Journalism and Diversity - Term Paper Example

The Press Complaints Commission Code of Practice states: 'Details of an individual's race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story.' Discuss the reasons behind this aspect of the code and how it is applied by journalists, with the reference to one or more recent story. - Oscar Pistorius became the first ever athlete to participate in both Paralympics and Olympics. Introduction The notion of responsible media got recognition through the Hutchins Commission on Freedom of the Press in the United States. The World Association of Press Councils realises that the freedom of press must be responsible to the public cause, if not the government. It announces that “it is implicit and inherent in the institution of a free press that the press exercises its powers and duties in a responsible manner” (The Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong, 2000, p. 2). Clause 12 of the Press Complaints Code deals with discrimination issue regarding reporting of a news, guiding journalists not to mention the race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability of a person unless these are required actually to complete the story. The purpose behind this clause is to secure people from biased reporting and the news publication does not harm the common public interest. Journalists need to differentiate between the lines, crossing it only when remarks are made generally about various sections of people on a reporter’s individual capacity to write that is politically correct and a decision can not be easily made without harming others’ right of freedom of expression (Beales, 2009). The purpose of the Code is to draw a line, remaining within which won’t create any clash between the right of the public to freedom of speech and the rights of a person not to be exposed to biased personal abuse. Regarding the right to freedom of expression, having a different opinion is the right irrespective of the matter whether it is not to others’ liking or others mind it (Beales, 2009). With the increasing trend of media taken to the court over its expression of public opinion, responsibility of the press has increased to report daily news in controlled way. Past examples of various news reporting can help in drawing a line between taking the freedom of publishing a news, for example, the British media took restraint by not publishing the contentious Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, although they were not bound by the Code not to do so. On the same length, the sarcastic advice of a national newspaper columnist to wire the county streets to decollate cyclists created anger among the audiences but it was not the violation of the Code on the part of the columnist but because the remark was not aimed at any individual and the columnist also published an apology, the matter was amicably settled (Beales, 2009). Nevertheless, pejorative or prejudicial aggression at selected people is against the spirit of the Code. For instance making fun at the disabled son of Katie Price, the showbiz model from Jordan became a controversial issue; the PCC was flooded with complaints from readers and also from Ms Price and her husband, Peter Andre. The issue could only be settled when an online and in-print apology was made by the magazine besides making donation to the charity (Beales, 2009). The Code comes to the rescue of those individuals who are targeted and victimised but complaints made by the third party do not come under the arc of the Code until the sufferer agrees to support the complaint. Journalists are advised to apply restraint in reporting matters of public interest by the PCC. Even if no claim of discrimination is made by any individual, PCC can take action under other sections of the Code like Accuracy. For instance, the PCC issued the guidance note on asylum seekers indicating that it was wrong to assume asylum seekers as illegal. They are legal so far as they are not denied asylum. Such inaccurate publishing crosses the drawn line over the Code’s privacy rules and it could pose a risk to the welfare of children (Beales, 2009). Any unwarranted use of hard language amounts to violation of the Code, for example, in the case of mentally ill patients, calling them as basket-cases, nutters or psychos would be deemed discriminatory or wrong. It does not mean that any reference to a person’s race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or to any physical or mental illness or disability under the Code is to be prevented, as under the sub-clause 12i, they need to be not only partial or pejorative — but also biased way (Beales, 2009). To explain what counts as illogical, we can take the case of publishing a satirical cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon who was shown as eating a baby by the newspaper, The Independent, on Monday 27 January 2003. There was no doubt over the publishing of satirical cartoon as illogical but the PCC rejected the complaint put up by Mishcon de Reya, solicitors on behalf of the embassy of Israel and Ariel Sharon. The Commission cleared the cartoon from being labelled as racial because Ariel Sharon was projected not as a Jew but as the head of a state although public opinion was that the cartoon made a straight reference to the blood libel but the newspaper explained its position, to which the Commission agreed. It projected the fact that any published content may have various angles and motives and what matters the most is how the newspaper perceives its news projection. Assuming that before publishing content, the media should examine it from various possible angles of how readers would see it would amount to interference with the media rights to freedom of expression (Sharon v The Independent: Report 62, 2003). The case example of Oscar Pistorius, who has become the first eligible amputee sprinter to participate in the Olympics from South Africa, has to undergo lots of hardships. Pistorius will also be participating in the Paralympics, as decided by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Daily Mail Reporter, 4 July 2012). The South Africa’s Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee selected Pistorius for the London Olympics 2012 not for the reason that he was the most renowned disabled sportsman but because he was able to fulfill the required parameters to get entry into the London Olympics 2012 or for 2016. Pistorius had taken part at the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu; he participated in the 4x400m relay race, but was not included because they could not win the gold in the final. It needs to be noted that because of his disability Pistorius was not granted permission to compete with able-bodied athletes just before the 2008 Olympics – a decision which was changed afterwards (Daily Mail Reporter, 4 July 2012). One can only guess the limit of joy and anxiety, Oscar Pistorius had undergone in the