Media Ethics Issues and Cases Chapter 4

Loyalty: Choosing Between Competing Allegiances

"What you choose to be loyal to should be capable of inspiring a similar loyalty in others who are both like and unlike you."

In reading Chapter 4, this was the one quote that spoke to me. I wanted a deeper understanding of how this could be true to journalists and professionals alike. How could one's loyalty spark a chain reaction of similar loyalties? I had to revert back to Josiah Royce's ideas on loyalty. Reading more about Royce's teachings created a deeper conflict within me because I agreed with only some of what he claimed to be true about loyalty and its ability to guide our ethical lives.

I had no idea where I stood when it came to loyalty. I knew the cliches: Dogs are loyal, you want your friends to be loyal, you want to be a loyal friend. But what does loyalty mean? 

After some self reflection and compilation of the ideas in this chapter, I have decided that Loyalty is quite complex and can not be used as a singular ethical guideline. I have come to understand that Loyalty has a lot to do with the community in which you operate, and each individual has many layers of loyalty.

"A worthy cause should harmonize with the loyalties of others within the community."

This is another quote from Royce, it shows a unique perspective of loyalty - a community perspective. How does an individual with individual loyalties fit into a society that has different loyalties? while trying to answer this question, the first thing that came to mind was Venezuela. 

Yesterday a series of non-violent protests broke out into violent riots, killing many. This is not an isolated incident; there is growing discontent among Venezuelan citizens springing from economic disparity, high inflation, and scarcity of of resources and products. Conflicting loyalties arise when one looks at the protesting citizen: The Venezuelan citizen has a loyalty to his/her country, but they also have a loyalty arising from the absolute necessity for goods and resources. They have a loyalty arising from shared humanity that may cause them to demonstrate for a fair society that promotes common good, but they also value their life and lives of many. 

These conflicting loyalties can be found anywhere, and they can create conflict and ethical problems when one must decide between competing ideas. This is why I loved William F. May's Layers of Loyalty.