Media Ethics

Morals versus Ethics, Morals an individual’s code of behavior based on religious or philosophical
principles. Morals define right and wrong in ways that may or may not be rational. Ethics is a rational
way of deciding what is good for individuals or society. A way to choose between competing moral
principles or when there is not a clear right or wrong answer.

Aristotle, 350 BC, Golden Mean Moral virtue is appropriate location between two extremes. Martinson
says: Journalists take overly simplistic view of Golden Mean, assume it values compromise rather than
finding virtue. Immanuel Kant, 1780s Categorical imperative A moral obligation that we should act in a
way in which we would be willing to have everyone else act. Do not treat people as a means to reach an
end. Cannot justify behavior based on desirable outcomes.

John Stuart Mill Principle of Utility Ethical behavior arises from that which will provide the greatest good
for the greatest number. “An act’s rightness is a desirable end.”

John Rawls, 1970 “Veil of ignorance” Justice comes from making decisions that maximize liberty for all
people and without considering which outcome will give us personally the biggest benefit.

Henry Luce, Social Responsibility Ethics 1947, the press has a responsibility to give voice to the public
and to society. The free press may not live up to its obligations to the public because of its need to serve
its owners.

Sissela Bok’s Model for Ethical Decision Making, 1970s, Consult your conscience. Seek alternatives. Hold
an imaginary ethical dialogue with all involved.

Codes of ethics serve an important purpose by setting standards against which conduct can be
measured and evaluated.  Codes can also help to ensure that standards are set internally, rather than
having outside bodies step in.

For both the media industry as a whole and for individuals within it, codes can also help keep attention
directed toward principles that are particularly important as guidelines for appropriate behavior.
Codes can also serve as a starting point -- a threshold, if you will, for considering which principles
deserve to be honored by ethical practitioners in the mass media.

Codes can also help to protect the mass media and media practitioners from unrealistic expectations
and criticisms. On the other side of the coin, codes can also help the public communicate reasonable
demands and criticisms of the media when that is necessary.

Codes also provide a reference point that can be raised to protect workers in the media from internal
pressures that could force them to violate their own consciences.

CRITICISMS Lack of enforcement -- codes have no teeth; just high-sounding rhetoric with no real
meaning since the ideals cannot be enforced. No agreement that codes are fully understood and
embraced by practitioners.

Concern that codes are laden with ambiguities -- fuzzy, imprecise words and statements that are
subject to interpretation. Concern that codes are more show than substance that their major role is
to give the public the impression that the media have high standards of professionalism.
At the very most, codes inspire those who are willing to accept them to be sensitive to professional
values and practices.

General code of ethics for mass media, The primary themes common to most codes of journalistic
standards and ethics are:  Objectivity  Seek the truth and report it Independence  Never plagiarize
 Minimize harm  Avoid misrepresentation  Get all sides of the story  Respect Anonymity 
Independence  Neutrality  Truthful  Accountable  Accuracy and standards for factual reporting

Objectivity Clear separation between news and opinion. In-house editorials and opinion pieces are
clearly separated from news pieces. News reporters and editorial staff are distinct. Obvious separation
between advertisements and news. All advertisements must be clearly identifiable as such. Persons
who are the subject of adverse news stories are allowed a reasonable opportunity to respond to the
adverse information before the story is published or broadcast.

Reporter must avoid conflicts of interest — incentives to report a story with a given angle. This
includes not taking bribes and not reporting on stories that affect the reporter's personal, economic or
political interests. See envelope journalism. Competing points of view are balanced and fairly
characterized. Interference with reporting by any entity, including censorship, must be disclosed.

Seek the truth and report it Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting
and interpreting information. Journalists should: Test the accuracy of information from all sources and
exercise care to avoid chance of error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible. Carefully seek out
subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing.

Identify sources whenever possible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on
sources' reliability. Always question sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions
attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises.

Never distort the content of news photos or video. Image enhancement for technical clarity is always
permissible. Label montages and photo illustrations. Make certain that headlines, news teases and
promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent.
They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.

