Issues related to ethics in reporting:

The first freedom that goes whenever a dictatorship of any kind assumes power is the freedom
of the press. The press is a gigantic force that governs the activities and opinions of the world.
Thus it has a great responsibility of uplifting and enlightening humanity. The press must have
a respect for truth and should adhere to a code of ethics to preserve the bond of mutual trust
and respect between journalists and the people.
Freedom of press is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It is the right to know and not a
special privilege of a few people in power. The media all over the world are governed by certain
laws and code of ethics. A few terms that one comes across while discussing media/press laws
and ethics are given below:

DEFAMATION
Defamation defined by the Faulks Committee (1975) shall consist of the publication to a third
party of a matter which, in all circumstances would be likely to affect a person adversely in the
estimation of reasonable people generally. The defective traditional press definition, only used
as a rule of the thumb, that defamatory matter was copy which brought a person into hatred,
ridicule or contempt.
Eg: Youssoupoff vs MGM Pictures Limited (1934): In a film made by the defendants there
was a suggestion that the plaintiff, a Russian princess had either been raped or seduced by
Rasputin. The princess was living in exile in Paris when the film appeared and she sued
successfully because the defendants could not prove either of the suggestions they had made.
They argued however that the people seeing the film would not hate, ridicule or feel contempt
for the princess. Their argument was rejected because she could not show that certain friends
avoided her more out of pity to save her embarrassment if the allegations were true and that
she was being shunned without moral discredit on her part.
Defamation is of two kinds: Libel and Slander. Defamation is a tort (civil wrong) while
slander or libel are allegations.

LIBEL
According to the American and English Encyclopedia of Law, a libel is a malicious defamation
expressed either by writing or printing, or by signs, pictures, effigies or the like; tending to
blacken the memory of one who is dead or impeach the honesty, integrity, virtue or reputation,
or to publish the natural or alleged defects of one who is alive and thereby expose him to public
hatred, contempt, ridicule; or to cause him to be shunned or avoided, or to injure him in his
office, business or occupation.
Libel may be committed by mere insinuation. Also, allegory and irony may be libelous. The
following list of words from the Scripps-Howard Synopsis of the Law of Libel and the Right
to Privacy by Bruce W. Stanford are red flag words that may lead to libelous suits if not
handled carefully in news stories:

a)- Jekyll-Hyde personality

b) - Ku Klux Klan
c) - Peeping Tom
d) - Illegitimate
e) - Plagiarist
f) - Illicit relations
g) - Humbug
h) - Ex-convict
i) - Bribery
j) - Hypocrite
k) - Drug addict
l) - Defaulter
m) - Double-crosser
n) - Altered recordsetc.

Damages resulting from libel suits may be of three kinds:

a)- General(when injury is recognized as the natural consequence of such publication and proof
of injury to reputation is given)
b)- Special (when the plaintiff can prove particular loss)
c)- Punitive/Exemplary (inflicted as punishment for proved malice by the offending
publication)

Defenses against libel are of five kinds:

a)- Truth/Justification
b)- Privilege
c)- Fair comment without malice (protects expressions of opinions on public interest matters)
d)- Absence of malice
e)- Prompt publication of retraction by newspaper in which the "offending news" appeared

Slander is a form of action where defamatory meaning comes from spoken words or
gestures.
There are some important distinctions between slander and libel:
1. Libel, if it could cause a breach of peace is both a crime and a tort
2. The injured party need not show any actual financial loss in libel. The court presumes
damages. Slander however requires proof of monetary loss (called special damages), except in
four cases:
a) - a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment
b) - a contagious disease which might prevent others from associating with the plaintiff
(applicant)
c) - adultery relating to a woman or girl
d) - words which belittle a man in relation to his office, business or profession.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Journalists are bound by a code of ethics that does not allow them to reveal their sources of
news. But nowadays journalistic defendants in libel actions are handicapped by the growing
inclination of judges to grant plaintiff requests that they be compelled to reveal their sources
of information. Thus journalists have to arm themselves with rules that allow them to
thoughtfully deal with confidential sources. It is wrong to argue that stories such as Watergate
would have remained buried if it had not been for some deep throat source.

