Ethical Issues in news coverage in Nigeria

ETHICAL VALUES AND ISSUES IN NEWS COVERAGE IN NIGERIA Jimi Kayode

ABSTRACT This is a discourse on the place of ethics in journalism practice in Nigeria. The paper

examines the pervasiveness of the media and the influence it has on the public and makes a case for the imperativeness of ethical values. It also establishes that there is a need for more ethical practice if the journalist is to

ameliorate the credibility gap that has been associated with the frailties of the media. The paper assessed the ethical situation of the Nigerian media and also dealt with ethical

theories that could help journalists make sound ethical judgments on the job.

INTRODUCTION.

The media are a social institution that must make a moral

contribution to the society. According to Paul Johnson

[1997:102] the media are a potentially “great secular church” and

“a system of evangelism for dispensing the darkness of ignorance,

expelling error and establishing truth”. One major way by which

truth in its entire ramification can be passed along in any modern

society is essentially through the media, and people would be

virtuous and take the right courses of actions so long as they are

fully informed of the facts.

Someone once said that “after ten years of observing government

and other social institutions at work, if the world is to be saved

from selfish self-destruction it would be the journalist, in all

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their objectionable practices, who would do it”. [Black, Steele

and Barney, 1999:1]

This and other such utterances portray the media as societal

agents of dissemination of information by which people shape and

mold their realities of life. Such is believed to be the influence

of the media that they have been referred to as ‘agents of power’

and every society ascribes certain duties, rights and

responsibilities to the media. In addition, the media are also

expected to operate within the context of a high sense of

responsibility and morality.[ Altschull, 1995]

Paul Johnson [1997:103] in making a case for an ethical

journalism enumerated the roles of the media in a democracy. He

quoted Noah Webster as arguing that the press is essential to the

success of a democratic government because it is the only sure way

to correct government’s abuses. The press is expected to be

placed upon a “respectable footing” by society because it is a

herald of truth, and a protector of peace and good order”.

However, a dilemma seems to exist concerning the role of the press

and the responsibilities of its activities. The society needs the

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press to oil its democracy but fears the damage and corruption its

frailties inflict on the people and the polity.

Hence, in spite of the various legal restraints, there is still a

need for a moral media, serving moral purposes and being worked by

moral people. This is where ethics becomes imperative, more so,

as the press above all other social institutions is believed to

have a lot of influence and power often said to be enormous and

fearsome. Such influence and power can not be curtailed by legal

restraints only but also by awareness by journalists of the

duties the exercise of such power imposes.

Johnson [1997:103-104] maintains that people who work in the

media are often insufficiently aware of the obligations of their

powerful position, much less so than say politicians. He opines

that journalists even see themselves as part of the entertainment

industry, “operating in the frivolous margins of life”. This, he

says, is false.

According to Johnson, the press more than politicians stands

right at the centre of all human activities and touches many

aspects of life that may be beyond politics, especially in a

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democracy where politicians are limited by other arms of

government.

“The media are omnivorous, ubiquitous , uncircumscribed and

comprehensive. There is no nook or cranny of the world, scarcely

a hidden area of the human spirit which they do not seek to

penetrate. And most of us want it that way because our own

curiosity is infinite.”

This enormous coverage and influence on society thus bestows on

the press the imperative to be moral in order to be perceived as

professional. The point being made here is that the press has a

moral duty and awesome responsibilities that go with such power

and influence it possesses.

The main focus of this discourse is to assess the ethical ‘bag of

virtues’ of journalism practice in Nigeria and to explain ethical

theories and principles that have provided the diverse pathways

to ethical dilemmas that the reporter faces on the job.

According to Lawrence Kohlberg, a contemporary press ethicist,

editors and reporters carry in their heads a bag of virtues, and

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when faced with ethical dilemmas they fumble more or less in the

bag for whatever virtue seems to fit the occasion. [Meyer,

1987:7]

This is because journalistic ethics is a slippery issue, so

variable and contextual that clear clarification becomes

difficult, if not impossible. While there are many ethical

questions that are easily answered, there are many more that are

not so easy but are full of paradoxes and parallels and are hotly

debatable.

