What's Meghan's apparent attitude toward ethics? What does the poet think of her attitude? Is Meghan's attitude toward class and her social role as a student ethical? Why or why not? Is she a good candidate for a career in a media profession? Why or why not? If possible, refer to readings and class discussions in your response,
Please respond by 4 p.m., Sunday. All blog responses henceforth will be due on Sunday, by 4 p.m., unless you're otherwise directed.
TO MEGHAN, ASLEEP IN ETHICS CLASS
As if what people are is all they’ll ever be
you close your eyes
and it’s suddenly night everywhere and always
nothing can reach you not even
the agitated ghosts of ancient philosophers
swirling around our hot basement classroom
but to you it’s just words love death etc.
so why wake you to see the firelight
beating frantically on the walls of Plato’s cave
when your sleeping face is beautifully composed
like that of a fairy-tale princess
with a piece of poisoned apple caught in her throat
Teaching Notes
You must become the flame on the candle. - Thich Nhat Hanh
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
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Is Media Ethics Education DOA?
It sounds like a joke Jay Leno would tell during his opening monologue on The Tonight Show. Hear about the graduate students at the prestigious journalism school? They got caught cheating on an ethics exam. Ha ha ha. Except that’s actually what happened at Columbia University
No one admitted cheating despite pressure from the school’s administrators and pleas from classmates, who feared the scandal would damage the market value of their degrees. Meanwhile, the teacher of the course, New York Times columnist Samuel G. Freedman, refused to comment. But if the disgruntled posts on RateMyProfessors.com are any indication, his students hadn’t exactly been soaking up knowledge. “Maybe he could e-mail his ‘speeches’ to the students instead of making everyone suffer through the most wasted class in j-school. . . ,” one read.
There’s an old cowboy saying that goes, “When your horse dies, get off.” Journalism ethics education is a dead horse. Or else those aren’t vultures circling in the sky.
No one admitted cheating despite pressure from the school’s administrators and pleas from classmates, who feared the scandal would damage the market value of their degrees. Meanwhile, the teacher of the course, New York Times columnist Samuel G. Freedman, refused to comment. But if the disgruntled posts on RateMyProfessors.com are any indication, his students hadn’t exactly been soaking up knowledge. “Maybe he could e-mail his ‘speeches’ to the students instead of making everyone suffer through the most wasted class in j-school. . . ,” one read.
There’s an old cowboy saying that goes, “When your horse dies, get off.” Journalism ethics education is a dead horse. Or else those aren’t vultures circling in the sky.
A Question for Socrates
The question of how ethics is learned, or even if it can be, is as old as Western philosophy. In Plato’s dialog Meno the title character asks, “Can you tell me, Socrates, whether virtue is acquired by teaching or by practice; or if neither by teaching nor practice, then whether it comes to man by nature, or in what other way?” Of course, Socrates, being Socrates, resists giving a definite answer. But we can’t. The sad fact is, students had better get an effective ethics education now or they may never.
Last summer I conducted an ethics workshop for some reporters and editors at the Poughkeepsie Journal, a small daily in upstate
But what I remember most is the air of defeat that clung to the staff as we sat on hard plastic chairs in the break room discussing the cases. I could hear in their voices the bitterness and cynicism of employees forced to follow corporate policies they despised. Recently, for example, the paper had started running display ads on the front page and section fronts, a much more grievous ethical lapse, their mumbled asides suggested, than anything the case studies might have to offer.
I don’t want my students to ever wear the gray, defeated expression I saw that day on the faces at the Journal. But given the downward direction in which the media are moving, and fast, how in the world can I prevent it from happening?
Teaching Media Ethics by Telling Stories
A friend of mine who teaches at a big Midwestern university recounts in class the events of her first week as a reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune. She was sent to Duluth to cover Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey on the campaign trail. When they were introduced, Humphrey vigorously shook her hand. “Oh yes, Susan,” he said, “I read your stuff all the time.” He couldn’t have read her stuff, though; she hadn’t written anything yet. “Just a few words,” she explains to her students, “but words that taught this fledging reporter a great lesson about pols and the little lies they tell.”