Olympic stadium, not felt before although he had run many races earlier. Only his own words could provide a glimpse of his mind, as he remarked, “We came out of the tunnel and I was so nervous,” Pistorius said. “I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew I was going to be super-excited. As I came out, I saw my family, my grandmother and everyone, and I just knew nothing could go wrong. Pistorius worked hard for this day when crowd strength of 80,000-plus applauded him while running his race. He got qualified for the semi-finals. He has been imaging this day for the past six years because of his selection in both the London Olympic 2012 and the Paralympic, as he said. “To finally be on the track, on this stage is amazing. I’m almost speechless” (Battaglia, 2012). The road to qualification was not smooth for Pistorius; his battle for this achievement has been waged for four years from the top-most courts to the largest track meets. Regarding sexual orientation, a change in the Code was made in 2005 to include the reporting of transgender, after the promulgation of the Gender Recognition Act. In Clause 12i the word ‘gender’ was replaced by ‘sex’. This meant that people who had treated themselves or have been treated for gender reassignment were formed part of the sections provided cover from partial or pejorative mention. Another change in the Code was not brought about related to sub-clause 12ii for publication of biased information by the Code Committee for the reason that trans individuals, victimised for gender dysphoria, would be secured under current rules addressing physical illness (Beales, 2009). The clause 12 related to discrimination is aimed at individuals only and not a group of people. The reason behind is that any matching security for groups of people would put serious limitations on freedom of expression. The purpose of clause 12 is to hold known people from being victimised through discriminatory reference and therefore, was modified in 2004 to pertain to ‘an individual's race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability' to bring about clarity (Words Matter, 2012). A Code needs to be respected not only in words but deeds as well. It is described straight in the Code that translation of its content should not be too literal to allow honouring the rights of people and too wide to hinder the publication of content in the public interest (Morrison, 2004). In the context of race relations, the general notion may be that the Code with its conservative editorial parameters for publishing race-related news has put on hold, ignored or broken the Code intentionally to ride on the heat wave of tabloids. There is no need to rule out objective reporting on varied treatments of race relations topics or of problems on asylum seekers by various newspapers (Morrison, 2004). It must be acknowledged that it should not always be taken for granted that there is scholarship in the method the different newspapers make observations on the same truths from various perspectives. Rightfully performed, the variation in news coverage can heighten the level of public awareness by conducting a thorough and interrogative valuation of truth and view-point. Nevertheless, there is significant variation between the descriptions of truth from various perspectives, so that readers can form their opinion about them and of the negative reporting of them with the aim of getting political leverage (Morrison, 2004). News reporting on asylum seekers or pertaining to race relations is neither requesting for distinct treatment of the problem nor an effort to stop newspapers from publishing feelings that translate their editorial policy. It should not be expected from the newspapers to stop writing on topics of immigration or presenting asylum statistics or to put on hold discussions for a cut in future immigration in their editorial writings. On the other hand, it is relevant and goes well with the old needs of editorial heights that immigration statistics should be stated correctly with sufficient explanation and with reference to the context; that possibilities or viewpoints should be stated as such and not stated as real (Morrison, 2004). Discussion regarding scope of immigration in future should not be focussed as such to give the hostile inclination towards asylum seekers, black people, Muslims or other foreign nationals already settled legally in the host country. The enmity that can erupt from misunderstanding and misleading statistics should not be undervalued. Racial hatred, favouritism and xenophobia are not day-to-day feelings of hate based on individual preferences but illogical fear, which can be nourished and abused from many non-relevant sources (Morrison, 2004). There is no uncertainty over experiences in different countries regarding racial discrimination that they can cause substantial suffering and, in specific conditions, death. Racial hatred and xenophobia are also totally useless human resources, in the sense that they result in wastage of precious time and energy in misdirected actions, while the actual and simple issues of society or of the economy remain unresolved (Morrison, 2004). Overall, the journalist community has learnt to draw the line between the responsible publication of news stories and individual rights of people to be safeguarded from the undue interference of the press, thankfully to the efforts made by Press Complaints Commission. References Beales, I., 2009. The Editor’s Codebook. 2nd Edition. Available from: http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/the%20editors%20codebook.pdf [accessed 15 August 2012]. Battaglia, J., 2012. Oscar Pistorius finally gets to seize his Olympic moment. 5th August. Available from: http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-blogs/blog=olympic-talk/post/oscar-pistorius-finally-gets-to-seize-his-olympic-moment.html [accessed 15 August 2012]. Morrison, L., 2004. Guidelines for journalists on proper coverage of refugee-related topics. Available from: http://www.mediawise.org.uk/www.mediawise.org.uk/display_page7fa9.html?id=649 [accessed 15 August 2012]. Roubis, C., July 5, 2012. London 2012: Oscar Pistorius to make history after inclusion in both Olympic teams. Available from: http://www.chrisroubis.com/2012/07/london-2012-oscar-pistorius-to-make-history-after-inclusion-in-both-olympic-teams/ [accessed 15 August 2012]. Sharon v The Independent: Report 62, 2003. News and Features. The Independent. Available from: http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=MjA5OA [accessed 15 August 2012]. The Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong: Sub-Committee on Privacy Consultation Paper on the Regulation of Media Intrusion. 2000. Available from: http://www.hkreform.gov.hk/en/docs/media-e.pdf [accessed 15 August 2012]. Words Matter., n.d. Our criteria. Available from: http://wordsmatter.org.uk/our-criteria [accessed 15 August 2012]. Read More