In spite of this dialectic nature of journalism ethics it is still

imperative that the practice be required to be ethical for

excellence to be achieved.

THE NEED FOR A MORE ETHICAL PRACTICE

There is hardly anyone who will argue against the imperativeness

of ethical practice of journalism. One thing that is obvious to

all today is the widespread criticism concerning the corruption

that exists in journalism practice, though it could be argued

also that this is the case in the society at large.

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Criticism of journalists from virtually every member of the

society has been more or less the order of the day. The bad

journalist and indeed almost all journalists have become the

scapegoats of every Nigerian from the politician to the preacher.

Journalists are being cast as corrupt, social villains who are

disseminating superficial, trivial, negative and sensational

information harmful to the health of the country’s nascent

democracy. Even where the role of the Nigerian journalist in the

chequered history of the country is acknowledged positively, the

smear of corruption and ineptitude-ness of many reporters have

tended to become the albatross of the media.

This situation is similar across the globe. John Merrill [1997:

1-2] said that numerous surveys in recent years concerning media

and society in the USA had shown that the public has little faith

in, or respect for, the press. He pointed out that it is not so

much that the people dislike the media; they seem to have

affection for them in a general sense, but that increasingly they

do not believe them and they are also complaining about their

insensitivity, arrogance and general bad behaviour.

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Similarly, Richard Keeble [2001:3-6] mentions the ‘moral panic

over the media’ in Britain and more or less all of Europe over the

‘dumbing down’ and ‘tabloidization’ of news and information and

cites a motion signed by 46 British members of parliament which

‘deplored the steep decline in serious reporting and analysis of

politics and current affairs in the UK, and notes that this

decline has gathered pace in recent times with increasing

emphasis on personalities rather than policies and on trivia

rather than substance’.

In the UK public opinion places journalists at the bottom of 15

professional groups in terms of credibility rating and berates

the way in which all news are being presented in the format of

‘congenial adjuncts of show business and ‘fickle orgasmic

sensationalism’.

Festus Adedayo in an article he wrote in the Nigerian Tribune

newspaper cited a social commentator who referred to journalists

as ‘a group of professionals slightly worse than hired

assassins’. [Nigerian Tribune, 5-11-2001]

Dan Agbese, himself a journalist, confirms that certain breaches

of the professional code of ethics are obvious in the Nigerian

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journalistic practice and identifies such practices as ‘brown

envelope’, ‘daily returns to editors’, and conflict of interest

as examples. [ Post Express, 28-2-2001]

Another journalist, Dayo Aiyetan, said that “once vibrant and

independent, the Nigerian mass media is gradually transforming

into a behemoth of corruption, a situation which threatens the

capacity of the media to report the truth objectively and perform

its constitutional role of making the government accountable to

the people”.

All these criticisms, both from within and without of the media,

underpin the need for a more ethical media and the readiness of

practitioners to start a process of ethical house cleaning that

would enhance and diminish the morality and credibility gap.

The erosion of media credibility extends to all media, print and

broadcast, and there seems to be a growing sense of guilt and

despair within the profession.

The result is that there ought to be a growing media ethical

sensitivity and a new emphasis on ethical responsibility.

The media needs to be responsible and to care more about ethical

dimensions of its practices and try to remedy their excesses and

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moral lapses. For a long time, the media has pummeled the other

parts and personalities in the society as the watchdog, and has

set itself up as a paragon of virtue but those days are over. The

media, itself, has been caught in the moral undercurrent within

the society. It has been sinking in the quicksand of time and it is

now basking in the spotlight of the public sphere and should

prompt journalists to clean their acts, otherwise its claim to

being the watchdog of the society would be seriously undermined

and diminished.

ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE

There is no doubt that there is a connection between excellent

journalism practice and ethical journalism. The daily practice

in the field presents an ethical turf in which good ethical

decision making ought to be learned and utilized.

