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Chapter 16
Ethical journalism: is it an
oxymoron?
Introduction – the aims of this lecture
are to help you understand:
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Journalism ethics
Correction policies
Privacy
Conflicts of interest
Commercial considerations
Fairness
Racial and gender equity
Errors and corrections
• Mistakes are a fact of life
• Problems can arise if mistakes are not
corrected
• Admission of error – corrects
inaccurate information, neutralises
damage and provides an
explanation/apology
Regulatory mechanisms
• Internal codes of conduct – ‘in-house’
• Print media in Australia also
accountable to the Press Council
• Radio and TV ultimately answerable to
the ACMA
• MEAA - the Australian Journalists’
Association (AJA) has a code of ethics
AJA Code of Ethics
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MEAA members engaged in journalism
commit themselves to:
Honesty
Fairness
Independence
Respect for the rights of others
AJA Code Of Ethics guidance clause
Basic values often need interpretation
and sometimes come into conflict.
Ethical journalism requires
conscientious decision-making in
context. Only substantial
advancement of the public interest or
risk of substantial harm to people
allows any standard to be overridden.
Ethics and social responsibility
• Some things can be legal, but
unethical
• Is a story a matter of public interest?
• What benefit will the public receive?
• Police may ask journalists not to report
on a particular issue
• Chequebook journalism
Press freedom?
• A socially responsible press has a duty
to exercise freedom of expression
• The role of the media as the fourth
estate
• Australian journalists already are among
the most regulated in the Western
world, operating under defamation and
contempt laws which limit their
watchdog role
Privacy
• Conflicting obligations
• Treat people with sensitivity and
courtesy, this includes the use of
images
• Balance between privacy issues and
press freedom
• New technology aids the invasion of
privacy
Privacy
• Publicity can help solve a crime
• The right to know/the right to privacy
• Do people involved in newsworthy
events forfeit their right to privacy?
• Privacy and public figures
• Defamation laws
International comparisons
• Australian journalists and media outlets
tend to lean more towards protecting
private interest than public interest
• Journalists and media in the United
States tend to lean more towards public
interest than protection of privacy
• Which is better?
New technology and privacy
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Listening devices
Camera phones
Manipulating digital images
Legal issues
Race, sex and religion
• Is it ever relevant to report on a
person’s race?
• Is it ever relevant to report on a
person’s sexual persuasion?
• Is it ever relevant to report on person’s
religious beliefs?
Equity and responsibility
• Recognise religious and ethnic
sensitivity towards words/phrases
• People with a disability are, and
should be portrayed as, part of the
community
• Journalists should be aware of
prejudices when reporting and they
should not encourage or exploit them
Equity and responsibility
• Eliminate gender-exclusive terms
where possible
• Issues regarding the identification of
women – discrimination, the relevance
of martial status
• Homosexuality should not be
portrayed as ‘abnormal’ or ‘deviant’
Ethical potholes for the unwary
• Conflict of interest – when should
someone else do the story?
• Gifts and freebies – assumption of
influence
• Advertising –to what extent should media
outlets please advertisers?
• Should journalists hold back from joining
clubs and community organisations?
Commercial influences
• Advertorials – incentives for businesses
to buy advertising space
• Advertorials undermine integrity,
accuracy, fairness and independence
• Such stories should be labelled as
‘advertising features’
• Advertising features can be legitimate if
promoting a concept or event, not a
specific business interest
Fairness
• A story can be perfectly accurate
while also being perfectly unfair, for
example, when failing to interview a
vital source
• A story can be unfair if it is not
balanced from top to bottom
• Always offer the right of reply
• Is the story fair to its readers?
The bigger picture
• The community—with the media as its
chief ally—should mould its government,
and not the other way around
• Every professional journalist’s primary
obligation is to ‘serve the public, not the
profession of journalism, not a particular
newspaper, not the government, but the
public’ (Clifton Daniel, former managing editor of
The New York Times, quoted in Mencher 1994: 577).
Let the reader decide
• Often there are no black and white
answers because many situations are
different
• Be fair and objective at all times
• Honestly explain issues and stories to
readers and let them decide
• Journalists only have one real master –
the public