Business Ethics Code at Aljazeera Media - Case Study Example

Aljazeera Code of Ethics Name of Student: Name of Course: Name of Instructor: Name of Instruction: Business Ethics Code at Aljazeera Media Contents Contents 1 1.0 Introduction 2 2.0 Reasons for the establishment of the Aljazeera code of ethics 3 3.0 The Aljazeera Code of Ethics. 4 4.0 Reactions to the establishment of the Aljazeera ethics code. 7 5.0 Conclusion 9 References 10 1.0 Introduction The code of ethics in a business setup is a guide to the employees, outlining the principles that the personnel should adhere to. The code contains the values that the organization prioritizes, principles that support the operations of the institution, and the compliance with all business and legal laws. A preemptive warning is issued in the code in case of misconduct. The ethics code is important in an organization to ensure the success of the business. The Arabic channel, Aljazeera, revealed a business code of conduct in the year 2004. The issue of insensitivity to the western viewers was the reason for this move. In its ethics, the satellite channel vowed to treat all its viewers, both Arabic and Americans, with respect. It promised to approach every story and opinion in a clear and factual manner, so as to create an accurate image of the situation. Journalists and reporters have a responsibility to their viewers. They should be independent in their reporting, neutral to the different sides of the story and take into account any opinions raised, truthful and accountable for their actions when reporting. Aljazeera has managed to portray these ethics in their media system after adopting the code of ethics to direct their operations. 2.0 Reasons for the establishment of the Aljazeera code of ethics Aljazeera is in an Arab country, Qatar. It, however, received a lot of criticism in its operations as a global media corporation. The critics of Aljazeera claimed that the media group was very biased in its reporting. It favored the Arabic countries over America. There was an observed anti-sematic, and anti-American bias in the news content of Aljazeera. An example that is an annoyance to the Americans was when Aljazeera greeted a renowned Lebanese militant terrorist, Samir Kuntar, as a hero. There have been claims of idolization of Bin Laden by Aljazeera who depicted him as a hero and his portrait hanged in the studio of Aljazeera. Aljazeera is believed to be owned by the state of Qatar. The productions and presentations of Aljazeera were subject to speculation that the state controlled them for the purposes of politically pursuing their agenda (Ward, 2010). Employees of Aljazeera who had resigned from the media group validated these claims, adding that reports from Europe were intentionally ignored. The claim that Aljazeera news were politically bent and not based on the truth, the fact that kills the integrity of the journalists. As a business organization, Aljazeera faced an enormous exodus of its journalists, particularly those based in Paris and London, despite their generous working conditions (Kumsieh, 2009). Aljazeera had to act in order to maintain the credibility of the media in Qatar and all over the world, and to stay afloat amidst its major competitor, CNN. The media organization had spent a lot of its finances to establish itself in the United States. As a corporation, Aljazeera had to defend its investments and drastic measures initiated by the company, which was losing its credibility at a fast pace. Aljazeera established the code of ethics in the media organization in 2004 (Brown, 2011). The move was appreciated in the whole world because Aljazeera showed that it was interested to provide fair and credible news to the world and it valued the credibility code of all journalists in the world. 3.0 The Aljazeera Code of Ethics. Aljazeera adopted the business code of Ethics in their organization in the year 2004. It had to accommodate all the viewers who are everywhere in the world, ranging from Arab countries, America and also Africa. This move was necessary after the alleged state-owned news station started broadcasting news in English. This move meant that many of the American people would access the news broadcasted, therefore, it was important to take into account the requirements of all its viewers. Adherence to all the journalistic principles of honesty, fairness, independence, credibility, diversity and courage were the primal values of the Aljazeera media. Their wide coverage that extended globally gave them no space for taking sides in the issues they handled. They have to be impartial, giving no preference to political or commercial issues they handle, but have a strong professional consideration. The employees of Aljazeera should have the endeavor to acquire the truth in a story, no matter the cost. The truth is what will depict their integrity in their line of work. The story is then declared in their programs, communications and news bulletins indisputably. These actions are necessary for the purpose that the professionals working at Aljazeera media to attain the status of validity and accuracy. The manner in which they present their news and information gained should leave no uncertainty of being opinionated or viewed to favor a certain side of the story. It is the obligation of Aljazeera media to treat all their audiences with the respect they deserve. No matter their location. In the same, they should address every upcoming issue with due responsiveness and courtesy so as to present a flawless and factual portrait of the story at hand. The information