It is the belief of this writer that good ethical practice is a

craft and a skill comparable to good writing, good editing or good

reporting, and that ethics ultimately results in professional

excellence. This position is supported by most media ethicists,

some of whom include, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, John C.

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Merrill, Louis A. Day and Jay Black and his colleagues.

[Akinfeleye, 2003: 39-41; Black, Steele, and Barney, 1999: 2-4]

In what ways can ethics enhance professionalism? When

journalists embrace, and learn how to do ethics they end up

developing values and attitudes that enables them to make good

ethical judgments that may lead to excellent practices based on

such moral premises as, fairness, equity, justice, dignity and

integrity.

Such moral premises are fundamental to human values extolled by a

large segment of society. Values, moral values, are the building

blocks of attitudes, that is, the ‘learned emotional,

intellectual, and behavioural responses to persons, things, and

events’.

Attitudes about morality are packages of values comprising of the

individual’s feelings, thoughts, and actions, and they are

important to the extent that they form the foundations upon which

the individual’s moral behaviour are based. The individual’s

moral behaviour conforms with his or her actions whether

professional or otherwise and also forms the foundation of

institutional and professional standards of conduct.

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Institutions or professions do not behave morally or otherwise,

it is people who do.

Being ethical involves moral reasoning that utilizes moral and

ethical principles to guide one’s actions, especially, when one

is faced with ethical dilemmas, for example, on the job. In this

way ethics becomes a critically important contributor to

excellent professional practice. [Day, 1991: 9-16]

THE ETHICAL STATE OF THE NIGERIAN MEDIA

It has been asserted that Nigeria has the largest press community

in Africa and a survey dated 1999 puts the number of regular

newspapers at 78, magazines at 45, television stations at 52, and

radio stations at 31. Furthermore, since this date, several more

newspapers and magazines have been established and many radio and

television stations had been commissioned under the umbrella of

the Nigerian Television Authority [NTA] by the Obasanjo

government. As the political turf heats up due to the forthcoming

elections in 2007, more newspapers and magazines are expected

even though such publications may not be more than electioneering

campaign journals that will predictably get off the streets as

soon as the elections are over. [ Olukotun, 2004:9-10]

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In discussing about the media capacity in Nigeria, Olukotun

[2004:10] pointed out the place of the vernacular papers, a genre

that has become increasingly assertive and popular on the

streets, most especially, in the southwest and perhaps in the

north.

Even though the Nigerian media may be the most virile in the

continent, in terms of ethical practice there are varied

perspectives as to the situation. However, everyone agrees that

there exist a lot of ethical lapses generally in the media. The

various shades of opinion only differ as to the extent of such

lapses.

Dayo Aiyetan[2002:32] portrays the situation by saying that the

media in Nigeria today is more unethical than what obtained in the

past, the media’s glorious epoch being the years of military

rule. According to Aiyetan, the media in Nigeria is ‘afflicted by

a cancer, which not only threatens its credibility but also its

capacity to perform its constitutional roles’. The cancer of

course is corruption which has extended to such an extreme that

today journalists who hitherto used to be highly respected by the

Nigerian public, are now ‘treated with general scorn’ and are

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‘derisively likened to the policeman at illegal roadblocks who

extorts money from drivers’.

Supporting this position above, Festus Adedayo [2001:12]

writing in the Nigerian Tribune, said, ‘the ethical imperatives

of accuracy, balance and objectivity which the granddads of

journalism like Herbert Macaulay, Chief Babatunde Jose, Chief

Alade Odunewu and others handed down, have taken flight. The

situation is so sickening today that various degrading epithets

like “hired assassin”, “news contactors” and sundry others have

come to be affixed on the Nigerian media practitioner’.

