Ethics in Journalism

Work shop for Journalists

District Training Centre

Visakhapatnam

Vijay Kr. Sodadasi

Asst.Professor
GITAM Institute of Management
GITAM University
Hon. Director –CORD India
Visakhaptnam
Session Includes..
 Journalism and its manifestations
 Ethical practices in Journalism
 Why ethics in journalism
 Global ethical challenges
 Global journalism ethical tasks

2
Journalism and its
manifestations
 Newspapers and other journalism institutions falter,

networks of investigative and alternative newsrooms

are rising up, sharing resources and finding ways to
more widely distribute their work.
 The global network is increasing in number
 Web and now social media is that they permit world
wide collaborations
 Collaborations have already been spawned by the
global network through web
 The ethical dilemmas they must confront

3
Journalism and its
manifestations
 To ensure that high standards are met and
prevent the kind of public distrust of the
media as their “are selling access," to public
 A belief that new technology can advance the
cause of transparency in government.
 A benefit of the Web and now social media is
that they permit wide collaborations and
cross-training among the centers and
investigative reporters.
4
Journalism and its
manifestations
 Because of Media influence and increasing visibility, investigative
reporting networks should represent the highest professional
standards in reporting, editing and ethical conduct.
 Periodic reviews of the networks and their members, and ethics
training by experienced journalists, could help encourage the
best work possible.
 It could also ensure that high standards are met and prevent the
kind of public distrust of the media that has increased over the
past decade.

 Media is enticing them to buy the news to get this thing of value.

5
Journalism and its
manifestations
 This is a crisis period for journalism.
 Everybody is looking for a new market paradigm.
 The danger is that everything else of value to
journalism is at risk because you have to stay alive.
 The person chosen to speak must be credible and
must be accredited
 As they're speaking on behalf of a lot of people.
 Globalization trends and energy and the growing
competition for resources
 Rules put into place after the “fact."
 Bandages to cover a gaping ethical wound

6
Journalism and its
manifestations
 Commercialization has influenced media’s decisions
 Investment of “bad money” in media by a section of
people like instances in Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka where two major political parties were
being made to “kneel” before the media barons
 Extensive malpractice of “paid news” and “coverage
packages”
 Paid news could cause double jeopardy

7
Journalism and its
manifestations
 Professional training of journalists could be imparted with greater
ease and the difficult part was to resurrect the professional and
ethical dimension of journalism
 The “firewall” is there not only to prevent the quid pro quo but the
appearance of quid pro quo.
 Journalists must be considered credible to convey information
readers trust
 Need for proper training of media professionals in proportion to the
media growth
 All over the world, the media was regulated, either by self or
statute
 Self-regulation is the best

8
New Forms..

 Online Journalism
 Cell Journalism
 Bogging
 Citizen Journalism

9
Ethical practices in Journalism
 Ethics and law are separate spheres but they
overlap in theory and practice. In theory, ethics
justifies laws and legal practices
 Situations in journalism raise both legal and ethical
questions
 Whether an action is legal is considered to be the
first hurdle that any action must clear, before ethical
issues are raised
 Ethical standards such as fairness and accuracy are
used in court cases to evaluate stories for libel and
other legal problems

10
Ethical practices in Journalism
 The word “ethics” is connected intrinsically with
questions of correct conduct within society.
Etymologically
 “Ethics” comes from the Greek “ethos” meaning
“character” which indicates a concern for virtuous
people, reliable character and proper conduct
 . “Morality” is derives from “mores” or custom - the
rules of conduct of a group or society.
 Ethics is not limited to the acts of a single person.
Ethics is also interested in the correct practices of
governments, corporations, professionals and many
other groups.

11
Ethical practices in Journalism
 Ethics is sometimes identified with an inflexible set
of rules and self-righteous moralizing. Rules say an
action is either right or wrong.
 Ethical thinking requires the guidance of principles
but it should not be shackled to them
 Ethics should focus on how people interpret, apply,
balance and modify their principles in light of new
facts, new technology, new social attitudes and
changing economic and political conditions.

12
Ethical practices in Journalism
 Ethics is not static.
 Ethics consists of dynamic frameworks of principles
and values.
 Our ethical values reflect our deepest convictions
and attachments.
 They define who we are, and give us an ethical
“identity.”
 Ethics is the process of inventing new and better
ethical responses to problems and conflicts.
 This process is driven not only by social change but
also by our “ethical imagination” which continually
pushes on existing boundaries

13
Range of Ethics
Ethical inquiry covers a wide range of possible
subjects, such as:

 Personal ethics: e.g. questions about one's basic

values and plan of life
 Professional ethics: principles and practices of major
professions
 Social and political ethics: e.g., issues of social
justice, political rights
 Ethics of sexual and gender relation

14
Range of Ethics
 Research ethics in academia and the private
sector
 Environmental ethics, including the ethical
treatment of animals
 Global ethics: ethics of international affairs,
human rights
 Communication ethics, including media,
public relations and journalism

15
Global journalism ethics
 Global journalism ethics aims at developing a
comprehensive set of principles and standards for
the practice of journalism in an age of global news
media.
 New forms of communication are reshaping the
practice of a once parochial craft serving a local,
regional or national public
 Today, news media use communication technology
to gather text, video and images from around the
world, with unprecedented speed and varying
degrees of editorial control

16
Why a global ethics?
There are at least two reasons

 Practical: a non-global ethic is no longer able

to adequately address the new problems that
face a global journalism, and

 Ethical: new global responsibilities come with

global impact and reach

17
Why a global ethics?

 News reports, via satellite or the Internet, reach people

around the world and influence the actions of
governments, militaries, humanitarian agencies and
warring ethnic groups
 News media now inhabit a radically pluralistic, global
community where the impact of their reports can have
far-reaching effects -- good or bad.
 A responsible global ethic is needed in a world where
news media bring together a plurality of different
religions, traditions and ethnic groups.