I usually find occasion during the semester to quote I. F. Stone’s dictum, “Every government is run by liars and thieves, and nothing they say should be believed,” to make the same point. But Susan’s story makes the point better. That’s because it has existential force. Her story vividly captures in a way a secondhand quote can’t the realities of a reporter’s life.
Some might think telling “war stories” is a waste of precious class time. I’ve a colleague who didn’t want to fall into the “trap” of regaling students with stories ad nauseam (“which, let’s face it, is easier than teaching or grading,” he said). So one semester he kept track. When he toted it all up at the end, he was surprised that he’d used less than an hour - out of 45 – talking about his newspaper experiences. And yet, he admitted, it was his stories that students seemed to remember most.
“Stories teach us how to live,” Daniel Taylor said in his essay, “The Ethical Implications of Storytelling.” What he meant was that stories preserve our experience for contemplation and evaluation. Although not all stories carry a heavy message, there’s an entire category of stories, so-called “exemplary tales,” that are told to convey a moral.
Our war stories are potentially just such tales. They can provide evidence, in ethicist John Barton’s words, of “how real human beings live through various crises and trials and remain human.” My colleague who kept tabs on his storytelling has described his stories as cautionary. Most, he said, deal with “screwups I learned from.”
But sometimes the storyteller and the audience can’t agree on what exactly the moral of a story is.
When Susan was a cub reporter on the Tribune, she interviewed the Beatles, who were on their second tour of the States. She got into their hotel room by dressing up as a waitress in an ugly, mustard-colored uniform and accompanying an actual room service waiter upstairs. Ringo took one look at her little plastic name tag – it read “Donna Brown” – and snorted, “What kind of name is that?” The waiter nudged her in the side. “Tell them what you real name is,” he urged. She did, as well as her reason for being there. Rather than throw her out, the Beatles politely answered her questions. They even let her phone for a photographer. The next day her story ran on the front page, with a photo of John sitting at a table and looking up at her and laughing as she poured coffee in his cup. She still has a glossy print of that photo somewhere.
Many of Susan’s students think she’s nuts for not having the photo hanging up in her office. They also think she’s nuts for saying she’d never participate in the same kind of stunt today. To her celebrity-struck students, disguising herself as a hotel waitress to get an interview with the Beatles seems soooo cool. They lose all sight of the fact that it wasn’t a story of vital public interest that demanded undercover methods.
Susan intends one lesson when she talks about her hard day’s night, but her students, living in a paparazzi-saturated culture, draw another. “It may be a lost cause,” she remarked to me.
Or maybe not. Negotiations over what the point of a story is can be part of the point of the story. In the process of negotiating, we test different interpretations, try out different themes. This is helpful. This is educational. Lawrence Kohlberg, the Harvard psychologist famous for his research on the stages of moral development, contended that “the teaching of virtue is the asking of questions. . . not the giving of answers.” Stories don’t necessarily have to yield clear moral rules to be of value. It’s enough sometimes if they just give us something to think about.