Reverend Father Matthew Kukah, writing on the public perception

of the press in Nigeria, epitomizes the press for it roles in

colonial and post-colonial Nigeria but also mentions the advent

of ‘junk journalism’. He opines that this type of journalism is an

‘evidence of the depth of decadence into which the society had

sunk’. [Dare and Uyo, 1996:132-136]

Corruption and other ethical lapses have generally been

identified in the Nigerian media and have been indicated in

various dimensions and practices such as, the ‘brown envelope’

which refers to gratification accepted by the journalist in the

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course of duty, daily returns to news editors from ‘lucrative’

beats, ‘headline journalism’ in which headlines are manipulated

to sensationalize so as to sell the paper, invasion of privacy

especially by soft sell magazines that concoct or sensationalize

stories of public officials and celebrities, plagiarism, ‘media

consultancy’ in which senior journalists work as public

relations agents of political big wigs even when the journalists

are still employed in the media, and ‘blackmail journalism’ which

had been especially linked with the ‘beat associations’. Other

ethical issues that have been associated with the Nigerian media

include, ‘junk journalism’ which describes a paper’s penchant

for sleazy, lurid and sensational stories, sycophancy,

character assassination, self-censorship, conflicting

interest, ethnicity, and undue interference of media owners on

news published. [ Okunna, 1995:47-53; Aiyetan, 2002:32-35;

Adedayo, 2001:12; Dan Agbese, 2001:7; Oduyela, 2005:1-3]

In a study done by the author, it was found that Nigerian

journalists are generally strongly disposed positively to being

objective, fair and truthful, but they may not see these values

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being compromised even when they accept gifts or privileges in

the course of duty.

For instance, most journalists polled in the study say that they

could accept gifts, even money, but that they would still go ahead

and do the right thing afterwards.

Secondly, the study found that Nigerian journalists have generally

internalized their professional codes, though their commitments to

such codes could be compromised by

some of them if their work environment is not motivating enough, and

that the main

hindrance to journalists’ commitment to the ethical codes is poor pay

or poor conditions

of work.[Kayode, 2006:12-15]

Another factor responsible for unethical practices is the drive for

money and material acquisition which has forced many journalists and

news organizations to go outside their purview, awarding

questionable awards and to individuals who probably are willing to

pay for such honours.

The Nigerian media situation can be seen as that of a virile

widespread national media in which corruption and ethical lapses have

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been found more or less due to the influence of societal corruption

and moral/ material decadence as well as the poor work conditions of

journalists.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL AND ETHICAL BASE OF THE NIGERIAN MEDIA

The media has come a long way in Nigeria since the establishment of the

first newspaper in 1859, but its constitutional base can be traced

from the 1960 constitution which provided for freedom of expression

under section 24 then, but became section 25 in the 1963 constitution.

In the 1979 constitution, there emerged, apart from the freedom of

expression, a provision that gave a responsibility to the press to

monitor governance and this provision has been retained since then.

The 1999 constitution which is currently in operation provides in

section 22 the duty of the press to hold government accountable to the

people and in section 39 freedom of expression and mode of media

ownership. [ Momoh, 2004:50-59]

The ethical base of the Nigerian media could also be traced starting

from a failed move in 1962 by the Guild of Editors to produce a code of

ethics and the ratification of a code of ethics in 1998 by the Nigerian

Press Organization which is made up of the Newspaper Proprietors

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Association of Nigeria [NPAN], the Nigerian Guild of Editors [NGE],

and the Nigeria Union of Journalists [NUJ]. [Odunewu, 2000:126]

The media ferment that resulted in the 1998 code of ethics for

journalists started from 1964 when the clamour for a press council

and a media self-accounting mechanism was raised in parliament. By

1996 the Federal Government took the decision to set up the Ekineh

Committee on the future of the press in Nigeria. The Chairman of the

Ekineh Committee was Aliyi Ekineh and other members were Lateef

Jakande, Adamu Ciroma, G.B.A Akinyede, Ibrahim Imam and A.G.S Momodu

as secretary.

From this time on there was uproar, negotiations, and stalemate over

press regulations and the nature and role of a press council. And

after two failed attempts, the Nigerian Press Council was

inaugurated in December 29, 1992. Subsequently, the Nigerian Press

Council held a National Workshop in 1996 in collaboration with the

NUJ, NGE, which reviewed the old code that was developed earlier by

the NPO in 1979 and later the NPC organized the Ilorin forum from where

the current code of ethics was ratified in 1998.

