Journalism issue from Chapter 16 "Ethical journalism, is it an oxymoron?"

Paying your own way

Accepting gifts and freebies can cause a conflict of interest when it is stipulated by the donor that you are obligated to report favourably on them. A journalist must report fairly, truthfully and objectively, as their responsibility is to public interest. This is why most journalists and newspapers avoid accepting gifts of any kind so as to protect their professional integrity. The following is the New York Times policy on paying for their own expenses.

When we as journalists entertain news sources (including government officials) or travel to cover them, our company pays the expenses. In some business situations and in some cultures, it may be unavoidable to accept a meal or a drink paid for by a news source (for example, at an official's residence or in a company's private dining room). Whenever practical, however, we should avoid those circumstances and suggest dining where we can pay our share (or, better, meeting in a setting that does not include a meal). Routine refreshments at an event like a news conference are acceptable, but a staff member should not attend recurring breakfast or lunch meetings unless our company pays for the journalist's meals. Whether the setting is an exclusive club or a service lodge's weekly luncheon, we should pay our way.

Staff members may not accept free or discounted transportation and lodging except where special circumstances give little or no choice. Such special cases include certain military or scientific expeditions and other trips for which alternative arrangements would be impractical — for example, an interview aboard a corporate jet where there is no benefit other than the interview. Journalists should consult responsible newsroom managers in advance when special circumstances arise.

If permitted by the local newsroom policy, staff members may accept press passes or free tickets when explicitly assigned to review artistic performances or cover athletic and similar events (for example, auto shows, agricultural fairs or flower shows). But no staff member except the assigned one — not even an editor in the arts, feature or sports department — may accept free tickets. And even when paying the box office price, a journalist may not use membership on our staff to obtain scarce seats unless the performance has a clear bearing on his or her job.

http://www.nytco.com/press/ethics.html

Also, the following is an article discussing whether ethical journalism is an oxymoron or not.

"Ethical Journalism is not an Oxymoron", Lee Wilkins and Renita Coleman http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/05-2NRsummer/52-53V59N2.pdf

Chapter 16 "Ethical journalism, is it an oxymoron?"

1/ The AJA Code of Ethics states that journalists should not use their position for personal gain. The USA Code of ethics from the society of professional journalists says that nothing of value should be accepted and that gifts, favours, fees, free travel and special treatment should be refused. Some Australian papers require journalists to immediately report any conflict of interest which may be presented by accepting this money. The journalist should try to negotiate with the source and make all possible effort to dissuade them from paying you. If this fails it would be unethical to use the source and take their money. However, as a believer in situation ethics, I would determine my action based on the potential information from the source. If the information was of great public interest, I would have to consider the greater good and suspend ethical consideration.

2/ This is an example of why the Sydney Morning Herald bans trips paid for by airlines and limits charity towards reporters. Doing this removes any possibility of obligation to report favourably on those who have provided you services. A journalists guiding principle is public interest and if the trip was so bad that it put people in danger or at risk then it would be necessary to report the poorness of the flight. The purist would say no such trip should be taken unless paid for by the newspaper to avoid a conflict of interest, however very few papers would pay for such a trip. Review the contract, if it is a requirement to provide a footnote of the airline include it, it does not necessarily have to be positive or negative. It is a difficult decision but an ethical journalist should not be bought and should not lie about the trip.

3/ Too many newspapers are reluctant to admit their mistakes. An inaccuracy is not always an ethical breach. "Honest mistakes are not breaches. It is possible to be ethical and factually wrong." All mistakes should be corrected rather than covered up by newspapers. Their duty is to fact and to the public and the only ethical solution is to print a correction.

4/ While it is the duty of a journalist to report the truth, fairly and objectively, journalists are also human. Again situational ethics are applicable in that it would cause more damage than good to run the story. It may be possible to write the story without any names or specifics for the greater good.

Journalism issue from Chapter 17

Defamation in Australian journalism has become a major issue. Our Westminster system in which there is no constitutional right to freedom of speech or media freedom means that defamation laws have been stacked against media and journalists. Sydney has become the defamation capital of the world with one in every 79 000 people taking out a defamation case, compared to one in every 2.3 million people in the United States of America. Even strong defenses in defamation cases can come unstuck due to implications, inuendo and connotative meanings behind seemingly innocent words and paragraphs. Journalists in Australia are seeking ways to combat the heavy weight of injustice that drowns out journalistic freedom of speech. The annual Public right to know conference aims to protect freedom of expression in Australia, and the seminar titled ‘Defamation as Suppression’ highlighted the constraints current laws place on free speech in Australia. “Freedom of speech, freedom of information and the public right to know remain highly constrained,” says Peter Manning, UTS’s Adjunct Professor of Journalism.

