. When you have an LA County sheriff slam them for reporting it first, that's very telling. A petition on Change.org as of the 29th has over 400 thousand signatures for the TMZ show to be cancelled. It brings forth the story that happens every time. Whenever this site is in the news, they are usually in the sight of controversy. And this is something they have been doing since 2005.

A place like TMZ has no morals or values or any kind of professionalism. With the story being told immediately, it brings forth the question of their morals. All they are looking for is views, money, and notoriety. Of course, founder Harvey Levin is saying he was given permission to report the story. I don't buy it. Because if it was within the first hour, someone like Vanessa Bryant or the surviving members of the Altobellis, Mausers, and Chesters, would not have said anything. They would be upset and weeping instead of telling TMZ what happened. If it was a car accident, sure, but without confirmation of the identities of the deceased, it's premature within that first hour to say that Bryant was dead.

While TMZ deserves to be scrutinized, people like Ellen Pompeo make themselves look bad. Despite signing that petition, which I don't think will get it cancelled, she went into a rant that makes you wonder if she was talking about Levin or Harvey Weinstein. It was less a rant on how the site is run and more on women being abused and assaulted. Seems like an excuse to bring up a personal vendetta on guys, which is disturbing. For being a lead in TV for over 15 years, you'd think she'd have better judgement or at least be in the loop of what's happening. It makes for a bad situation. There's more bad stuff to TMZ than abuse and assault and stuff that happens to more than just women. Bad journalistic integrity.

I'll end with this. Sites like TMZ need to be held accountable for their actions when it comes to reporting. And there needs to be hefty fines for when they cross the line. It's sad that things can't be reported in a good manner because of wanting to be the first to cover it. But I hope they get cancelled or shut down one day. The less of these tabloids, the better.