Magazine Editing and Management[1]

8/6/2019 Magazine Editing and Management[1]

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MOI UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES

COURSE CODE: HRD 808

COURSE TITLE: MAGAZINE EDITING AND MANAGEMENT

LECTURER: MR. JOHN OLUOCH

NAME: BOIT MAURINE C.

REG. NO: SHRD/PGJ/04/10

TASK: PRESENTATION PAPER

DATE: 19TH NOVEMBER, 2010

SIGNATURE

QUESTION: JOURNALISTIC ETHICS.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................2

DEFINITIONS .........................................................................................................3

JOURNALISTIC ETHICS ...........................................................................................4

LEVELS OF ETHICS.................................................................................................7

CONFLICTING INTERESTS ......................................................................................9

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES............................................................................................10

CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................12

REFERENCES........................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION

Journalism ethics, concerns making sound moral decision in journalistic work,

decisions which are derived from societal morality. Ethics is a very important aspect in

journalism as a profession since it is involved with reaching a wide audience or readership.

Keeble (2009), says, that the basic roles of the journalist are: to promote peace and

understanding, to work with honesty, clarity and compassion, to give voice to the voiceless,

the desperately poor, the oppressed, to challenge stereotyping and expose corruption and

lying- and to respect diversity and difference.


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In doing all of the above, a journalist is advised to maintain high standards of morality

and for this case ethicality so as to gain confidence from the audience.

This study looks at, ethical concerns in journalism, canons of journalism, levels of

ethics, principle of ethics among others.

DEFINITIONS

Baran (2004), defines ethics as, values of behavior or moral principles that guide our

actions in given situations. This word was derived from the Greek word ethos, which means

the customs, traditions or character that guide a particular group or culture. Ethics therefore,

specifically refers to the application of rational thought by media professionals when they are

deciding between two or more competing moral choices. For instance, it is not against the

law to publish the name or picture of a rape victim. But is it ethical?


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Dominick (1994) defines ethics as, rules of conduct or principles of morality that

point is towards the right or the best way to act in a situation.

According to Osborn 2001, the word journalism was derived from the Latin word

diurnalis. It suggests a daily account or record. The term has come to mean the collecting and

editing of news for presentation via one or more forms of media. Intraday print issues and

hourly broadcasts in the twentieth century distanced the practice from its Latin roots. Nearly

instantaneous and updates through new electronic media forms further amplifies their

divergence.

Nasanga 1997 says that, journalism is a profession, whose purpose is to keep a

public journal of events for public consumption and for public record. Its a profession which

is also meant to entertain, educate and to empower the reader or the recipient of the

information.

JOURNALISTIC ETHICSEthics implies the freedom to choose. But journalists are constrained by so many

factors; the proprietors, fear, the law, time and space among others. There is much about the

freedom of the press but the freedom of any individual journalist (particularly of the young

trainees) in any media operation is restricted by vested interests, routine working practices

and hierarchical, bureaucratic, organizational structures.


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Ethical judgment, focus more precisely on the degree of rightness or wrongness,

virtue and vice and obligation in human behavior.

Wellman 1988, says that, ethical issues may arise in human behavior whenever that

behavior could have significant impact on other persons, when the behavior involves

conscious choices of means and ends, and when the behavior can be judged by standards of

right and wrong

According to McQuail (2000), journalistic code of ethics refers to a set of principles

of professional conduct that are adopted and controlled by the journalists themselves.

Caramaza (2002) says that, a journalist describes the society in itself. They seek the

truth that they convey to the public. This truth includes, those in magazines, for example, in

advertisements, features among others, may sometimes be exaggerated and a journalist

should consider ethicality in weighing the options between what should be done and what

should not be done.

Ahuja (2002) says that, the main function of journalism is to bring to light to the

people what its members feel and think. Journalists are therefore, supposed to possess a

good deal of intelligence, knowledge and experience as well natural and trained powers of

observation and reasoning.

Apart from the above, a journalist is expected to have ethics that help govern their

behavior. There are therefore certain canons of journalism which every journalist is

expected to observe and they include;

Sincerity, truthfulness and accuracy.

Impartiality


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Fair play

Decency

Even when there is no legal authority to enforce these canons, journalism as a profession, is

supposed to put the deliberate ponderings to personal instincts which may encounter effective

public disapproval or yield to the influence of a preponderant professional condemnation.

