external and internal

Pressures on journalists

In this chapter we consider the ways in which journalists are tempted to go against their ethical standards. We also consider ways to resist these temptations. Journalists are professional people, trying to work within a code of professional ethics. As we saw in the last chapter, this includes the need to be fair to all parties involved in any news story. However, journalists cannot operate in a vacuum, doing what they think is right without pressures being put on them. Journalists face pressure from a variety of sources, all trying to make the journalist behave in a way which is not the way the journalist would choose. It is important that you try to resist all these forms of pressure, as f7ar as possible. Of course, you will sometimes fail. This is an imperfect world, and journalists are also imperfect. Nevertheless, you should always try to resist the kinds of pressure which we shall discuss in this chapter. Employer Your employer pays your salary. In return, they expect to say how you will do your job. This can lead to ethical problems for journalists. If you work for a government-owned news organisation, then your government will be your employer. This could make it very difficult for you to report critically on things which the government is doing. Ministers will often put pressure on public service journalists to report things which are favourable to the government (even when they are not newsworthy) and not to report things which are unfavourable to the government. They can enforce public service discipline, to make journalists do as the government wants. This is especially difficult to resist in small developing countries, where there may be little or no alternative employment. Authority Both government-owned and commercial news media may face pressure from authority - the government, the police, customs, or some other branch of authority. Governments can threaten, or make, laws to force all news media to be licensed. This would give them power to grant licences only to those news organisations which please the government. Even the threat to introduce such legislation may be enough to frighten journalists, and to make them afraid of criticising the government too much. Many people think they can avoid bad publicity by threatening journalists with violence, or with legal action. Such threats should always be resisted (unless you are advised by a lawyer that you are legally in the wrong). Junior journalists should always report any threat which they have received to their editor. Bribes Journalists do not usually earn big money. You may therefore be vulnerable to bribery - somebody offering money (or goods or services) in return for a favourable story being written, or an unfavourable story being ignored. To accept a bribe is dishonest. Your honesty is like virginity - it can only be lost once. Once you have accepted a bribe, you can never again be trusted as a professional person. Gifts and freebies Commercial companies sometimes try to buy journalists' friendship by giving them small presents or by giving them the opportunity to travel at the company's expense (sometimes called freebies). Often this travel is legitimate. An airline which is introducing a new route to and from your country may well offer you a free seat on the first flight. You will then have the opportunity to write from first-hand experience about the service and about the destination. If the airline is confident that its service is good, and that the destination is interesting, they will be satisfied that whatever you write will be good publicity for them. Family In many societies, a person's first loyalty is to members of their extended family, or clan, or tribe. This is expected to take priority over all other loyalties, including their loyalty to the ethical standards of their profession. Thus, a doctor who saved the life of a traditional clan enemy could meet with disapproval from his own relatives. Journalists, too, face conflicts of loyalty like this. It may not only be pressure from your family, clan or tribe; it may also be from members of a club or association or church to which you belong. For young journalists in small societies, this is often the hardest kind of pressure to resist. They understand that they should have a loyalty to their professional ethics, but deep down they are certain that they must not offend the family. To do so, and to be cut off from the family, would be unthinkable. Personal conviction Journalists may come under pressure from their own strong beliefs. For example, a journalist who is deeply opposed to capital punishment may be writing a story about crime. In the course of gathering the information, they may interview somebody who calls for the death penalty as the answer to increasing crime. The journalist may be tempted not to report these comments, and to leave the question of capital punishment out of the story. This would clearly be unethical. It is as bad to censor the news to suit your own views as it is to censor the news to please your family, or clan, or tribe. This is contrary to the most fundamental principle of free speech - that we may disagree with what somebody says, but that we must fight to defend their right to say it. See Chapter 57: Fairness for a fuller discussion of this principle. AJA CODE OF ETHICS Respect for truth and the public's right to information are fundamental principles of journalism. Journalists describe society to itself. They convey information, ideas and opinions, a privileged role. They search, disclose, record, question, entertain, suggest and remember. They inform citizens and animate democracy. They give a practical form to freedom of expression. Many journalists work in private enterprise, but all have these public responsibilities. They scrutinise power, but also exercise it, and should be accountable. Accountability engenders trust. Without trust, journalists do not fulfil their public responsibilities. MEAA members engaged in journalism commit themselves to Honesty Fairness Independence Respect for the rights of others 1.  Report and interpret honestly, striving for accuracy, fairness and disclosure of all essential facts.  Do not suppress relevant available facts, or give distorting emphasis.  Do your utmost  to give a fair opportunity for reply. 2.  Do not place unnecessary emphasis on personal characteristics, including race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation, family relationships, religious belief, or physical or intellectual disability. 3.  Aim to attribute information to its source.  Where a source seeks anonymity, do not agree without first considering the source’s motives and any alternative attributable source.  Where confidences are accepted,  respect them in all circumstances. 4.  Do not allow personal interest, or any belief, commitment, payment, gift or benefit, to undermine your accuracy, fairness or independence. 5.  Disclose conflicts of interest that affect, or could be seen to affect, the accuracy, fairness or independence of your journalism.  Do not improperly use a journalistic position for personal gain.   6.  Do not allow advertising or other commercial considerations to undermine accuracy, fairness or independence. 7.  Do your utmost to ensure disclosure of any direct or indirect payment made for interviews, pictures, information or stories. 8.  Use fair, responsible and honest means to obtain material.  Identify yourself and your employer before obtaining any interview for publication or broadcast.  Never exploit a person’s vulnerability or ignorance of media practice. 9.  Present pictures and sound which are true and accurate.  Any manipulation likely to mislead should be disclosed. 10.  Do not plagiarise. 11.  Respect private grief and personal privacy.  Journalists have the right to resist compulsion to intrude. 12.  Do your utmost to achieve fair correction of errors. 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. Other useful codes can be found at: The Philippines Press Institute The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) The British National Union of Journalists (NUJ) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) website has links to a Declaration of Principles on the Conduct of Journalists. Journalism.org, the Pew Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism has links to several industry and professional codes, mainly in the US. Ethicnet has links to codes of ethics and practice for most European countries but be warned, some of them come from countries where independent media are suppressed and the codes are used by governments to constrain journalists. With a similar warning, Medialaw.com gives several codes of ethics for Asian countries. Finally, Al Jazeera provides an example of how a media organisation can develop a sophisticated professional code of ethics for its journalists. TO SUMMARISE: Live by the ethical standards of your profession; resist all forms of pressure to lower your standards Report any threats, bribes or other secret pressure to your editor Do not sell yourself for a gift or freebie Avoid reporting stories in which you have family interests or other loyalties