what are the ethics of journalism?
Answers
Answer:
Ethics can be shortly defined as the reasoning behind human action and morals. When moral refers to the practical value choices a human makes, ethics refers to the principles behind them.
Explanation:
The ethics of journalism have many aspects: law, instructions, professional norms, good manners and politeness guidelines.
The work of a journalist is controlled in the end by national and international laws. Usually in free democracies the ethical code of journalism is stronger than the local law: everything that is legal is not necessarily good practice.
International law, international agreements and the domestic law are thus not the only systems that regulate the work of a journalist. The ethical code of journalism, as put forward in this guide, is supported by the ethical guidelines of Western journalism. The ethics of journalism are, however, based on universal values and ethical principles. Such universal values include respecting humanity, truthfulness, freedom from violence and solidarity between people.
What is ethics in journalism?
According to the basic division there are two kinds of ethics: duty-based ethics and consequentialist ethics.
In the case of journalism duty-based ethics stresses the importance of truth, while consequential ethics focuses on societal good. If a journalist thinks that it is most important that a story is true and that the facts are right, s/he follows duty-based ethics.
On the other hand, a journalist may think the effects of a cause are the most
important aspect and in result follow consequentialist ethics. Does the article offend someone? What kind of effects does the publication of the article have? Can the publication of a certain do more harm than good even if the facts used were correct?
The ethical code of journalism is much the same as the ethical code of science. As with science, also in journalism it is important to be objective, critical, autonomous and progressive.
Objectivity and criticality describe the relationship with knowledge. Autonomy should be achieved at least towards funders and owners and the state.
The ethical code of progressivity refers to the principle that science and journalism should create new information.
The ethical code of journalism is much the same as the ethical code of science. As with science, also in journalism it is important to be objective, critical, autonomous and progressive.
If the foundations of journalism ethics are tracked far enough, one finds that various international agreements and declarations, such as UN Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and regulations of international law.
The UNESCO declaration regarding mass media (1978) and the Paris Declaration (1983), which were backed by numerous journalist associations, define the ethical guidelines more accurately in questions related to media and journalism. They are based on the basic principles of international law, democracy and independence.
It is easiest to handle ethics through duties and freedoms. The most important freedom that journalists use is freedom of speech, which is also defined in legislation.
To whom is a journalist responsible for?
The journalist bears responsibility before the law and before the professional association. Additionally, the journalist is responsible to the following parties:
The society, the general public
The customers, the supporters and the subscribers
The employer, the corporation
Colleagues, the professional community
The self, conscience
The compilation of thirty sets of journalist ethics publications made by Tiina Laitila 1991, shows that journalists think they are primarily responsible to their audience and the sources and objects of their information. Their employer and the state are much more seldom mentioned in these ethical rulebooks.