He continues to add that, most publishers, news directors and other journalists simply

write the whole subject of ethics as relative, giving little or no importance to absolute or

universal journalistic principles. This looks at ethics as just the individuals way of doing

things.

A journalist in his/her day-to-day activities can be faced with the questions below that

call for ethical judgment; what is right journalistic action? What is socially responsible

journalism? What should a journalist do in regard to this or that story or picture? Should

he/she conceal part of the story (or all of it) to assure national security? Should he/she print

names of young people if they commit criminal acts? Should a rape victim be identified?

Should the private life of an individual be published?

The above questions call for individuals own judgment of what is right or wrong with

regard to ethicality.

Ethics therefore, is usually individual or personal, even when it relates to obligations

and duties to others. We do right or wrong by ourselves in that part of our lives lived

individually or socially or in that part where we were reacting and responding to other

persons. Thus, there are two sides to individual and social morality implicit in the very

concept of ethics.


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However, what characterizes most journalists today is lack of commitment and

consistency. Before any journalist chooses any particular ethics, he/she has certain social

considerations in his/her mind. Ethics is a basis of philosophy that helps journalists determine

what is right in journalism. Ethics is therefore, like self-legislation and self enforcement.

Pauley and Riordan (2000), say that, in any communication situation, writers have

obligations and responsibilities to themselves and to other people, therefore, technical writing

(writing for commercial purposes), should be an ethical endeavor. To conduct themselves

well, writers must therefore follow accepted principles of moral conduct. The key principle

is, to take responsibility for ones writing. One should take responsibility because the readers,

the employer and the society at large trust a journalists findings. The above mentioned

personalities are stakeholders who rightfully expect to find in the writing, for example, in a

magazine, all the information necessary to achieve their goals. Therefore, ethically, it is the

writers responsibility to ensure that the facts of the matter are truly represented by the choice

of words. A journalist should therefore, ensure that in his/her writing, he/she tells the truth

and does all he/she can do to ensure that the audience understands the message passed.

LEVELS OF ETHICS

Baran (2004) introduces three levels of ethics and argues that because ethics reflect a

cultures idea about right and wrong, they exist at all levels of that cultures operations.

1. Metaethics


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These are fundamental cultural values. What is justice? What does it mean to

be good? Is fairness possible? These questions help individual to examine and know

himself/herself. They are valuable for self knowledge but metaethics provides only

the broadest foundation of the sorts of ethical decisions people make daily. They

define basic starting points for moral reasoning.

2. Normative Ethics

These are more or less generalized theories, rules and principles of ethical or

moral behaviour. The various media industry codes of ethics or standards of good

practice are examples of normative ethics. They serve as real-world frameworks

within which people can begin to weigh competing alternatives of behaviour. Fairness

is a metaethic, but journalistic codes of practice, for example, define what is meant by

fairness in the world of reporting, how far a reporter must go to ensure fairness, and

how fairness must be applied when being fair to one person means being unfair to

another.

Ultimately, journalists must apply both the big rules (metaethics) and the

general guidelines to very specific situations (normative ethics). This is the use of

applied ethics.

3. Applied Ethics


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In applying ethics, the person making the decision is called the moral agent. For moral

agents, ethical issues bring together conflicting interests.

CONFLICTING INTERESTSMedia ethicist Day (1997) identified six sets of individuals or group interests that often

conflict.

The interests of the moral agents individual conscience; media professionals must

live with their decisions.

The interests of the object of the act; a particular person or group is likely to be

affected by media practitioners action.

The interest offinancial supporters; someone pays the bill that allows the station to

broadcast or the newspaper or magazine to publish for instance, advertisers.

The interest ofthe institution; media professionals have company loyalty, pride in the

organization for which they work.

The interest of the society; media personalities like everyone, have a social

responsibility. Because of the influence their work can have, they may even have

greater responsibilities than do many other professionals.

Applying ethics involves balancing the above conflicting interests. It requires one to

examine basic issues for example, truth and honesty, privacy, confidentiality, personal

conflict of interest, profit and social responsibility and protection from offensive content.