27 comments:
Meghan's attitude toward ethics is clearly indifferent. She is not interested or concerned with the lesson much less the topic of ethics. The poet sees her attitude as ignorant and blind. In line three, he writes "it's suddenly night everywhere and always." He is referring to Meghan's blockade on the world around her. Meghan's attitude toward the class and her role as a student are unethical because she broke promises. As discussed in class, once you make a promise, don't break it! If you don't want to fulfill a promise, don't make one. In this case, Meghan, who is at a college and enrolled in a class, made a promise to her college to be studious and to her teacher to complete assigned work and be attentive and interactive in class. By her falling asleep in class, Meghan shows she does not care to keep her side of the bargain: to be a good student. Following this ethical thought frame, this student would not make a good candidate for a career in a media profession because she broke promises in her school, so who is to say she won't break those same promises as a media professional? Journalists must gather news in a fair, appropriate and just way and must never lie or fabricate sources, stories, etc... Who is to say Meghan, as a professional, will not care enough to say quote a source accurately in a story or publish balanced and factual articles? The poet described the sleeping student as a "princess with a poisoned apple stuck in her throat." By falling asleep in the class, she hurt herself because she was missing the points of being an ethical reporter/media professional. Also, how will she know how to act as an ethical journalist in a professional setting if she didn't pay attention in ethics class? As Ehrlich mentioned in chapter 2, journalists make choices every day, and their decisions either reflect a commitment toward truth or career advancement. How can someone fully understand the differences between truth and deception if they have not been taught? Meghan may not have known it that day, but she missed her chance to learn the greatest importance of journalism:the truth.
I saw Meghan's attitude toward ethics as being sort of ignorant; to her ethics class is just a course she has to sit through, and therefore not really worthy of her full attention. This is unfortunate, as ethics class is an important part of an inspiring journalist's education. The poet illustrates her ignorance in the line "to you it's just words love death etc." While her role as a student may be seen as unethical because she is showing complete disregard toward her teacher's lesson, she has also done a great disservice to herself which is also quite unethical. By disregarding the lecture Meghan may have just robbed herself of a valuable professional lesson. Since journalists are news gatherers they must always be ready and willing to take in the new. They must constantly be learning. Since this student has clearly made the decision not to learn she probably won't make a very good candidate for a job in the media profession. What is the point of taking on a role (In this case the role of a journalism student.) if you do not intend to play the part?
To start, falling asleep in any class, especially in a college scenario is seen as extremely rude and unprofessional. Taking a college class is, and gaining an education, is your choice and something people pay high amounts of money for to do so. Those who can afford to go to school are lucky they are able to get that opportunity. Meghan is taking advantage of this concept and being irresponsible. Her attitude towards ethics is poor, showing she is uncaring of what is happening in her class and the important class discussions. She is showing a lack of interest in class, and her feelings towards ethics are ignorant. Sleep is her priority, and this class is not worth her time in place of it. The poet is unpleased with this behavior, and has taken it to heart. He explains in the poem that to her it’s just a “whatever” kind of concept. Her actions are going to hurt her in the long run. Her attitude towards this class and her social role as a student are not ethical in any way. Her attention clearly not being present during the class lecture is proving her social role as a student to be unethical. Also her attitude of not caring about missing what discussions are happening during class is unethical. She will not be a good candidate for a media profession. Ethics is key in that area of expertise, and if she doesn’t want to learn/care about it now, why would she care about it later? She is just proving to the lecturer and herself that she is lazy and wouldn’t fit a good job description. Journalists have to be aware of their surroundings and ready to jump on any new news that pops up instantly. If Meghan is too busy sleeping, she is going to miss everything.
Meghan clearly does not care about ethics or at least learning about ethics in her class. She could believe that she already knows everything that there is to know about ethics or rather simply does not see the importance of understanding different ethical approaches to things. The poet clearly disagrees with her attitude and seems to use a rather spiteful tone throughout the poem. He is either offended or at least unhappy with her lack of interest in the topic. Meghan's attitude toward the class and as a student is highly unethical. For instance, I am assuming this is a college setting and therefore Meghan has options when it comes to taking classes. She is paying to sit in these classes and learn but instead she is sleeping and passing up the opportunity to enhance her knowledge about things. As a student we all agree to abide by a certain code the college sets forth as well as to follow any guidelines the professor states in his or her syllabus. I am sure there is something against her behavior listed in both of those documents and therefore further proves her actions as unethical. Ethics is a major foundation for the media field so I do not see Meghan as a good candidate for this field. As we have discussed in class, there are certain ethical guidelines each media profession sets forth and if Meghan decides to clearly ignore these codes, she could find herself in a pretty bad place career wise. She may want to look at a field that is more cut and dry to avoid any ethical confrontations.
