Ethics in the Media Sector - Research Paper Example

? Media Ethics Media ethics imply the good morals that are observed by journalists, reporters, editors, online article and actors among other media personalities. We live in a generation of advanced technology that anyone can acquire certain information just by a click of a button. This work focuses on some of the important ethics to be observed in the media sector. Media ethics is divided according to the various subdivisions of the media sector (Kieran, 2005). Each nation has specific laws and policies to guide any reporter, journalists and editors among other media personalities when passing any information to the public. The media is important in information dissemination in the society. However, this would never be realized if some ethics are not observed. There are several areas where ethics is observed in the media sector. I am a journalist by profession hence I have a vast knowledge with regards to the ethical and legal implications in this career. As journalists, we act as the eye and the mind of the public. It is through our work that the public get to know the happenings in the nation and the world as a whole. We are the role models of several people, more so the teenagers, who tend to dress, act and behave the way we do. I must admit that journalism is one of the complex careers because everyone is watching, any slightest mistake or misconduct will go into record. This may make one lose his/her job or even arrested depending on the seriousness and nature of the misconduct. There are set of ethics and law that is meant to guide us while we interact with the public. The difference between law and ethics is that ethics is the good characters accepted by both man and God, but their violation has no legal consequences, while law is a set of regulations whose violation has some legal implications like an arrest or charges. Ethics is mandatory in the media sector since it determines the number of your audience, hence it is upon each media institution to set some specific ethical guidelines to ensure a good relationship between the media institution and the company and the public. News manipulation is one of the ethical issues in the modern media houses. It can be defined as the omission or alterations of basic elements in the news to favor a certain individual. This is mainly common in the political arena where a certain political leader may use his/her power to influence the news read to the public. Certain journalists may also decide to manipulate news content on the basis of personal interest. There is no specific law describing specific legal consequences to such act, but one may lose the public favor and lose his/her job. External stakeholders like advertising companies may cut their links with such media company. Social researchers indicate that major civil and international wars have been sparked by the manipulation of the actual facts. The public will have no time to evaluate the news but take it the way it is being read. Manipulating the news is like lying to the public which not only unethical but demoralizing. For instance, think of a situation a certain media house have used to announce hunger in a certain part of the country so that other citizens to rescue the situation, only to later realize that the hunger was faked so that some regional leaders could make personal gains. This would kill the trust between the public and the media company. The truth is another ethical issue in the journalism. The main aim of the media sector is keeping the public on the truthful side. A certain government may hide some issues from the public out of personal greed, but is the role of the media to reveal truth to the nation and the world as a whole. Media without truth is considered dead because it serves its purpose. The current constitutions of several democratic nations regard media as an independent entity and freedom of expression. This enables the media to report any situation the way it is. Language is another important ethical matter in the media sector. Ant media personality should identify the audience and apply appropriate language. The use vulgar to portray any message would discourage majority of the audience. Some of reputable international media companies or broadcasting companies have stayed in the market due to the use of ‘clean’ language in their broadcasts. However, the current media does not observe some of the important ethical considerations in their business. The advancement of technology comes with several changes in life like dress code, entertainment and relationships among other aspects of human life. Media personalities no longer consider their career ethics provided the audience is pleased. Current ladies in the media houses wear short sexy uncomfortable dresses, just to keep the male audiences’ eyes glued to them. This may work well with the younger generation but not older adults who value morals in the society. They also use ‘F’ words to keep the audience attentive. Some of these issues have raised great concerns with civil groups in the society (Plaisance, 2008). They lament that the current children would grow into an immoral society if some of the immoral and unethical conducts in the media is not addressed. The greatest problem is that the media personalities cannot be forced to dress in some decent manners because they have all the money to spend on the latest fashion, they may lose the public celebrity should they adopt some old fashioned dress mode. Some media celebrities are paid huge amounts by design or fashion companies like Armani, Hugo Boss, Gucci and Georgi among others. This would mean the end of their career. A lot has been done to ensure good morals and ethics in the media sector. First, some commissions have been formed to ensure ethics while media personalities interact with the public. This came after adolescents and teenagers exhibited some unpleasant behaviors in the learning institutions and in the society as a whole. The government through the communications commission called for strict regulations to ensure the public has the best pictures or images of the media personalities. Internet contents also go through keen verifications before being posted. The media are fond of manipulating political news to favor some individuals. Some nations have lost the essence of elections due to the rigging process in the system. Media as public tool can stop such irregularities airing such allegations to the public. However, influential politicians use their powers to make the media report wrong election figures to the electorates. This is common in Africa nations like Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda among others. This work will consider a certain real happening (case study) with regard to the media ethics. I will talk about media responsibility with respect to Kenya’s 2007 post election violence. The news was all over all international broadcasting channels like CNN and Al Jazeera among others. Major blogs and web sites portrayed the scary war images and news. The disaster was associated with inadequacies in media ethics. International social research firms depicted the media implications played a great role in sparking the war between two major great communities in the country. First, the election results were being announced in specific native languages, during which, false information was being passed. Different journalists stopped being public figures by deciding to side with their respective communities during the event. False information and images were also shown to such communities to increase people’s anger. Sociologists lament that it was the role of media to promote peace and harmony after the 2007 Kenya’s election but not spread rumors and wrong images to create more tension in the community. The use of vulgar language by several journalists among other media professionals was common in the event. This was meant to provoke specific communities whose key figures participated in the elections. Language use is a very important value