2022 was quite a challenging year for the cryptocurrency sector, and the dominance of Ponzi schemes, decentralized finance scams, non-fungible tokens, and questionable centralized exchange ledger put the question of ethics in the space to the test.
Of course, the negative news of the past year was not atypical or exceptional; In general, "good" ethics have been an issue in crypto for years, and it's probably safe to assume that challenges will continue to dot the landscape for the foreseeable future.
In the context of the media, it is important to recognize that objective, unbiased reporting and transparency are essential if the industry is to gain the trust of the general public and, as a result, change the negative perspectives that people often have about it.
In the latest episode of the Cointelegraph podcast The agendahosts Ray Salmond and Jonathan DeYoung sat down with crypto media expert Molly Jane Zuckerman to discuss her experience with ethical challenges in the industry and her ideas on how to integrate industry best practices.
Asked by Salmond about the biggest things to fix in crypto media and the possibility of journalists experiencing a "sort of dark pressure to do what's best for the company," Zuckerman suggested that drastic improvements are needed in transparency. She mentioned that the Association of Cryptocurrency Journalists and Researchers, an organization she co-founded, has been working on standards guidance to help reporters and news agencies alike:
โIt's something I spend a lot of time thinking about, even outside of my day job, how we make sure that people who work in crypto have some kind of rule book to follow beyond what their newsroom might tell them. them."
Zuckerman elaborated:
โI think the problem is that if you have access to do something that's that easy for a lot of money, it can really tempt a lot of people. So I think even people with very, very high moral standards and very clear ethical boundaries, I've at least seen this in some companies that I've worked for, [they] deliberately not give them access to parts of the site that would tempt them."
When asked if the crypto ethical crisis stems primarily from companies and their profit targets or the ability of journalists to be compromised, Zuckerman suggested it could be a mix of both. He also takes issue with the fact that many crypto media outlets and journalists see his mission as helping to catalyze mass adoption, saying: "I don't believe it [crypto media] it should help catalyze mass adoption, personally. I think crypto media should lay bare the facts of what is happening in space. And I think, unfortunately, right now, if the crypto media did a neutral job of it, then most people would probably leave the space because it would just be articles about bankruptcy after bankruptcy after bankruptcy.โ According to Zuckerman, the true purpose of crypto media is to educate readers: โI don't think any media outlet should have the goal of getting more people to use cryptocurrency. I think it should be, let's make more people understand how it works. But if they understand how it works and they hate it, then that's the same positive outcome for me as understanding how it works based on an article you read and liked." To learn more about Zuckerberg, tune in to the full episode of The agenda about him Cointelegraph Podcast Page, Spotify either Apple Podcasts โ and be sure to check out the other Cointelegraph shows as well. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Does the responsibility for ethics fall primarily on journalists or protocol builders?
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