Journalism Ethics and Regulation - Essay Example

Journalism Journalism Introduction The work of a journalist is to investigate, write, and report on vital information to the general public (Frost 2011, p. 6). They do this by presenting the sources, conducting interviews, engaging in widespread research and also making final reports. This information-gathering element of a journalists job is referred to as reporting (Frost 2011, p. 6). This report, as the public expects, should be information true information. It should not be information that the journalist has some doubt about (Frost 2011, p. 6). This is why Helen Sissons advices journalists that they should not just sit there and wait for information to come but also go out and try to seek the information for themselves in order to come up with the truthful report for the public. Question 1 In journalism, a significant objective of classifying sources is to establish their reliability and independence. In contexts like presenting historical facts to the public, it is nearly always significant to use firsthand sources and that if none of the firsthand sources are available, then it is only with great caution that the journalist may go on to utilise secondary sources. The century we live in today is information-based (Huffman 2003, p. 78). People are often showered with more information than they can sensibly store, so they have to continually filter through this information to differentiate truth from false (Wilson 1998, p. 70). On a day-to-day basis, people have to filter through magazines, books, TV, radio, personal conversations, emails, billboards and letters among others. Devoid of a reliable sorting and assessment process, it is improbable that humans are able to settle on the correctness of information they get (Evans 2000, p. 45). This is where studying the techniques and tools of first hand research come in for journalists. Training in first-hand research methods is one of the most significant skill sets, which a reporter should learn in today’s Information Age, and, if not, then the journalist doomed to having faith in superstition, as well as the reporting of unsupported information, which often lead to chaos by the public (Wilson 1998, p. 70). When journalists report false information, it might mislead the public, which heavily relies on this information (McNair 1999, p. 37). Therefore, they will be falsely led by the information, which will likewise lead to harsh consequences. Question 2 In journalism, collecting information through interviews is one of the most significant techniques applied in collecting data, information, and presenting the different views to the public (viewers, readers and listeners) (Huffman 2003, p. 83). Interviews have become the most useful medium of passing information from the source to the public in modern times (Sanders 2003, p. 19). They are a commonplace of journalism and almost all significant figures of the world today have been interviewed by a number of journalists after which the public tended to know more about them. The journalism interview works as a two-way street for information exchange (Phillip 2006, p. 29). The interviewer and the public, on one hand, have the chance to know more concerning the candidates background and might also pass on more in detail information concerning what the journalist is interested at, as well as the various expectations of the interview (Evans 2000, p. 51). The interviewee, on the other, has the opportunity to ask significant questions to acquire more knowledge concerning the expectations of the public and to achieve a much better feel for the public’s stance (McNair 1999, p. 3). This happens much with politicians. Finally, interviews act as a source of firsthand information both for the journalist, as well as the general public. As discussed in the earlier section, firsthand information goes a long way to establish the reliability of the information. Therefore, many wrangle such as the reliability and truthfulness of the information would be settled by using interviews (Phillip 2006, p. 30). Question 3 Every member of the press has an obligation to uphold the utmost professional principles (Randall 2000, p. 67). The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has set preamble goals and public exceptions, which are basically the benchmark or standard for these ethical principles that protect both the rights of the publics, as well as the individual’s right to know. It is the foundation of the self-regulation system through which the journalism industry has made a lasting commitment (McNair 1999, p. 51). It is significant that a code that has been settled upon be honoured not just to the letter, but also in the full spirit (Evans 2000, p. 92). It must not be considered so shortly as to affect its commitment to acknowledge the rights of both the public and the individual, or so widely that it leads to a pointless hindrance with peoples’ freedom of expression or speech or hinder publication in the interest of the public (Randall 2000, p. 67). It is the duty of the publishers and editors to use the Code to editorial material in both online and printed versions of publications (Huffman 2003, p. 90). They have to take care to make sure that it is seen thoroughly by all editorial staff, as well as the external contributors, counting also non-journalists, in online and printed versions of publications (Phillip 2006, p. 44). The duty of the journalist is to ensure that there is accuracy, opportunity to reply, no harassment, privacy and also protection to the victims. Conclusion Journalists are expected to be as precise as possible provided the time allotted to preparation of the story and the time available to look for firsthand, reliable sources. Events with just one witness are reported with attribution (Evans 2000, p. 67). However, events with more than one independent eyewitness might be reported as a truth (McNair 1999, p. 45). Controversial facts, on the other hand, are reported with provenance. In order to maintain the factuality of the information, journalists should embrace independent fact-checking through ensuring that they carry out extensive research to ensure the reliability of the information. When a journalist senses that they information they published is wrong, they should also make other publications to acknowledge the error. This goes a long way to convince the public of the trustworthiness of the journalist. Therefore, in future, they might still look to the journalist for information (Huffman 2003, p. 91). Finally, whereas journalists in the U.S. and European nations have led in the creation and adoption of these principles, such standards can be seen in news reporting institutions in a majority of nations that enjoy freedom of the press (McNair 1999, p. 45). The practical standards and written codes differ somewhat from organization to organization and nation to nation, but there is a considerable overlap between societies and mainstream publications (Huffman 2003, p. 91). The Global Federation of Journalists started, in 2008, an international Ethical Journalism Initiative intended to strengthen awareness of these problems within professional bodies (Frost 2011, p. 50). Journalists should seek to utilise the principles promoted by this organization in order to ensure reliability of their information. References Evans, H 2000, Essential English for journalist, Pimlico, Random House Tower, New York. Frost, C 2011, Journalism ethics and regulation, 3rd edn, Pearson Education, London. Huffman, J L 2003, A Yankee in Meiji Japan: the crusading journalist, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland. McNair, B 1999, News & journalism in the UK, 3rd edn, Routledge, London. Phillips, A 2006, Good writing for journalists, Sage Publications, Oakland, California. Randall, D 2000, The universal journalist, 2nd edn, Pluto Press, London. Sanders, K 2003, Ethics & journalism, Sage Publications, Oakland, California. Wilson, J 1998, Understanding journalism, Routledge, London. Read More