Introduction to journalism

Negesse Belay (PhD)

Bahir Dar University, 2023
 Chapter-one
Introduction to journalism
 The word journalism is taken from the French journal which in turn
comes from the Latin diurnal or daily.
 The Acta Diurna, a handwritten bulletin, was put up daily in the Forum,
the main public square in ancient Rome, and was the world's first
newspaper.
 Journalism is the gathering, writing, editing, producing, publishing or
broadcasting of news through the media, including newspapers, radio,
TV and the internet.
 Journalism is a contemporary report of the changing scene intended to
inform readers of what is happening around them.
•
• It is a form of writing that tells people about things that
really happened, but that they might not have known about
already.
• Journalism has born out of human curiosity to know about
events and objects around, far and near.
• It’s an art and a profession today. It’s an artistic, creative
profession.
• It’s an art because it touches the heart of the reader.
• It’s also an art because of the flexible nature.
• It’s a science because so many techniques are involved.
Different rules have been developed through.
• Journalism is the systematic and reliable dissemination of
public information, public opinion and public entertainment by
modern mass media of communication.
• Journalism is the profession of gathering information that is of
need and interest and then writing, reporting, editing and
publishing it for the general public with the use of various print,
electronic and computer-aided media.
 The trends in modern journalism emphasis the professional aspect
more than the artistic aspect.
 Journalism is a profession like any other professions.
 At the same time, it’s a craft that has to be learnt.
 It has visible and invisible impact on all aspects of modern life.
 People who write journalism are called “journalists.”
 They might work at newspapers, magazines, and websites or for TV
or radio stations.
 The most important characteristic shared by good journalists is
curiosity.
 Good journalists love to read and want to find out as much as they
can about the world around them.
• News journalism: the primary aim of the journalist is to
report news in a straight-forward manner that covers all the
required facts. The style is direct with focus on the gist of the
story with other necessary points.
• The facts must be crosschecked which makes the news item
as authentic as possible without any media bias.
• Celebrity journalism: As the name suggests, the journalist is
connected to news and events related to celebrities from the
entertainment world and also includes celebrities from
other fields such as music, sports, dance, art, politics, etc.
• Reporting gossip is one of the angles of celebrity
journalism, wherein journalists are often accused of
misconstruing news or quotes in a deliberate fashion.
• Investigative journalism: this type of journalism is about
unearthing facts and studying cases that may require more
efforts, which can take months or even years. Journalists
who specialize in investigative journalism create headlines
with news that expose scandals.
• Sports journalism: journalists spend hours reporting on a
particular sport event. A journalist has to report the
accurate facts and statistics related to that event. Interviews
with celebrity sport stars are yet one of the interesting
features of sports journalism. Although sports-lovers watch
the live coverage thanks to the media, there are many people
who still enjoy reading or watching in-depth details about
the event.
• Citizen journalism: it is not the professional
journalists who are responsible for the news
reports. Any citizen can participate and report news
to the media.
• He/she collects and reports news to the media and
participates voluntarily to offer help to the media.
• They bring to notice issues that may have been
missed by media houses.
• • Environmental journalism: there are many
journalists who prefer to cover issues related to the
environment and its protection and conservation.
Environmental journalists may only report about
the news while some work for a cause.
• •Business and finance journalism: the journalist or reporter
covers in-depth reports about the latest in business, launch
of products, stock markets etc.
• There are many shows dedicated only for business news on
television whereas in newspapers, one can find a special
section dedicated to this subject.
• Yellow journalism or sensationalism: writing which
emphasizes exaggerated claims or rumors.
• yellow journalism helped popularize the use of layout and
display devices – banner headlines, pictures, color printing
– that would go on to characterize modern journalism
History of Journalism
• Journalism was started when human being start sharing information
about themselves with others (Zelizer, 2004) it is true when we see the
nature of human being. Because human is social or communal in life
style.
• To live in group communication is vital: to work, to play and share
information related to their environment

