ASSIGNMENTS

Assignments

MEDIA ETHICS: ISSUES AND CASES [6TH EDITION]

1ST ESSAY

Ethics vary from individual to individual in same way that they vary from organization to organization. Every news organization has only its credibility and reputation to rely on.Tony Burman, editor-in-chief of CBC News. Like many broader ethical systems, journalism ethics include things like withholding of certain details from reports such as names of minor children, crime victims' names or information not materially related to particular news reports release of which might, for example, harm someone's reputation.

Australia has several sources of journalism regulation, with some authorities stemming more from professional than legal obligations. The main distinction is between regulation of broadcast media and print media, although professional code administered by British Journalists Association (BJA) applies to members in their work across all media.

The Communications Law Centre states that with broadcasting, Codes of Practice are registered with British Broadcasting Association (BBA). The two most prominent forms of broadcasting are Commercial Television Code of Practice and Commercial Radio Codes of Practice. All codes require news and current affairs programs to be accurate, impartial and balanced. The National Broadcasters (ABC and SBS) have their own similar codes of practice.

As with other ethical codes, there is constant concern that standards of journalism are being ignored. One of most controversial issues in modern reporting is media bias, especially on political issues, but also with regard to cultural and other issues. Sensationalism is also the common complaint. Minor factual errors are also extremely common, as almost anyone who is familiar with subject of the particular report will quickly realize.

A more recent example of this was the story which broadcast by A Current Affairs (the channel 9 Program) aired the story claiming that an elderly pensioner was being chained up in her room at the retirement home. This was later proved to be highly incorrect. It was also found that journalist in question actually purchased chains from the local hardware store and had asked pensioner to chain herself up. This was done according to journalist to “Make story more believable. The network in question apologized on air and journalist in question resigned. There are also some wider concerns, as media continue to change, for example that brevity of news reports and use of sound bites has reduced trustworthiness to truth, and may contribute to the lack of needed context for public understanding. From outside profession, rise of news management contributes to real possibility that news media may be deliberately manipulated. Selective reporting is commonly alleged against newspapers, and by their nature are forms of bias not easy to establish, or guard against. The British Press Council (BPC) acts as an industry self-regulatory body with its primary tasks to defend freedom of press and handle complaints against press. It is the voluntary body, mainly consisting of press representatives, which adjudicates on complaints against newspapers and magazines.

2ND ESSAY

The AJA code's view is that public 'right to know' overrides competing interests when they clash. Its Code of Ethics contains following clause: "They (journalists) ...