The code of ethics for Nigerian journalists [1998] observes in its

preamble that journalism entails a high degree of public trust and to

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earn that trust the media needs to operate with the highest

professional and ethical standards, the cornerstone of which is

truth diligently sought.

The provisions of the code of ethics include, editorial

independence, accuracy and fairness, respect of the privacy of the

individual, observation of the principle of non disclosure of the

source of information, decency in dress and comportment, non

discrimination due to ethnic, religion, sex or handicap, avoidance

of gratification or patronage to influence news reporting, and non

presentation of news report in such a way to glorify robberies,

terrorism or vulgarity.

Other provisions of the code includes, being sensitive to news report

of minors and children so as to minimize hurt to them, open and honest

means in news gathering otherwise except when done in the public

interest, social responsibility, plagiarism, copyright, and freedom

of the press.

The code also dealt with the issue of registration of journalists and

asserts that only qualified individuals who have undergone training

in approved institutions are entitled to be registered, especially,

where they have shown good character, not been convicted for fraud or

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other such crimes and must have attained the age of 18 years. Such

individuals who have satisfied the preceding requirements are

entitled to a certificate of experience after they must have acquired

on-the-job experience. [Nigerian Press Council, 1998:10-25]

ETHICAL THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES

Simply put, ethics is the study of morality. Louis Day [1991:2-

3] defines ethics as the branch of philosophy that deals with the

moral component of human life. It is the study of rights and who is

or should be benefited or harmed by an action.

Stoner and his coauthors [2002:107-109] defined ethics as the

study of people’s rights and duties, the moral rules that people

apply in making decisions, and the nature of the relationships

among people. Another definition says that ethics are rules of

conduct or principles of morality that point us toward the right

or best way to act in a situation. [Dominick, 1996:434]

Alade Odunewu [2000:122] defines ethics as the study of standards

of conduct and moral judgment…… the system or code of morals of a

particular profession, of a group, of religion, etc.

Ethics is based on the Greek word ethos , meaning character or what

a good person is or does in order to have a good character. It

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deals with choosing among the good or bad options that an

individual faces. It may be seen as being concerned with that

which holds society or a profession together or provides

stability and security essential to social or professional

cohesion. It involves thinking about morality, moral problems

and moral judgments. It deals with what obligations we owe or to

responsibilities we have toward our fellow humans, and what we

should do to make the world a better place than we find it.[ Black,

Steele, and Barney, 1999:5]

It reflects a society’s or a professional group’s notions about

rightness or wrongness of an act and the distinctions between

virtue and vice. It involves the evaluation and application of

those moral values that a society or professional group has

accepted as its norms.

The key ideas or concepts that make for a good understanding of

the term ethics are: values, rights, duties, rules or standards,

relationships, and morality.

Values, or more precisely ethical values, are relatively

permanent desires that seem to be esteemed or regarded highly or

good in and of themselves, like objectivity or fairness. There

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are four influential sources of values: parents, peer groups,

role models, and societal institutions. All of these contribute

to the moral development of the individual through the process of

socialization.

Rights are claims that entitle an individual the latitude to take

certain actions subject to his relationship with others. They are

‘spheres of autonomy’ or freedoms, upon which the individual can

act, though limited by such rights of other people, like freedom

of expression.

Duties are obligations to take specific actions. They are

correlated with rights and they are that which the individual is

bound to perform in the course of his professional or daily

living, like gathering, reporting and interpreting information.

Rules and standards are guidelines upon which an individual acts

and which provide resolutions in the face of ethical dilemmas,

like seeking and reporting the truth. Rules often become

internalized as values.

Relationships are connections of one individual to another in a

web of mutuality. Every one is connected to others in such a way

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that actions of an individual can lead to a multiplier effect

affecting one or more people.

Morality is the way or manner in which an individual behaves in

line with socially approved customs or practices. There is a

common morality or body of moral rules and standards governing

the practice of journalism, such as would be found in the codes of

professional practice. [Stoner et al, 2002:110-112; Day,

1991:9-14]

The nature of ethics is such that all these concepts – values,

rights, duties, rules, relationships and morality - are

interconnected in a complex entity upon which many philosophers

had deliberated over time.