Meghan does not care about ethics, nor think it is important. The fact that she is asleep is a clear indicator of her lack of a desire to learn about ethics at all. Although it is not unheard of and is actually kind of common, falling asleep in class is pretty disrespectful to say the slightest. If I were the teacher I would be upset and mad because it is my job to teach the student, but it is pretty impossible to teach a student who is asleep. The poet thinks that she is naïve and ignorant, and says so in the line “to you it’s just love death etc.” The poet thinks that even though so many people, theories and important life lessons are being taught in this class, Meghan thinks it is just about love, death and other things. She thinks that it’s the same information she has been hearing about all of her life. Meghan’s attitude toward class and her social role as a student are not ethical. She is spending thousands of dollars to attend a college, which means her job, as a student, is to attend and pay attention in class. Also, as a student in the class, it is her duty to participate in discussions and give her opinion, because an ethics class has many discussions relating to one’s opinion. Judging by Meghan’s lack of knowledge about what ethics is really about, and her failure to stay awake in class, I would say Meghan is not a good candidate for a good candidate for a career in a media profession. I think this because as a media professional, the issue of ethics comes up very frequently. From knowing when to publish a certain story or picture, or investigate something, ethics are needed to be used to aid in someone’s judgment of the matter. For example, we discussed in class a few guidelines media professionals use when publishing or investigating stories, and if Meghan did not pay attention in class and learn these guidelines, she would never know when it was appropriate, or necessary to publish anything.
Chapter 2 of "Journalism Ethics" begins with the definition of truthiness. Truthiness, we learn, is the "quality of preferring concepts one wishes to be true rather than the concepts known to be true." This definition can be successfully applied "To Meghan, Asleep in Ethics Class" because the poem illustrates the plight of a girl who closes her mind to the teachings of great philosophers, giving in to her own ignorance. By choosing to believe what she wants to believe (nothing, essentially)and ignoring the teachings of her ethics professor, Meghan is a prime example of truthiness. The author of this poem looks at Meghan's behavior with disdain. By blocking out the rest of the world, Meghan does not allow her perspectives on people and situations to evolve. Instead, they remain one dimensional in her mind as "all they'll ever be." The author seems frustrated that Meghan is unreachable and all the great teachings of Earth's finest thinkers are generalized and shoved aside. Unfortunately, Meghan's attitude is nothing new. Many Americans suffer from the same ignorance and refuse to expand their frame of reference. Individuals like Meghan are not cut out for a career in the media. Media professionals must be capable of expressing the news in full, not just the bits of it that they want to hear. Furthermore, by sleeping in class in the first place, Meghan acts unethically because she is not working to her full potential, which the professor expected her to upon the start of the class.
I feel a little bad for poor Meghan. She was probably up until 4 a.m. doing work for another one of her J classes (I know I’ve been there). Nonetheless, her character and ethical code must be analyzed.
Meghan is not engaged in ethics class, and therefore is indifferent towards ethics. The poet reflects this with his line “but to you it’s just words love death etc.” To Meghan, the concepts she should be learning and absorbing in ethics class are not resonating- she is simply going through the motions. Posting on the blog Lovedeathetc., not learning from posting on the blog Lovedeathetc. (Though this point is only valid if Meghan’s attitude of sleeping in class extends to her other commitments to ethics class). “So why wake you to see the firelight,” asks, why should I, the instructor, put effort into educating Meghan if she insists on this behavior? Meghan’s attitude toward class and her role as a social student are both unethical because she broke a promise- a prominent part of practicing ethical behavior. Meghan broke a promise she made to either herself, her parents, or anyone else who plays for her education by disrespecting her instructor and not taking advantage of the learning going on right in front of her. Based on these observations, Meghan is not fit for a career in the media profession, an industry that thrives on good ethics. If Meghan is willing to break this small promise, who is to say she won’t make bigger mistakes when faced with truly complicated ethical dilemmas? Not to mention the obvious fact that if Meghan is sleeping through ethics class, she is missing some pretty important lessons and case studies about ethics.