presented is required to show no level of inaccuracy, and at the same time, provide a full consideration to the mental and emotional state of the victims in the delinquency, war, oppression or disaster involved. The relatives, public decorum and the private persons, who include all the viewers should also be given full consideration when presenting the story in the news bulletin. The broadcasters should not, in any way, appear to be insensitive to the situation or parties involved. The Aljazeera media complied with the acceptance of a fair and righteous competition from other media groups. Aljazeera is a satellite media based in Qatar, but broadcasts globally (Mody, 2010). It extended its wings to America and the Sports arena in a bid to meet the requirements of its viewers. Despite being a very well established media corporation with recognition worldwide, Aljazeera is open to competition from other broadcasters. It, however, has the obligation of making sure that the competition does not adversely affect the broadcasting standards of Aljazeera media. Their standards of presentation should remain the best, therefor, not allowing the competition to affect its morale. It is the responsibility of Aljazeera to recognize the distinct diversity in the various human cultures. Humans in different societies all over the world have different races, cultures and inherent beliefs associated with their location and possibly, origin (Mohammed, 2003). They also have dissimilar values, attached to their way of life, and intrinsic individualities. The media professionals of Aljazeera should take into account these natures and facts and make it their responsibility to present an unbiased and authentic reflection of the different human societies. The team of media professionals working for the Aljazeera media have the responsibility of acknowledging the mistakes they make in their line of work. These mistakes can result from being biased or insensitive when presenting a story, or omitting an important part of the story, in a way that may seem judgmental to the victims. In case such an event occurs, the employees ought to promptly make the necessary corrections and make sure the mistake does not occur any other time. If the mistake were a grievous one that needs further attention, then the professionals responsible should offer the due apologies required for the mistake. Aljazeera is a media group that has its branches all over the globe. It is, therefore, subject to international laws and practices concerned with the profession. Aljazeera should make sure that it complies with all global rules and practices. Transparency is one such example of an internationally observed practice. Presentation of the news should be in a transparent manner, and the sources of the story in question should be under the scrutiny of the same law (Massing, 2004). They should adhere to international laws concerning the rights of the sources of the story. It is the duty of Aljazeera, as a global media group, to avoid presenting news that do not have a solid base. In its code of conduct, Aljazeera provided for the ethic that the media specialists in the famous media organization should clearly distinguish between a news resource, an opinion and, and analysis of the subject. The principle is important because it is a wrong to present a rumor to the viewers. Victim parties can take offense and have the right to sue the institution for their claims. The ethic is important in helping the media group avoid the snares of propaganda and mere speculation, and try to pass them off as news. Aljazeera personnel should present the diverse opinions and points of views of parties without any bias or supposed partiality. They have an obligation to critically assess the pieces of information they acquire on a subject with the utmost objectivity. The news broadcasted to the viewers of Aljazeera are not necessarily the opinions of the Aljazeera fraternity. The disclaimer is important and it enables the Aljazeera media specialists to feel free to present objective news without any bias. Aljazeera personnel has a code of ethic that requires them to stand by their colleagues in the career, and provide them with any required support. The ethic applies, especially, in instances of aggression and oppression of the staff, a situation to which journalists at times find themselves. These occurrences happen when the journalists have to shoot and present stories in violent areas, for example, a war zone. There are also places where journalists are not welcome and they are at times subjected to harassments when in their line of work. The staff of Aljazeera are required by their business ethics code to cooperate with the Arab and also international authorities (Figenshou, 2014). There is collaboration of Aljazeera professionals with both the Arab and Intercontinental journalistic unions and associations. The defense of the press is the main purpose for this union. 