Ethical theories or principles can be seen as ethical roads or

maps of morality that point the individual toward the right or

best way to act in a particular situation.

Chinyere Stella Okunna [1995:9] defines an ethical theory as a

principle put forward to explain, describe, prescribe or predict

human ethical behaviour. Over the years, philosophers have

developed several general ethical principles that serve as

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guidelines for taking ethical decisions or for evaluating one’s

behaviour.

According to John C. Merrill [1997:52], there are many such

theories or principles and all presumably lead to the same

destination – ethical journalism. And journalists can be ethical

when they take decisions or act based on any of the ethical

theories.

The reason there are many ethical theories is because there is no

consensus among philosophers on the precise criteria for taking

ethical decisions and there are several perspectives from which

to determine morality. However, each of the theories is a

complete philosophical system from which an answer has been

provided for the question: ‘what is the right thing to do?’ It is

quite obvious that it would be difficult to provide a perfect

answer to such a question; hence the diversities of perspectives

and theories.

In making a case for the need for journalistic ethics, Merrill

[1997:1-26] identifies two types of journalists: the libertarian

journalist and the communitarian , and explains the duality of

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perspectives based on the desires of each one to practice

responsible journalism.

The perspectives of libertarians and communitarians, both, give

some indications as to how journalists behaving on the basis of

individual differences would likely adopt certain specific

ethical principles.

For instance, the libertarian journalist is likely to be inner-

directed opting for principles that emphasizes personal ethics

whereas the communitarian is likely to be other-directed, opting

for civic transformation and professional codes. However, this

duality in itself may not prove very helpful concerning actual

normative ethical standards that might be used by the journalist.

To this end, Merrill [1997:55-74] propounds a binary way of

looking at broad ethical theories – pragmatic ethics and

humanistic ethics.

There have been diverse ways of categorizing theories of ethics

and there is a measure of controversy about how many dominant

theoretical approaches there are, but Merrill’s typology has

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been based on the premise that all these theories can be placed

under two main categories – pragmatic and humanistic.

PRAGMATIC ETHICS

This category of journalistic ethics considers the focus of all

journalistic endeavours as the investigation and reporting of

the truth so that people are given forthright and full-disclosure

of the day’s event as much as possible. The premise is that the

job of the journalist is to provide as truthful an account as

possible and that the end may justify the means; thus, it may be

that unconventional ethical means could be used.

Merrill [1997:58-60] considers this a Machiavellian but

pragmatic morality in which the end justifies the means. This is

also a teleological perspective in which consideration of

consequences and professionalism is deemed paramount.

For instance, a reporter who deceives a difficult source to

unearth a story may be considered to have done the right thing or

at least, the professionally expedient thing.

HUMANISTIC ETHICS

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Merrill [1997:62-63] explains that this category of ethics is

focused on either self improvement of the journalist or on a

concern for others, especially, sources and audiences. It can be

divided into three main sub-categories: deontological, or “duty

to principle” ethics; teleological, or “consequence ethics”;

and personalist, or “non-rational, subjective ethics”.

Deontological Ethics

Deontologists (derived from the Greek Deon or duty) are sometimes

referred to as ‘non-consequentialists’ because they emphasize

acting on principle or according to certain universal morality

without much regard to the consequences of their actions. They

follow maxims that have been acquired from religion, reason,

universal norms, moral mentors or employers. Their main focus is

that the ends do not justify the means rather there are absolute

principles that must be adhered to. There is an emphasis on the

intent or motive rather than the ends. The most famous

deontologist is the philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).

A deontologist journalist would not subscribe to using deception

in ferreting out a story because to him, the end does not justify

the means. In the same vein, he will be obliged to tell it as it is

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even if some people are hurt because he is committed to telling

the truth.