Meghan’s attitude towards ethics is apparently non-existent; considering she can’t stay awake long enough to form an opinion one way or the other. The poet is clearly aware of this, but not necessarily surprised. There’s a certain resignation in the poems, even in the first line : “As if what people are is all they’ll ever be.” This line implies that many students of ethics, and for that matter people in general, don’t tend to believe that people are capable of change or that ethics could help with that change. It implies that the concept of ethics in general has become so lofty a goal it is no longer useful to learn. As the poem continues, the poet grows more and more resigned to this attitude, which appears to be one he is used to dealing with on a daily basis. The “poisoned apple” in the last line could refer to her attitude, but I rather believe to refers to the general approach to ethics as a culture. We have collectively been put to sleep, so to speak, by something in the modern world that makes people look at ethics as something of an impossibility. Meghan’s actions are absolutely not ethical, but I cannot help but feel that this doesn’t bother her much. She is just as obviously a terrible choice for a media professional, but that does not mean that media professionals like her do not already exist.
Based on Meghan's behavior, it seems clear that she is not committed to what she is learning or how she should be learning. This gives her little credibility in her role as a student and is a good forecast of how little committment she would have in a media profession-where learning never stops. One way to address the question of her behavior is to use Bok's model in "Guidelines for Making Ethical Decisions." First, I consult my own conscience, which leads me to believe that she is not acting ethically. Second, I reflect on whether there is "another way to achieve the same goal that will not raise ethical issues-" she can avoid this ethical question by paying attention and absorbing the information. Third is to understand how others would respond to her actions. Based on this blog, others also feel that this is not an ethical way of behaving. This leads me to believe that she is not being ethical and would not be able to hold a media profession with integrity. Also important to understand is the teacher's perspective in the poem. The teacher seems to feel indifferent or hopeless toward her behavior; "so why wake you to see the firelight." This highlights one of the first topics in our book and in our class discussion-the ineffectiveness of education on ethics. I think this poem suggests a change in how ethics is both learned and taught.
Meghan is acting unethically. She is not fulfilling her responsibility of paying attention in class. By being in that classroom, she has made a promise to herself as well as her professor to learn but she is not keeping that promise. As a student, she is not setting a good example for others to follow. If she can't be alert at all times, then she is not a good candidate for a media profession due to the fact that that field is constantly changing. Meghan would need to be more ethical in order to keep up with the media. She needs to learn to follow through on her promises and responsibilities.
Meghan’s attitude toward ethics is lackadaisical and ignorant. The line, “with a piece of poisoned apple caught in her throat,” describes that the poet does not approve of Meghan’s attitude toward ethics. She has no regard for the decision she made to take the class in the first place. In this ethics class, as well as her other classes, Meghan has taken on the responsibilities of a student. When a teacher signs up to teach a class, he or she is taking on responsibilities of a teacher. A student is expected to learn to the best of his or her ability, just as a teacher is expected to teach to the best of his or her ability. By falling asleep during class, Meghan is showing disregard to her duty to learn. Also, she or her family is paying for her education, so not only is she not practicing ethics in regard to her teacher, but she is applying the same careless attitude to herself and her family. Meghan would not be a good candidate for a career in a media profession because she already does not have an ethical mindset. By continuing to act this way in her profession as she did in the classroom, she would not be able to take an ethical approach to sharing news with the public. Meghan could not perform truthiness, truth that comes from the gut, not books, in her career without applying ethics fully to her role as a student. A promise is a promise, no matter how big or small.