4.0 Reactions to the establishment of the Aljazeera ethics code. After Aljazeera established the code of ethics, it acted as a source of great pride to the media group. The United States accepted the media station after it enacted its ethics code. It appeared to be more professional in its operations, and non-biased. Its way of presenting news is more rational and maintains the credibility of its journalists. It is now considered to be in the same ranks as CNN and Reuters (Seib, 2012). The politicians of United States view it as an influential media, a fact that has encouraged more people to make Aljazeera the news broadcaster of their choice. There have been claims and complaints, however, that the media group has lost the ‘Arab face’ over time, since it established the code of ethics. Aljazeera is now closely related and compared with other global media groups, such as, CNN and BBC. Aljazeera International is viewed to have departed from its initial defining character, and quickly adopting a westernized character (Jaber, 2004). In the same effect, Aljazeera strongly relies on the international and western media groups to transmit its news and opinions to the Arab States. The support of the move is not by all viewers and other stakeholders. They feel and fear that Aljazeera is succumbing to international western pressure and losing its identity. The Aljazeera personality is what that made Aljazeera be the strong and stable international media group it is in this era. It has received many awards, including the Webby awards, and nominated alongside other giant reporting media organizations, such as, BBC News and National Geographic. It received recognized for the coverage of 2011 Egyptian protests where it received acknowledgement as the media with the best news. The United States Political leader, Hillary Clinton praised Aljazeera, and acknowledged that the media group was responsible for changing the minds and opinions of the people. The American information and news is at war with the Arab global broadcaster, because it is better than before. The fact that it had not established the code of ethics made the media group seem unfocused and unreliable. After establishment of the ethics codes, it has become a media force to reckon with. Journalists are honored to work for the prestigious media corporation and the quality of work it produces is high, a fact that is backed by the awards received. It is an effective company. 5.0 Conclusion It was a necessary move for Aljazeera to establish the code of ethics for the media corporation. Aljazeera needed to save itself from the claims of biasness towards the Arabs, some of whom were considered terrorists by the western countries. The corporation stood accused of not maintain a professional approach in its reporting. The journalists of Aljazeera were resigning at a high rate, especially from European countries and Egypt (Goldberg, 2005). They felt that their association with Aljazeera will taint their reputation and integrity as journalists. They did this despite being afforded a very comfortable working life by the Arab media business. The code of ethics is, therefore, very important for any organization. The professionals in that corporation gain confidence and pride in their work. They are sure of the stability of their jobs and the credibility of the work they do is ascertained. A code of ethics helped Aljazeera to move to the next step of its success. The journalist professionals had the protection of their work, a fact provided by the code principles. The fact increased their performance and they covered more areas with greater objectivity. Aljazeera managed to convince the world that is a determined media company, with the objective of reaching greater heights in reporting. It is now in the ranks of other giant media groups and has the aspirations of being the best. The accusations that Aljazeera is forgetting its roots is not a petty claim. Aljazeera was established in the year 1996 by the government of Qatar. Over the years in the media world, Aljazeera has been known to be the voice of the Arab people. The other international media corporations are not passionate in articulating the news from Arab countries in the same way Aljazeera managed to do. After Aljazeera had established the code of ethics, its attention is elsewhere, majorly in the western countries. The Arab states are feeling abandoned. Aljazeera should serve the whole world in a fair and objective manner, as dictated in the code of ethics of the year 2004. It should equally cover all areas around the globe, without being partial to neither the western countries, nor the Arab states. Both parties have viewers who should be given due respect and attention, in all areas of broadcasting, and the views of the victims of crimes in any area should receive the same level of treatment from the media corporation, despite their location. The establishment of the code of ethics for Aljazeera was a bold move that facilitated the acceptance of the Arab based organization by the western, and international countries. Aljazeera is now considered to be objective and fair in its reporting. The recognition and acceptance that Aljazeera received because of the ethics code it established was enormous. References Brown, F. (2011). Journalism ethics: a casebook of professional conduct for news media. Marion Street Press. Figenshou, T. (2014). Aljazeera and the global media landscape: the south is talking back. Routledge. Goldberg, J. (2005). Careers in journalism. McGraw-Hill. Jaber, K. (2004). The credibility of Arab broadcasting: the case of Aljazeera. National Council & Heritage department. Kumsieh, R. (2009). Strong objectivity in journalist practice. Erasmus University. Massing, M. (2004). Now they tell us: the American press and Iraq. New York Review Books. Mohammed, A. (2003). Aljazeera the story of the network that is rattling governments and redefining modern journalism. Westview. Mody, B. (2010). The geopolitics of re[presentation in foreign news: explaining Darfur. Lexington Books. Seib, P. (2012). Aljazeera English: global news in a changing world. Palgrave Macmillan. Ward, S. (2010). Global journalism ethics. McGill-Queen’s University. Read More