Defamation cases present significant constraints on journalism, particularly for investigative reporters. “Publication of genres like investigative journalism have been made so much more difficult by the extraordinary complexity of the laws,” Manning says.

There needs to be a major campaign to rectify the imbalance in freedom of speech and defamation cases in Australia.

Source

Defamation law: protecting reputations or preventing reporting? By Chris Collins September 2002 http://www.reportage.uts.edu.au/stories/2002/media/pr2k5.html

Chapter 13 "Online News: Journalism's strands coverage" and Chapter 17 "Perils of Defamation"

Chapter 13 "Journalism's strands coverage"

1/ Companies need to address a number of issues before they can expect journalists to work in converged newsrooms. Firstly they must address issues of reporting across mediums. Journalists need to be educated in specific techniques for reporting for the web, for radio, for television and for print or there is a chance that news stories will simply be cut and pasted between mediums. Another issue is the personal characteristics and qualities of individuals that inhibit them from excelling in certain mediums. A great print journalist may not have the x-factor required for television or radio reporting for instance. Companies must carefully consider the make-up of their newsroom before committing to convergence, rather than converging for the sake of progress when they do not have the right resources to succeed.

2/ The chances are that either the reporter will refuse, or fail. While modern journalists have been forced to multiskill and evolve, journalists cannot and should not be expected to be superhuman and take on all reporting tasks at once. Journalists have specific skills and qualities which are often unable to transcend the medium boundaries. Reporters would likely resist this forced change. On the other side of the coin, the next generation of journalists are being educated in a multi-skilled fashion, which will prepare them for various types of media. A journalist who has the ability to work across a number of platforms increases his or her chance of employment in a converged newsroom.

3/ Convergence in the newsroom is still at an infantile stage and it is difficult to tell whether or not it will last. Companies must manage this carefully for it to succeed and use each medium to its full potential. There are still many issues to address before we can determine convergences lasting qualities. The education of journalists today prepares them to work in a multi-platform environment, so converged newsrooms may be the way of the future. If converged newsrooms succeed and rake in the profits, it is likely that many other media outlets will follow. A lot depends on the success of convergence at this early stage. The quality of journalism and the response of audiences will determine the success or failure of converged news reporting.

4/ The internet has effectively rendered cross media ownership laws redundant, as all media is able to report via the net. This uncontrollable growth will likely lead to a concession by the authorities that cross media ownership is inevitable in a modern climate.

5/ Radio, television and the web will always be important tools in journalism. Despite the ominous growth of the web as a major news source, television and radio will always attract an audience and continue to create revenue for media owners. Each will maintain an important position in news.

6/ Multi-skilling is an aspect of journalism which should be implemented to some extent in journalism courses. In this modern era of convergence in news, it is important and in the future possibly necessary to have skills across all news media platforms. In terms of employability, educating journalists to be multiskilled would be a major boost to prospective journalists.

7/ Society has developed a huge reliance on the web. The internet has extended to almost all fields of life from banking to news to games to entertainment. Modern society relies heavily on this system for communication and it caters for most of its needs. The internet is a component of modern life which is heavily relied on and would cause chaos were it to disappear.

Chapter 17 "Perils of Defamation"

1/ The editor would have to determine their chances of defending themselves before court. If there was a strong chance of proving:

• Truth or justification
• Qualified privilege
• Fair comment

on the balance of probability (requirement for proof in civil law), then the editor may consider running the risk of going to court. However it may be preferable to settle the matter out of court or reach a compromise. I suppose blackmail would come into consideration also.

2/ I probably would on the basis that as a journalistic hopeful, I would like to see the odds even out for media in terms of defamation. Australia's lack of free speech has made journalists sitting ducks for many defamation cases, many of which were unjustified. While journalists should be careful about what they write, it is not fair for a media company to be sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars for making a simple error, reporting the truth or what is in the publics best interest. Of course there will be legitimate defamation cases, but the media needs better defence than it currently has against defamation.