As a student of ethics, Meghan seems as if she does not “ practice what she preaches.” By sleeping during class she is not only defying the teachings of the class, but her future in general after choosing a path involving media ethics. Therefore this negatively affects her role as a student as well as her social and professional roles. The poet believes he can’t blame her for her choices, but at the same time resents her for her lack of respect and her bad decision. Considering that media professions are fast paced and requires difficult predicaments which need decisions in timely manners. For instance, public relation professions need to handle company’s public image and must keep a positive image throughout the world of scandal and corruption, without someone who is willing to learn the skills and be alert on a consistent basis the company’s image could be shredded.
Meghan is certainly setting herself up for a rough semester in ethics. Falling asleep in this class violates her ethical responsibility as being a student. Not only is she wasting her own money (or her parents' money) by more or less not being present in class, but she is also showing how little she is interested. The poet feels that he/she should not bother waking Meghan because what good is her attention if she doesn't want to give it? I liked the but about the poison apple stuck in her throat. It was a good illustration of how dangerous her attitude towards ethics could be if she pursues a career in media or journalism. Her poisonous attitude will absolutely catch up with her, perhaps not as quickly as her sleep deprivation. How can a person possibly find truth in a situation if they cannot stay awake for it? We certainly don't need another Stephen Glass or Jayson Blair walking around the newsroom. If she falls asleep in her ethics class, she will never fully understand the code of ethics or what truth entails.
Meghan does not appear to be very interested in the discussions of her ethics class in the poem “To Meghan, Asleep In Ethics Class.” The author is a perturbed observer of a girl who is asleep in his ethics class. He thinks she is wrongfully dismissive of the issues at hand and fails to understand their gravity. He seems disappointed in her indifferent slumber; but his disappointment and disbelief alone are not what makes sleeping in class unethical. I think her sleepy attitude would definitely affect the attitudes of the students around her, who might prefer to learn in an active classroom. Meghan’s teacher, who I suspect is the author of the poem, is even more likely to be unsettled by her decision to completely waste both of their time. But I think the person who gets hurt the most is Meghan herself. Okay, so she doesn’t care about ethics—to her, it’s all meaningless, all a tautology, or mere words that put her to sleep. But that disinterest breeds a greater gap between her unethical classroom behavior and her capabilities as a person. I don’t think she would be a good candidate for a media profession; good journalists need a natural curiosity and self-control to stay awake and what not. That’s what coffee is for.
In order to behave ethically as a student, one must not only consider her responsibility to herself (which is to learn), but also her ethical responsibility to respect the professor, who so graciously bestows knowledge on his pupils. As some of my professors have discussed in courses such as Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication, active listening is important not only for media professionals, but for individuals who want to show respect towards their fellow human beings by acknowledging them. Media professionals must be attentive in order to fulfill their role as the “gatekeepers” of communication about, and for, our society. If journalists and publicists fail to do this, they should be stripped of their professional titles. Since Meghan exhibits inattentive behavior in class, it is likely that she will be inattentive at other times when crucial information is disseminated, perhaps while conducting interviews, attending press conferences, or meeting with clients. As we discussed in class, categorical imperative encourages us “to act on that maxim that you will to become a universal law.” Emanuel Kant’s words apply to this situation in the sense that Meghan should be practicing the behaviors required of media professionals, even though she is only a student of the media profession. The poet disapproves of Meghan’s attitude towards his course, but doesn’t seem to care much about waking her. If Meghan is indifferent towards the subject of media ethics, why should Professor Good concern himself with rousing her from her sleep? Hounding students to keep them attentive (or at least conscious) during class is the professional responsibility of a high school teacher, not a college professor. Some might say that Professor Good could do the “more right thing” by shaking Meghan awake so she can learn, but doing so would require disrupting the class and take away from the educational experience of the attentive students. As we discussed, ethics is often what best serves the most people.