Teleological Ethics

The teleological theory postulates that it is the consequence of

an action that ought to determine the morality. Thus, it is called

consequence-based theories in that the ethically correct

decision or action is the one that produces the best consequence.

Teleologists, unlike deontologists, do not ask whether a

particular practice is right or wrong based on certain specific

principles they hold to, but whether it will lead to good results.

Thus the journalist who is a teleologist would want to take the

action that would result in good consequences to the person

deemed most important in a particular situation.

There are variations of teleology. At one extreme are the

egoists, who believe that the journalist should seek to maximize

good consequence for himself; at the other extreme are the

utilitarian who believe that one should promote that which is

good to the greatest number of people. The person best known for

this version of this theory is the nineteenth-century British

philosopher John Stuart Mill.

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When journalists appeal to the public interest in justifying

their actions they are acting as utilitarian. In the same vein

when a journalist acts in such way as to minimize hurt to a third

party such as a source or audience it is also utilitarian.

Personalist Ethics

The personalist justifies actions on the basis of some kind of

feeling or insight that are intuitive, spiritual or emotive. For

the most part, personalists are non-rational; they would rely on

conscience or other such transcendental parameters.

Journalists who follow this path may rely on their religious

convictions in making ethical decisions.

This school of ethics is best exemplified through philosophers

such as C.S. Lewis or Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard.

Another aspect of ethical principles are the virtue theories best

articulated by Aristotle’s golden mean which says that the proper

way of behaving lies between doing too much and doing too little.

In other words, moderation is the key to morality.

Virtue theories are directed at the building of moral character

and the premise that virtuous conduct involves learning to avoid

the extreme in any given situation.

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Examples of golden mean are often found in the media, when news

organizations cover riots and disasters and try to exercise

moderation or restraint in the report so as not to inflame public

sensibilities.

NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES AND ETHICAL CHALLENGES

There is no doubt that the new technologies are impacting on the

practice of journalism such that today a wide array of possibilities

are emerging in the way journalists investigate, research and write

stories as well as produce content either on television, radio or the

press.

The possibilities that are emerging are not without their various

ethical consequences, and in some areas these consequences are quite

novel that legal implications are as yet without precedence and

ethical implications are at best hazy and controversial.

In the area of investigative journalism, technology has made possible

the use of hidden cameras and tape recorders. Should a journalist use

these gadgets so long as it enhances the investigative capabilities?

The ethically pragmatic journalists would answer in the positive and

argue that every thing ought to be done to get at and publish the truth

because of integrity and the public’s right to know. On the other

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hand, the ethically humanistic journalist may answer in the negative

arguing that these gadgets are instruments of deception and the

invasion or intrusion of people’s privacy. Should undercover

reporting be accepted as a standard in journalism? Are there any ways

in which deception, and or intrusion be justified in practice? Are

there ways that hidden cameras and tape recorders are used

responsibly?

The Society of Professional Journalists and the Poynter Institute of

Media Studies have provided some kind of ethical guidelines for the

use of hidden cameras and tape recorders and they say that such

gadgets can be used where the information obtainable is of profound

importance, or where there are no other ways of obtaining

information, or when the good resulting from the use far outweighs the

hurt caused by the act of deception.

These guidelines stated above, profound as they sound, still leave

the ethical dilemma to the personal ethics of the individual

journalist and his subjective definitions of the context in which the

gadgets are used. These are some of the ethical dialectics that are

emerging as a result of the impact of technology on news investigation

and reporting. [Lissit, 1997:111-115]

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Another aspect of this discussion is the ethical dimensions of

computer assisted journalism. Computer-assisted journalism,

refers to the use of the computer by journalists not only for

gathering materials for reporting stories but also for more far

reaching research through online or internet databases, to gather

facts and records from governmental and other agencies as well as

other sources, to analyze those records, and to use such analysis as

background for writing news stories and in-depth reports. [Roat and

Gotthoffer, 2001:31-35; Callahan, 2003:1-18]

The main ethical dilemma concerning computer-assisted journalism is

the credibility of information and facts accessed on the internet.