Avoid misleading re-enactments or staged news events. If re-enactment is necessary to tell a story,
label it. Avoid undercover or other secret methods of gathering information except when traditional
open methods will not yield information vital to the public. Use of such methods should be explained as
part of the story. Support the open exchange of views, even views they find repugnant.

Tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience boldly, even when it is
unpopular to do so. Examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others.
Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability,
physical appearance or social status.

Give voice to the voiceless; official and unofficial sources of information can be equally valid.
Recognize a special obligation to ensure that the public's business is conducted in the open and that
government records are open to inspection. Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting.
Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
Never Plagiarize  Using someone else's work without attribution or acknowledgement, whether
deliberately or thoughtlessly, is prohibited.  Statements or words directly quoted from sources other
than the reporting journalist shall be attributed.

Minimize harm  It is essential that all risks of being inflammatory, misleading, or inconsiderate to
subjects and sources be minimized. This is especially relevant to those engaging in original reporting. To
minimize possible harm, we encourage our writers to do the following: Ensure facts are correct by
getting verification from multiple sources

Not publish an article based solely on speculation, hunches or wild guesses Show compassion for
those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with
children and inexperienced sources or subjects. Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or
photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief Recognize that gathering and reporting information
may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.

Avoid Misrepresentation Do not publish any sort of interview story without ensuring that the
interviewee is absolutely happy with the articles final text. Even if this means giving up the interview -
wiliness will only lose out if it offends interviewees - remember to respect that they have taken the time
to talk to us.

Get all sides Of a Story  Ensure sources and quotes from both sides of an argument are included in
articles to avoid being biased towards either side. Ideally, all opinions expressed in an article should be
direct quotes.

Respect Anonymity Any source that requests to remain anonymous is fully entitled to this. You are not
obliged to bring up the possibility of anonymity, but you are obliged to honor requests for it. It is
important not to apply excessive pressure to the source if they do not wish to be named. At the same
time, anonymous sources can make stories less credible, so it is important to make some effort to
persuade reluctant sources to volunteer to go on the record.

Explaining to a source why you would prefer them to go on the record is a gentle and often effective
way of persuading them to do so. In any case, the decision rests with the source.

Independence It is important that a media person should be an independent entity with only the
interest of the public at heart.

Neutrality It is also important to provide news that contains no bias. This includes removing and re-
editing stories that have been determined to advocate a particular point of view to the exclusion of
others.

Truthful Another important ethical task for a media person is to be completely truthful and this
requires that no stories should be presented to the public which have a doubtful origin and may later
prove to be untruthful. Furthermore, in the present age of a continuous string of “breaking news’ this
phenomenon becomes even more important.

Accountable The media is accountable to the public for any content that they send out thus they
should be conscious at all times that will be held responsible for any inaccuracies and lies.
Accuracy and standards for Factual Reporting Reporters are expected to be as accurate as possible
given the time allotted to story preparation and the space available, and to seek reliable sources.
Events with a single eyewitness are reported with attribution. Events with two or more independent
eyewitnesses may be reported as fact. Controversial facts are reported with attribution.

Independent fact-checking by another employee of the publisher is desirable. Defendants at trial

are treated only as having "allegedly" committed crimes, until conviction, when their crimes are
generally reported as fact (unless, that is, there is serious controversy about wrongful conviction).

Opinion surveys and statistical information deserve special treatment to communicate in precise
terms any conclusions, to contextualize the results, and to specify accuracy, including estimated error
and methodological criticism or flaws. Corrections are published when errors are discovered.

Law and media ethics

Like ethics the law seeks to balance competing aims. In most countries there are laws preventing the
media from doing or saying certain things when that would unduly breach another person's rights. For
instance, slander and libel are forms of defamation, a tort. Slander occurs when a person's good name is
unfairly slurred. Libel is concerned with attacks on reputation through writing. A major area of conflict is
between the public's "right to know", or freedom of the press, and individual's right to privacy. This
clash often occurs regarding reporting into the private lives of public figures.