18
Why a global ethics?

 One responsibility is to report issues and

events in a way that reflects this global
plurality of views; to practice a journalism that
helps different groups understand each other
better.
 Reports should be accurate, balanced and
diverse, as judged from an international
perspective.
 A biased and parochial journalism can wreak
havoc in a tightly linked global world.
19
Why a global ethics?
 Biased reports may incite ethnic groups in a region
to attack each other. (eg. S.Africa, Zimbabwe)
 A narrow-minded, patriotic news media can
stampede populations into war.
(eg. Iraq, Iran, Israeli, Pak)
 Moreover, journalism with a global perspective is
needed to help citizens understand the daunting
global problems of poverty, environmental
degradation, technological inequalities and political
instability.

20
In specific to fallow
 No plagiarism
Don't steal others' work
 Disclose, disclose, disclose
Tell your readers how you got your information, and what
factors influenced your decision to publish it.
 No gifts or money for coverage
One common way journalists avoid conflicts of interest is by
refusing gifts or money from sources they cover

21
In specific to fallow
 Check it out, then tell the truth
Reward your readers with accurate information that stands up to
scrutiny from other writers. Check out your information before you
print it.
 Be honest
Be honest with your readers and transparent about your work. If
people wonder for a moment about your honesty or your motives,
you've lost credibility with them. Don't let them do that. Answer those
questions even before readers ask.

22
New stage in journalism
ethics
 Since the birth of modern journalism in the 17th
century, journalism has gradually broaden the scope
of the people that it claims to serve -- from factions
to specific social classes to the public of nations
 The journalistic principle of “serving the public
interest” has been understood, tacitly or explicitly, as
serving one’s own public, social class or nation.
 The other principles of objectivity, impartiality and
editorial independence were limited by this parochial
understanding of who journalism serves.
 For example, “impartiality” meant being impartial in
one’s coverage of rival groups within one’s society,
but not necessarily being impartial to groups outside
one’s national boundaries.

23
New stage in journalism
ethics
 Global journalism ethics, then, can be seen
as an extension of journalism ethics -- to
regard journalism’s “public” as the citizens of
the world, and to interpret the ethical
principles of objectivity, balance and
independence in an international manner.
 Journalism ethics becomes more
“cosmopolitan” in tone and perspective

24
 Global journalism ethical
tasks
The development of global journalism ethics has the following tasks.
 Conceptual tasks
New philosophical foundations for a global ethics, which include:
 Global re-interpretation of the ethical role and aims of journalism
 Global re-interpretation of existing journalism principles and standards,
such as objectivity, balance and independence
 Construction of new norms and “best practices” as guides for the
practice of global journalism

25
Global journalism ethical
tasks
 Research tasks
More research into the state of journalism,
amid globalization:
 Studies of news media in various regions of world
 Studies on the evolution and impact of globalization
in news media, with a focus on ownership,
technology and practice
 Studies on the ethical standards of new media in
different countries
 Studies on news coverage of international problems
and issues

26
Global journalism ethical
tasks
 Practical tasks
Actions to implement and support global standards:

 Application of this global perspective to re-define the

coverage of international events and issues
 Coalition-building among journalists and interested
parties with the aim of writing a global code of ethics
that has wide-spread acceptance
 Initiatives to defend and enhance free and
responsible news media, especially in areas where
problems are the greatest

27
How would a global ethics be
different?
Philosophically, the distinct conceptual element of a
global ethics can be summarized by three
imperatives
1. Act as global agents
Journalists should see themselves as agents of a
global public sphere. The goal of their collective
actions is a well-informed, diverse and tolerant
global “info-sphere” that challenges the distortions of
tyrants, the abuse of human rights and the
manipulation of information by special interests.

28
How would a global ethics be
different?
2. Serve the citizens of the world
The global journalist’s primary loyalty is to the
information needs of world citizens. Journalists
should refuse to define themselves as attached
primarily to factions, regions or even countries.
Serving the public means serving more than one’s
local readership or audience, or even the public of
one’s country.

29
How would a global ethics be
different?
3. Promote non-parochial understandings
The global journalist frames issues broadly
and uses a diversity of sources and
perspectives to promote a nuanced
understanding of issues from an international
perspective. Journalism should work against
a narrow ethnocentrism or patriotism.

30
Specific standards of journalism,

What do these three imperatives imply for specific standards of

journalism,

 Such as objectivity
 Under global journalism ethics, objectivity becomes the ideal of
informing impartially from an international stance.
 Objectivity in journalism has usually been understood as the
duty to avoid bias toward groups within one’s own country.
 Global objectivity takes on the additional responsibility of
allowing bias towards one’s country or culture as a whole to
distort reports, especially reports on international issues.

31
What to do with Global
challenges?
 Universal values
common core of values in various places: in codes of journalism
ethics, in international treaties on human rights, in anthropological
studies of culture
 Getting specific
Global journalism ethics will have to amount to more than a dreamy
spiritualism about the brotherhood of man and universal
benevolence. Conceptually, there is work to be done

32
What to do with Global
challenges?
 Reforming media practices
The slow, complex, practical task of developing better
media practices is no less imposing. Exhorting individual
journalists to be ethical will be futile unless supported by
an institutional climate that encourages global values in
the newsroom.

33
 Any Questions?

 All the participants and Manager District Trg.

Centre, Visakhapatnam
 Thank you

34