COPYRIGHT
News cannot be copyrighted, but the actual wording of an account of the event can. A
newspaper that wishes to rewrite or quote a copyrighted article appearing in another publication
either buys the copyrighting privileges or requests permission to quote. Credit must be given
to the original source. If the copyright is purchased, then the credit line appears at the top of
the article. Articles in magazines and books are often copyrighted but newspapers are careful
in quoting such material in order to steer clear of violating copyright privileges.

Duration of Copyright
The time period till which the copyright rules are valid depends on whether the work is
published during or after the lifetime of the author, or whether the work is a photograph. For
works published during the authors lifetime, copyright runs for the life of the author plus 50
years from the end of the calendar year in which he/she died. Works published after the death
of the author, copyright runs for 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work
is published. For photographs, copyright runs for 50 years from the end of the calendar year in
which the photograph was first published.

Infringement
If any substantial part of the copyright work is reproduced without the permission of the
copyright owner, infringement occurs.
Remedies for infringement
Remedies include:
1. An injunction, i.e. a court order that prevents the infringer from repeating the breach of
copyright. Repeating the infringement results in contempt of court.
2. Damages, wherein the copyright owner seeks to recover the money he/she has lost by the
infringement.
3. An account of profits, wherein the true owner claims an amount of profit made by the
infringer, not the value of the infringing material.
4. Criminal prosecution

REPORTORIAL ETHICS
A student of journalism is encouraged to be as open-minded and objective as possible. This is
to prepare him/her to be free of bias and prejudices, conscious or unconscious. The reporter
should be aware of the importance of stereotypes, taboos, superstitions and other factors
influencing values and opinions. A reporter's power is something that has the ability to draft a
certain mindset in people. Thus integrity, accuracy and objectivity, and fair play are needed in
high doses.
Responsibility: To serve general welfare and the publics right to know is the prime mission of
the mass media. Journalists who use the media and their professional status for their own selfish
needs violate a high trust.
Freebies and Payolas: Reporters covering large meetings and events have access to a whole
lot of material advantages and necessities such as gifts, favours, free travel, special treatment
and privileges. Newspapers have different opinions about the limit to which these freebies
can be accepted by the reporter without letting them bias his/her reporting in favour of the party
offering these freebies.

Objectivity in Journalism
Whether journalism can be objective, and whether there is a need for objectivity at all.
One of the most highly sought after goals in modern journalism is that of complete objectivity,
the unprejudiced collecting and reporting of events, stories and information. Objective
reporting allows the consumer to make decisions about the world and the events that occur
within it without the reporters subjective views or the influences that are placed upon him.
Very few people would be able to argue that objective reporting is prominent in the Great
British press, nor is objectivity something that is necessarily possible.

In order to understand whether the journalist can indeed remain objective it is important to
understand not only its definition but what elements of journalism make up a truly objective
news story, feature or report. Richard Sambrook (2004) states that although fairness, balance
and impartiality are all part of objective reporting, objectivity is not the same as impartiality
or fairness or balance although all these words are often used as if they were interchangeable.
Impartiality means to act fairly for the reason that your are not directly involved or have put
aside any personal feelings or views in order to avoid bias and to be fair means to act in a
reasonable, justly and right way, while to report with balance is to report things in a perfect
context, with all elements in the correct proportion of each other. Objective reporting is
different and means to report on factual information that can be supported by evidence and is
therefore far more than just attempting to be neutral.
Although the National Union of Journalists code of conduct does not explicitly say that the
journalist must remain objective it does highlight that it is important to remain fair, balanced,
and impartial, therefore it can be seen to be questionable as to whether it is indeed important
to be objective. McNair (1999) highlights how that even by the 1920s the term objectivity
was not a term that journalists or their critics used. However what is clear is that since
objectivity has been used as a criticism of the press it has it has not affected what or how the
news has been reported. In fact Mcnair also goes on to highlight that what was known in the
late 1880 as the penny press, and how it began to report stories in such a way to attain and keep
a readership, newspapers began to report crime, human interest, and other such categories of
news which todays readers would recognise as modern (Mcnair 1999 p32) as appose to
financial and political stories that were reported traditionally in newspapers aimed at the upper
class. Mcnairs theories are not supported by those of Schiller (1981) however, who argues that
objectivity was developed in the need of commercial imperatives and the need to sell as many
papers as possible. He states that the idea of objectivity comes as a result from a need for the
press to be as inoffensive as possible and goes on to say that the scientific attitude that was part
of the nineteenth century influenced communication as it did intellectual enquiry therefore
the reporting of scientific fact was more likely than opinions and educated guesses.
Although rather simplistically, summarizes the difficulties of being objective and how to report
objectively very well. He states that facts are assertions about the world open to independent
validation. They stand beyond the influences of any individuals personal preferences. Values
are an individuals conscious or unconscious preference for what the world should be and are
ultimately subjective and so without legitimate on other people. The belief in objectivity is a
belief in facts, a distrust in values and a commitment to their segregation.
Edgar (1992) argues that journalism cannot be objective, for that presupposes that an
inviolable interpretation of the event as action exists prior to the report. That is to say that any
person, by human nature or otherwise has preconceived notions of what has happened at any
given event. He uses Carol and Barry Smarts (1978) notion as to how the media distorts the
reality of rape as an example. Smart & Smart draw from Brownmillers analysis of American
news coverage of rape and conclude that the characteristics of the victim and the assailant
found in news reports often diverges from what is found in official crime statistics. The Smarts
own analysis suggests that this stems from the unbalanced reporting of court cases in which
there are an disproportionate number of victims who can be deemed as attractive as well as an
over representation of working class assaulter. Secondly they also maintain that the press are