This poem is not really about falling asleep in class to me, anyway. It goes beyond that. I don't know how to honestly feel about this. Does Meghan fall asleep every class? How is her homework? Is the quality decent? Is she passionate about those she works with? Does she say bless you after someone sneezes? If you see her outside Humanities does she wave hello? We are responsible. There is no doubt about that. By falling asleep Meg proved to be at that moment not responsible for her ethical obligation to her education. I can extract that easily from this poem. The poet obviously feels this way, and doesn't seem to have issues making it clear. She shouldn’t of fallen asleep, but who’s to say what can and can’t be reachable her in a dream state? OF COURSE it’s easiest to assume that she is unreachable. I mean she most likely is but my next question is;
Is it also an ethical obligation to be hopeful? Or wake Meg up and explain why she should feel bad in her heart about falling asleep. Remember when everyone messed up and didn’t do the blog? Prof Good that email that you sent made me get a knot in my stomach. I felt awful. I’ll never miss a blog again. It’s ignorant to say our ethical teachings aren’t compromised these days. But sometimes you need to just buy a longer rope in order to bring people back down to earth. It’s still possible, and more important then ever that we keep ringing the dinner bell. It’s not like people aren’t hungry anymore.. it’s just nobody knows when and how to eat. Maybe that’s why this poisonous apple is caught? With that said. THE IMAGERY IN THIS POEM IS BEAUTIFUL. Honestly.
Meghan’s attitude towards ethics is very clear in that she does not take it seriously, and does not see the importance of ethics and making decisions based on ethics. One line in the poem states “…its suddenly night everywhere and always”. This shows how she shuts out the idea of ethics and her poor attitude of how she is not interested in learning about it, and is not open to the idea of possibly applying ethics to her daily life. Another line states, “but to you its just words love death ect.” This pretty much is showing the same thing, and represents and tells us how Meghan feels about ethics. The poet sees this, and looks down and is a little disappointed in Meghan’s attitude. The poet says, “so why wake you to see the firelight.” The poet makes the ethical decision to not wake her, because why give her the time of day, when she is not giving ethics a chance. Her attitude towards ethics is not ethical, because whether or not she agrees or not with what she could be learning about ethics, she agreed to take the class, which means giving your full attention by attending class and being alert and doing the assignments. It’s like what we talked about in class about making promises. You agreed to take the class, so Meghan should stick to it and put in the effort. Her attitude towards ethics and the fact that she fell asleep is not ethical. Meghan would not be a good person for a career in media, because media is always changing, so people who work and are a part of it need to be open to ideas. The fact that she fell asleep in class and has a poor attitude towards ethics, shows she won’t even try to listen and have her opinion possibly change. In media, new things are always learned and you need to be open minded which Meghan does not seem to be.
As it appears to me, the author of this poem clearly does not condone Meghan's behavior. I think it's easy to say that because of her apparent lack of respect for her teacher, as well as lack of respect for the learning environment around her, Meghan is behaving unethically. She is simultaneously belittling her education, for obvious reasons, but she is more than likely distracting her fellow students and she has certainly captured the attention of the teacher. If this is the kind of behavior and work ethic that is defining of Meghan, than I would say that she is NOT a good candidate for a professional career in the media.
However, I think there may be an overlooked issue at hand, that being the behavior of the teacher/author of this poem. It seems to me that the teacher never considers addressing what is the cause of Meghan's sleeping in class. This could be the case if it isn't the first time she's done this, and that her attitude has been generally poor in the past, but there isn't anything in the poem to suggest that is the case. A teacher has an obligation, especially with younger children, to try and help their students. It isn't unrealistic to guess that Meghan could have an unfortunate living situation that could influence her class behavior. Instead of condemning her actions, this could have been an opportunity for the teacher to reach out to her and see if there is a bigger issue at hand........Still, she could just be a very rude girl.