in the media sector (Frost, 2000). The public would never have time to analyze any news before accepting it. The majority of Kenyan’s took the news as they were being read. Some felt provoked or intimidated, hence attacked some community members. Thousands of people were killed, millions worth of property destroyed and others left homeless. The economy of the country came to its knees (Jean, 2000). The media was used to give the citizens incorrect election results. During the war or after the 2007 Kenta’s elections, several private media companies were not allowed to show some critical political issues. It was only governmental news broadcasting company (KBC) that was permitted to air some of political occasions like the illegal swearing of the president who was alleged to have rigged the elections. The International Journalists like those of the BBC were believed to have sparked the war by exaggerating images to the public and the world as a whole. At some instance, a certain journalist reported over 40 people shot dead and rushed to the nearest public health institution. A community whose members were alleged killed took to the streets to revenge their brothers’ deaths. The journalist would have calmed the situation by avoiding such propagandas. The international bodies who foresaw the elections placed much blame on the regional and international media sector for sparking the situation further. Many nations and media companies learnt a lot from the Kenya’s scenario. First, the International Criminal Court (ICC) suspects one of the Kenya’s journalists to have participated a great deal in sparking the 2007 Kenya’s post election violence. The hearing is still under way and should he found was guilty, legal consequences will follow. This was to pass warning to all journalists that some of our activities could lead us into trouble if not well handled. The journalist’s prosecutor lament that the journalist used his native language to pass war rumors and sparks to his community members. This was a great warning to the journalists that at the end of the day, media is not a community thing but it belongs to the whole world. The journalist thought that by him speaking in his native, the information would only reach his native group. We live in a digital world. The journalist is expected to appear for further hearings. Several nations have abolished native radio and TV stations and encourage national broadcasting channels. This is to promote peace and unity in the country. Media firms were also summoned by the Communication Commission on the implications of ethical matters in their broadcasts. Some firms have seen their permits confiscated or canceled for failure to observe some general media ethics. As a journalist, I will have to ensure some basic ethical principles in my career by making me maintain a good reputation with the society. My career and the society go hand in hand. My career implies me involved in advertisements, marketing and ensuring good public relations (PR) between my company and the society at large. Truth is an element my career cannot do without. I am compelled to inform the society on current happenings as they are, without any kind of alterations to suit specific individuals. Evidence or information back up is some of the aspects that confirm the truthfulness of any news. This means that I have to be careful with my photos or image capturing. Sometimes I am compelled to an abandon some information on nay news coverage due to lack of sufficient information to back it up. I have a good experience and reputation with regards to advertisements. This is another area I must remain truthful to the society. I must give the correct qualities of a certain product or service to be advertised. This is to create and maintain trust and good relations with the public. Let me talk of a certain scenario from participating in a certain conventional medicine advert. I failed to communicate the correct prescription and this had some consequences in the community. Both the medicine and our media company were sued for such allegations. I almost lost my job. Since then, the element of truth is one of the greatest considerations in my career. I came to learn that my career as a journalism has grown due to maintaining truth despite how ugly and unpleasant some news coverage may seem. Fairness is another important consideration in my career. Being a journalist calls for being the advocate or the voice of the community. We live in a society of different people in terms of race, economic ability, race and ethnicity. We have scenarios where some journalists have been paid off to cover some bias stories like manipulated election results and unfair court verdicts among others. During my training journalism, my administration insisted on fairness in terms of student’s admissions and the general institution administration. This was to mold us (students) to appreciate the principles in our career. Currently, my media company is one of the most respected in the entire nation. I remember some instance when I got a chance to do some news coverage to do with some mining company planning to drill titanium from some privately owned farm. The company had collaborated with some influential top politicians to evict the residents so that the mining process would commence. The politicians lamented that the farm was a private property; hence there were no compensations for the citizens who were to be victims of evictions. However, the residents managed to produce their land ownership documents and they were not ready to be evicted from their personal property. To beat the case, the top politicians decided to by my media company to cover unfair information with regards to the eviction saga. I was to fake that some residents are already compensated and ready to vacate from the land. This would mean taking sides with the rich and influential politicians. I refused and stood strong in the favor of the poor residents (Wilkins, 2009). The court also ruled in their favor and the drilling project was abolished and some of the political leaders in the deal demoted. This single story branded our company for fighting for the rights of the poor and voiceless. My company and I also received some international media awards for remaining fir for the sake of the poor. The majority of journalisms would take the cash and produced twisted news to favor the rich and influential. Standard of decency is another important ethical consideration in my career. My dress code would always be appealing to both the young and older adults in the society. I am not talking of modern or latest fashion or expensive designer but decent clothing that would encourage anyone be associated with me. As a media personality I am a role model to several people out there. This means that I would be leading young a people a stray by immoral dressing. I also ensure appropriate language in my career. I revise every news or article before making it a public domain. I have to obey the beliefs and culture of my audiences; hence, I would never utter any word against the religion, lifestyle, social life or culture of a certain group of my audiences. To conclude, my career entails much of human interactions and communication. This would mean that ethical principles play a great role in the prosperity of my company and career as a whole. During my training, I was made to understand all the legal and ethical principles with regard to media career. I have tried to observe to observe such principles and I would say my career is doing well. Furthermore, I have to maintain a humble personality to be associated with the majority of the society members. References Frost, C. (2000). Media Ethics and self regulation. New York: Longman. Jean, C. (2000). Media ethics and accountability system. New York: Transaction publishing. Kieran, M. (2005). Media Ethics. USA: Routledge. Plaisance, P. (2008). Media Ethics: Key principles for resposbility. New York: SAGE publications. Wilkins, L. (2009). Handbook of media ethics. New York: Taylor & Francis. Read More