all to often responsible for establishing the motivation of the attacker, however it is the over
reporting of a stereotype that Edgar is most interested in. Edgar goes on to say that although
the individual reports may be objective it is the over representation of a popular type of story
that is subjective. This only proves Mcnairs idea that the press shapes its stories to attract
readers further.
However Smart and Smarts research can be criticised as the comparison of what is reported
and reality is challenging (especially in the case of rape cases) as they are so dependent on the
process of social interaction. The victim, police, courtroom and doctors all have their own
views and opinions which subsequently has an effect consequent news stories. Very often the
press have only statements from the victims to use further shattering the illusion of objectivity.
Guidelines issued by the BBC state to programmer makers that they are required to be impartial
and dispassionate. (BBC 1996) Journalists would generally agree that this is a very good idea
however whether or not that is possible is another matter altogether. Bell (1997) rhetorically
asks whether the journalists who uncovered the German atrocities could be expected to be
attached if not them, why us? he asks. (Bell 1997) Many journalists have been seen to act
with partiality, in fact even the language used within an article can suggest partiality, for
example using the term terminate the foetus sounds far more impartial than kill the unborn
baby. De Burgh (2000) states that the journalism of attachment rejects objectivity on the
grounds first that it is implausible and secondly that it is immoral.
Objectivity therefore can be considered to be on of the most important journalistic value.
However it is often contradictory of itself, as Schudson explains,
while objectivity, by the 1930s, was an articulate professional value in journalism, it was one
that seemed to disintegrate as soon as it was formulated. It became an ideal in journalism,
after all precisely when the impossibility of overcoming subjectivity in presenting the news was
widely accepted and, I have argued precisely because of subjectivity had come to be regarded
as inevitable. From the beginning, then, criticism of the myth of objectivity has accompanied
its enunciation.
Put simply Schulson claims that it is difficult if not impossible to report objectively as it has
already been realised and accepted that overcoming subjective reporting is an impossibility. It
is also argued that it is difficult to obtain subjectivity when the reporter is asked to act without
bias and without becoming attached when it is very much human nature to do so.
It appears that traditionally, when there were only a few media outlets and only the privileged
could afford to use the expensive broadcasting and printing equipment it was far more
important to be objective. Consumers could therefore be left to make their own conclusions.
However as technology has evolved and media is now available on far more outlets such as
digital television, digital radio (where there are often dozens of different news channels) and
the internet, more and more people can broadcast their news influenced by their own values,
giving the consumer a platform to which he can create his own opinions.
Bell (1995) argues that objectivity is an outdated ideal as it is not possible in modern journalism
and suggests that objectivity is replaced with the term the journalism of attachment and
argues that news does not simply reflect reality, it helps create it, this is an inevitability.