Ethics in Journalism

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Ethics in Journalism

• Jarrett Wilson
• Yeovil College Chaplaincy Adviser

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Scenario 1

• Your team are putting together a documentary
  about climate change and the deadline set by your
  funding source and the BBC is fast-approaching.
  Each of you on the team have a passion to see
  people informed about the dangers of climate
  change, and so youre working to piece together
  scientific studies with interviews from some of
  the most high-profile climatologists around the
  world. One of your team is sent a report via
  email from a significant climate change research
  organisation, detailing the most recent findings
  off the coast of Antarctica. In her email the
  scientist also writes, the data may seem
  inconclusive, but we think its more likely that
  climate change is affecting the ice in Antarctica
  than not. If you accentuate certain details of
  the report and not others, you can make a good,
  convincing case that climate change is
  happening.
• What is your response? You are passionate about
  what you are reporting and this report could be
  the best contribution you have for your
  documentary. Do you accentuate certain elements
  of the report and dumb-down the parts that
  dont fit with your theory? If you dont dumb it
  down you are worried that people might not
  believe how important climate change is, and each
  of you really believe it to be a threat to
  mankind. Can you afford not to play down the
  parts that may affect your theory?

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Scenario 2

• Your team is responsible for putting together a
  weekly political debate programme. The area you
  are filming in has a small majority of people who
  voted for a neo-Nazi political party, and who
  narrowly elected one of their members into
  Parliament at the last general election. If you
  do not invite him onto your panel, you are
  concerned that the public will think youre not
  reporting fairly, which might cause some people
  to have sympathy for this racist and xenophobic
  political party. However, if you do invite him
  on, your team is concerned that even more people
  will be vulnerable to this political partys
  extremist message.
• What do you do? Do you allow the political
  representative onto your programme, or not? How
  do you explain your actions to the public if you
  do invite him on? How will you explain your
  actions if you dont?

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Scenario 3

• A Palestinian member of your news team gets
  caught in the crossfire between Israeli and
  Palestinian soldiers and begins to film the
  event. The camera catches a father and his son
  trying to take cover around the corner of a
  building. The footage, which lasts just over a
  minute, shows the pair holding onto each other,
  the boy crying and the father waving, then a
  burst of gunfire and dust, after which the boy is
  seen slumped across his father's legs. The
  footage is submitted to your news team back in
  the UK and your team member working from the
  Middle East informs you that the child was killed
  by Israeli gunfire.
• What do you report? What will be the
  ramifications if you say that the child was
  killed by Israelis? Is your cameramans
  eyewitness enough to go on? Should you trust his
  report?

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Applied Ethics

• What is the morally correct approach?
• Utilitarianism
• Virtue Ethics
• Casuistry
• Is there such a thing as objectivity?

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BBCs Editorial Guidelineshttp//www.bbc.co.uk/gu
idelines/editorialguidelines/edguide/editorialvalu
es/

• Truth Accuracy
• Impartiality Diversity of Opinion
• Editorial Integrity Independence
• Serving the Public Interest
• Fairness
• Privacy
• Harm Offence
• Children
• Accountability

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Rows with the BBC

• Gaza Appeal
• Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand
• British National Party
• Accusations of left-wing bias

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Documentaries

• Based around events
• Based around people
• Based around problems in society/the world
• Topical

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Ethical Dilemmas

• Docu-dramas
• Shock-umentaries
• Information/Entertainment fusion
• Clever editing
• Music Emotion

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Ethical Journalism?
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Channel 4 controversies

• Ahmadinejads Christmas speech
• Faith-based documentaries
• True Stories

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Harm Limitation Principle

• 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.
• Recognize that private people have a greater
  right to control information about themselves
  than do public officials and others who seek
  power, influence or attention. Only an overriding
  public need can justify intrusion into anyone's
  privacy.
• Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid
  curiosity.
• Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects
  or victims of sex crimes.
• Be judicious about naming criminal suspects
  before the formal filing of charges.
• Balance a criminal suspect's fair trial rights
  with the public's right to be informed.

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• THANK YOU!