It appears that Meghan does not really care all too much about media ethics. Perhaps ironically because sometimes the media itself doesn't seem to care too much about media ethics and living in that world, it has perhaps desensitized Meghan to the real merit behind ethics and so she has difficulty following along with it. I believe that is what the poet was referring to in the last lines of the poem when he/she compares her to "a fairy-tale princess with a piece of poisoned apple caught in her throat." The poet is clearly disguisted by Meghan's attitude. This attitude is not ethical as a student, especially if she is a media or journalism student. One of the central values of being in either of those proffessions is an awareness of what is going on in the world around you so that you may accurate reflect on the happenings of today for whatever purpose you are taking on. If Meghan were a journalist, more than any other profession, this attitude toward her ethics class does not sit well for the role of a journalist. However I do not believe it is ethical to necessarily make an accurate judgement on Meghan as to whether or not she is a good candidate for a career in a media profession. As students of ethics and journalism, we must realize the nature of story-telling and that though from the poets point of view, all we know is that Meghan is asleep in class, which through any excuse is unethical in her role as a student, and must be penalized as such for her role as a student solely. In theory, some extenuating circumstance may have happened to make Meghan drowsy enough to fall asleep in class. As people of the media, we must be aware of other possibilities other than what is being fed to us. We must also see the light of the future. Meghan may be scolded for this behavior, perhaps from being made aware of the poem's existence and then go on to correct this behavior and become a genuinely caring media professional. That would also suffice to serve the point of journalism, to make people aware and to push for change for the better.
Meghan's attitude toward ethics seems to be aloof and indifferent. She's not invested enough to prioritize it above a nap. The poet is amused but disappointed. He is sympathetic with her desire to rest and admiring her peacefulness, yet upset with the fact that she is choosing to sleep instead of investing her time, energy, and interest in the ethics education, which is invaluable in his eyes, so he sees her as a fool. He doesn't resent her for this, but more likely pities her. Her choice to sleep is neither ethical or unethical, but removed. Her peacefulness isn't necessarily disrupting the class or irritating the poet who is the presumed professor, but she also isn't benefiting the class as much as she could be if she were awake. This makes her position neutral. It's not possible from one instance of napping to make a judgment about her potential in a media career. I can't assess the value of an unconscious person, and the poet doesn't say if this is a one-time or regular thing. She may be highly qualified and smart and have a lot to contribute when she is awake, but I can't learn that from the poem alone.
I believe that Meghan's behavior in class, though understandable, is an example of behaving unethically in this situation, and would clearly be unacceptable in a professional environment. It is her ethical responsibility as a student to give a professor who is taking the time to prepare a lecture/presentation/reading her attention, and not disrespect them by falling asleep. The poet (professor?) feels as though it is a waste of time to share knowledge with someone who isn't even willing to take it in. I would compare it to a simple conversation. I know I personally get quite frustrated when I speak to someone and they are clearly ignoring me or looking for something better to do. You've made the commitment to engage in the conversation, be respectful and at the very least give that individual your attention. Someone who behaves the way Meghan did in this scenario on a regular basis, or whenever your attention is demanded from a professor, boss, even friend is behaving unethically, and would have trouble succeeding in a media profession, and being taken seriously in everyday life.
Meghan clearly doesn't value learning journalism ethics by not giving her full attention to class, which is ironic because it is unethical of her to attend a class that she doesn't intend on giving her full attention to. She doesn't feel the need to prepare herself to learn about something important in her potential field of study, which proves that she might want to rethink what she chooses to study. In the lines "nothing can reach you not even/ the agitated ghosts of ancient philosophers/
swirling around our hot basement classroom," the poet is clearly bringing to light that not even the most important part of ethics could awaken her and make her interested in becoming educated. The poet is clearly frustrated with her not just indifference but disregard to learning about this topic.
Meghan should not consider a career in the media. If Media Ethics doesn't interest her, she should be concerned. Media Ethics is course that will make a media participant a strong force in the industry. They will have critical thinking skills in regards to editing, publishing, and producing content. This course is necessary. If Meghan cannot stay awake in class, it speaks volumes to her interest in the media.
Not only is Meghan disrespecting her instructor and classmates who do care.
I suggest that Meghan find a subject that keeps her awake.
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