3/ A journalists loyalty to a source is very strong, however in this case it may be necessary to reveal the source. If they have simply vanished there is a chance of a set-up or deliberate fallicy to lure a paper into defamation. The source would have been able to make a case for truth or at least assist in the trial.

Journalism Issue from Chapter 12

News reporting on television is often vastly dissimilar to that of print, online and radio news coverage. Television news relies heavily on vision and soundbites as the framework for the strength of their stories. Often the story with the best vision will run rather than the story with the most news value. Television news also relies on the convenience factor. While they are unable to cover anywhere near the amount of content in print news (a whole news half hour may only contain as much content as 75% of a newspaper spreadsheet), television news often gains the greatest audience based on the warmth it is able to give out through familiar anchors and public trust in television to answer all their questions. News reporting is often of a lower intellectual standard than other mediums, based on the need to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Everybody needs to be informed, not just those with the intellect to understand and interpret complex reports and ideas. News value and reporting style varies between the different mediums.

Chapter 12 "Broadcast Journalism - The world's town crier"

1/ The ABC should consider privatising if it continues to express biased and leftist views. If the objectivity of the ABC cannot be sustained, they should consider selling out, if not for the interest of the public they are responsible to, then for their own survival which becomes more difficult with every opposition to the government. The performance of the ABC has been poor in recent times, which makes it difficult to justify the $800 million of taxpayer money it receives every year. A typical week's free-to-air TV ratings are: Channel 9, 28.5 per cent; Channel 7, 27.1 per cent; Channel 10, 23.7 per cent; ABC TV, 15.8 per cent. This does not explicitly mean that the quality of the programming is poor, but the principles the ABC was founded upon are becoming less and less relevant in the competitive modern media market. The impact on broadcast journalism would be that the professionals themselves are given more opportunities, autonomy and pay with the benefits of private sponsorship. In a perfect world the objectivity would not be obscured by privatisation, but this remains to be seen.

2/ I would most likely hire the male. Unfortunate though it may be, in television reporting there is a great need for diversity and presence. Television is a powerful visual medium and, as such, requires the best, visually appealing elements. The female would also be a good choice and would probably be preferable to the male as a radio broadcaster. Of course, if the gap between the two applicants skill and experience was rather vast, the female would probably be preferred. Looks and personality are important, but if the male applicant was unlikely to ever reach the female’s level of skill it would be harder to justify his hiring. At 28, the male has the potential to improve and provide a familiar and trusted face for viewers for a long period of time.

3/ Each medium has its own strengths and weaknesses. The web, in many cases, is able to combine all the positive elements from the other mediums. It can combine print, radio and television elements and allows a wide range of coverage on issues from a number of sources simultaneously. The problem with this diverse range of coverage is that browsers can cherry pick the information they want from whichever source they want, meaning that individual angles can be overlooked. Television holds an advantage over the other mediums in that it is convenient and easily accessible. It takes no effort on the part of the viewer to consume television broadcasts, whereas there is some amount of effort in reading print or searching the web. This holds true for radio also, but televisions combination of visual and audio makes it preferable. Each medium must provide strong basics in reporting. Good reporting transcends the medium divide.

4/ From my research, I would suggest that the last campaign focussed more on personalities than policies in broadcasting. While policies were mentioned, the campaign tactics and personal attributes were given more prominence. Campaigns were built around smearing the opposition’s character more so than policies. Vision of the candidates was centred around desirable human qualities than tough decision making. Here is an example from the ABC, where Mr. Latham takes an opportunity to slander the opposition.

REPORTER: Or should I call you Robin Hood after opening the paper this morning?

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: The mind boggles.

REPORTER: You're prepared to wear the Robin Hood banner if you have to?

MARK LATHAM: Robin Hood was a much better bloke than Mr Howard!

Journalism issue from "Reporting for Duty"

One of the issues that jumped out at me was the journalists idea file. The idea file contains a myriad of news clippings, old media releases, web printouts, scribbled notes etc that people would often discard. These things can however be useful if a new development on an old story arises. The things kept in the 'idea file' could provide background information or even new angles and ideas for the story. Even old stories can be revisited if a half developed idea fully formulates into what could be potentially a great story even a month or so after the event. It is a good idea to keep one for they assist in the creation of self-generated story ideas, which are welcome as reporters give more commitment to these stories and they rarely follow old ideas. Things can just crop up unexpectedly that could develop an idea story into a great story.