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ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

Dominick (1994) introduces ethical principles that are fundamental in helping

journalists to make a sound ethical judgment. They are five principles and they include;

1. The Principle of The Golden Mean

This principle states that moral virtue lies between two extremes. This

philosophical position, is typically associated with Aristotle, who as a biologist noted

that too much food or too little of it affects ones health. Moderation is the key.

Likewise in ethical dilemmas, the proper way of behaving lies between doing too

much and doing too little. Journalists for example, according to this principle, are to

weigh between giving their readers too much information about an individuals life

and endeavors and not giving any information at all. Not giving any information at all

will be denying the readers the right to information while giving too much

information, will be intruding the individuals privacy.

2. The Categorical Imperative

German philosopher, Immanuel Kant is identified with this ethical guideline.

To measure the correctness of our behaviour, Kant suggests that we act according to

rules that we would want to see universally applied. In Kants formulation, categorical

means unconditional- no extenuating circumstances, no exceptions. Right is right and

should be done no matter the consequences. The individuals conscience therefore

plays a key role in this thinking. Our conscience therefore, informs us what is right

and what is not. A journalist when gathering information should be considerate and do

the right thing so as come out with a clean conscience. He/she should not come up

with false or exaggerated ideas or information because he/she wants their news to sell.


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3. The Principle of utility

Utilitarian thinking is associated with philosopher Jeremy Batham and John

Stuart Mill. Utilitarians ask how much good is promoted and how much evil is

restrained by different courses of behaviour. We therefore should think of the

consequences that come out of our actions whether good or bad. We should maximize

the good and minimize the bad.

4. The Veil of Ignorance.

This is related to fairness. Everybody doing the same job should be treated equally

and paid equally. The veil of ignorance suggests that a journalist must treat all readers or

audience members the same. Personal friends of journalists should not benefit from the

inside information. This implies that any individual journalist should not favour anyone

by giving them information that is somewhat considered to be a secret or confidential in

nature.

5. Principe of Self- Determination

The principle suggests that one should not treat other people as a means to an end.

This principle is closely associated with the Judeo-Christian ethic and also discussed by

Kant, it might be summarized as, love your neighbour as you love yourself. Human

beings have unconditional value part from any and all circumstances. Their basic right to

self-determination should not be violated by using them as simply a means to accomplish

a goal. For example, journalists can be used as a means to an end by being blackmailed,

that if they publish a given article, then they will be given a benefit in return.


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A journalist should be ethical enough and not accept to be used as a means to any

ones end. Rights, values and decisions of others must always be respected.

CONCLUSIONEthics for journalists tackles many of the issues which journalists face in their

everyday lives, from the media supposed obsession with sex, sleaze and sensationalism, to

issues of regulation and censorship. Its accessible style, question and answer approach

highlights the relevance of ethical issues for everyone involved in journalism, both trainees

and professionals, whether working in print, broadcast or new media.

A journalist collecting information from the field for publication in a magazine should

consider what is right and can be published and what is wrong (may be offensive) and should

be left out.

This decision entirely depends on the journalist himself/ herself and thats why the

issue of ethics in journalism is emphasized.


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REFERENCES

Ahuja, B.N and Chhabra, S.S. Principles and Techniques of Journalism. New Delhi-India:

Surjeet publishers, 1997.

Baran, S.J.Introduction to Mass Communication; Media Literacy and Culture. Third edition.

Boston: McGraw Hill publishers, 2004.

Caramaza, G.News Reporting and Broadcasting. Makuyu Kenya: New People Publishers,

2002.

Day, L.A. Ethics in Media Communication; Case and Controversies. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth publishers, 1997.

Dominick, J.R. The Dynamics of Mass Communication. University of Georgia, Athens:

McGraw Hill publishers, 1994.

McQuail, D. McQuails Mass Communication Theory. Fourth edition. London: SAGE

publishers, 2002.


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Nasanga, G.L. The New Press Bills in Uganda: Implication for National Communication

Policy and Press Freedom. African Media Review, Volume 11, Number 2, 1997, p.77.

Osborn, B. Ethics and Credibility in Online Journalism. Memphis, Tennessee: Sage

publishers, 2001.

Pauley, S.E. and Riordan, D.G. Technical Report Writing Today. Fifth edition. India:

Houghton Mifflin publishers (USA), 2000.

Wellman, C. Morals and Ethics. Second edition. England: Chiffs prentice Hall publishers,

1998.

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Magazine Editing and Management[1]