According to Callahan [2003:19-32] the stunning growth of the

internet has provided journalists with unprecedented reporting

opportunities, and unprecedented peril. This is because of the

proliferation of ‘rumours and misinformation on the internet’.

One of the things that makes the internet so appealing is that anyone

can pull off the net so much of information, but the other side of the

coin is that anyone can also put anything on-line. The internet has

both useful and truthful information as well as trash and idle gossip,

and many reporters using it have no clue as to which is which. The

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internet has no gatekeepers therefore information on it may be

untruthful while it carries a seemingly authoritativeness usually

ascribed to the written word. This calls to question the ethical value

of using information culled from the internet. Internet sources must

be evaluated for their integrity and journalists would do well not to

believe all information gotten on-line. A healthy skepticism is

imperative here when quoting or culling from the net.

Another aspect of the ethical dimensions of new media technology is

the fact that the internet itself has become a haven for people to

publish whatever they deem fit for public consumption. Any one with a

little bit of computer knowledge can create a website either by

himself or through the help of a professional webmaster and provide

information on the World Wide Web, like any of the well known and well

organized news media organizations or other such social

institutions. The freedom to publish on-line by just about anybody,

laudable as it is, can be grossly abused and has been so done through

the availability of objectionable material, such as racist

literature and obscene literature and pictures.

Today hard core pornography can be accessed almost without any

hindrance by anyone including the adolescents, teenagers and

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children. While some believe that such obscene material should be

banned, others believe that the materials should be restricted and

made unavailable to minors.

Opponents argue that banning any materials violate the right to free

speech and that the express freedom now enjoyed by the Web should not

be curtailed in any way. [ Shelly, Cashman, Vermaat and Walker,

1999:14.23-14.27]

Today’s technology of digital photography has also brought about

better production possibilities as well as ethical problems through

digital retouching of photographs and animation.

Digitalization is quite a laudable technological breakthrough in

print and broadcast journalism resulting in crispier pictures,

sharper and fuller colours, and better shots can be achieved than used

to be possible. However, the other side of the coin is the capability

to retouch photographs such that they can be manipulated to show

pictures in whatever way desired by the skillful reporter.

In other words, technology has made the adage ‘pictures don’t lie’

false – photographs can now be manipulated such that pictures can now

lie. To retouch photographs especially with a view to distort

33

information on them is unethical and journalists should be

discouraged from such a practice.

Another aspect of this is the capabilities made available through

animation. While animation has resulted in greater possibilities for

film and cinematography as well as for television commercials, it has

also made possible the abuse of falsifying images with its attendant

ethical implications.

By and large, new media and communication technologies have brought

hitherto unimaginable possibilities and capabilities to the

practice of journalism and so have they brought hitherto unheard of

ethical problems.

CONCLUSION

Media ethics is a complex topic. The issues are so variable that there

often appears to be no recourse but to handle them one at a time as they

arise and this seems to be what journalists do that make them

susceptible to the ferments that follow on the trails of ethical

issues.

Journalists who study ethics for the first time are often

disappointed to find that the theories and principles can not give

34

clear directives upon which they can solve everyday on-the-job

ethical dilemmas.

The best everyone can do is to reach a better self understanding and a

moral reasoning process that can be applied as one comes face to face

with the realities of the job. Journalists should be able to see more

clearly the connections between their morality and the ethical

judgments they make.

In the ethos of journalism, there are two kinds of codes. One kind is

written by a professional body such as the NPO, is made public, and

fairly honestly represents how journalists think they ought to

behave. The other kind is unwritten, hidden sometimes from the

consciousness of journalists themselves, but more powerful in its

influence on the practice.

Professional practice would be better enhanced when the external

codes have been largely internalized by individual journalists to

create for each one, his or her own personal ethics.

Journalism is one profession that can only be practiced excellently

only when it is anchored on clear moral and ethical moorings. Also,

every democratic society confers some level of social reasonability

on the media and this has always resulted in the public having certain

35

expectations of the journalist, as the fourth estate of the realm,

which makes it imperative for every journalist to strive to live and

practice above aboard.

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