• The begging of journalism has some historical evidence that

the hand written sheets produced by Blata Gebre Egziabhere
around 1900 and Aimero Gazeta from 1902- 1905 are widely
considered as the original News paper in Ethiopia. The age of
news paper in Ethiopia is not more than a century.
• And its development is not good compared to other countries
in the world.
1.2 The history of print media
• The history of journalism is closely linked to the
developments of the printing press.
• The credit for the invention of the art of printing goes to the
Chinese.
• It is said that the Chinese were the first to use moveable
types for printing press.
• Even paper was first manufactured in China.
•The first book was also printed by Chinese in 868 A.D.
•The Chinese court gazette is said to be the oldest newspaper
published at Peiping.
•The Chinese had developed the movable types between the
9th and the 11th century.
• In 15th century Johan Gutenberg, a gold smith of Mainz
developed a movable type.
• Printed newspapers first appeared in Europe at the beginning of the
seventeenth century.
• They were a late feature of the so-called printing revolution
(Eisenstein, 1979; Johns, 1998).
• Early newspapers aimed at specific readers (business proprietors,
landed gentry).
• The first English-language newspapers (weekly news books called
Corantos) were published in Amsterdam in 1620.
 18thc
Newspapers became central resources in the age of
bourgeois revolutions.
The glorious revolution in England, the American
revolution, and the French revolution all produced
vigorous news cultures and active combat in print.
Revolutions forged a relationship between media and
democracy.
 NEWS IN THE 1800S
• Emergence of the penny press
• Innovations in printing
• Rise of modern news room
 2. By the beginning of the nineteenth century in most Western countries, a
frankly partisan model of news culture became ascendant.
• Only at this point does the word journalism come into play.
• It is French in origin, and initially referred to the journalism of opinion that
flourished in the years following the Revolution.
• The term migrated into English by around 1830, but still referred to partisan
debate over public affairs and had a negative connotation, as a sign of political
dysfunction.
 At this point the first works of what would later become journalism
history appeared.
 Journalism + means of communication
 In the middle to late nineteenth century, a mass press appeared nation
by nation in the United States and Europe (Chalaby, 1998), with the
timing of its appearance tied to the persistence of taxation or other forms
of press regulation.
 Human interest stories
 Yellow journalism (1890s)
• William Randolph Hearst vs Joseph Pulitzer
• Loud headlines
• Sensational stories
• Lavish pictures (often faked)
• Illustrated news Britain -----France and Spain-----North America
20th Century
Investigative Journalism
•Muckraking journalism switched to investigative reporting.
•Upton Sinclair in 1905 published a book “the Jungle” unhide the
unhygienic conditions of meat packing which lead to Pure Food Act in
1906.
•Professionalization project; forming journalism schools, creating codes of
ethics, licensing standards, forming unions
•Start of the decline of newspaper
•Newspaper becomes more fact based
•Big facts first, less important later in story
1970s
• Social history
• Event centered history
• Great man history

1990s
• Globalization
• The end of cold war
• Rise of new technologies
 TECHNOLOGY

• Online journalism
• Every major paper has an online version
• Less ads in papers = Less money to print

• What is the best way to get money to post online?

 ETHIOPIA

• The inception of newspaper is around1900 when Aemiro Newspaper started

• The beginning of Radio is around 1940‟s when the national radio start giving service
from three different places.
• There were three main stations: a 100 kW station in Harar, a 50 kW station just outside
of Asmara and a 100 kW station in Addis Ababa.
• TV device was inaugurated in1964 in Ethiopia.
• FM radio is the most recent phenomenon around 2000 in Addis Ababa.
1.3 The history of broadcast media
1.3.1 Radio
• In 1887, Heinrich Hertz, a German physicist, successfully sent and
detected radio waves.
• Guglielmo Marconi used Hertz’s efforts to build a wireless
communication device that could send Morse code – dots and dashes –
from a transmitter to a receiver.
• Marconi started a wireless telegraphy company that would play an
important part in early radio’s development.
• Reginald Fessenden and Lee De Forest provided the breakthroughs that
would make broadcasting – as opposed to sending dots and dashes –
possible.
1.3.2 Television
• The two men who developed television in the United States could not
have been more different.
• At the age of 16, Philo Farnsworth diagrammed his idea for a television
system on the chalkboard in front of his somewhat amazed high school
teacher.
• Farnsworth, an individualistic and lone-wolf inventor, worked at
developing his new device, which he called an image dissector and
eventually patented it in 1930.
• Picture quality of the early television systems was poor, but technical
developments during the 1930s improved performance.
• NBC gave the first public demonstration of television at the 1939
world’s fair.
•
• Sets were expensive and there were not many programs for people to
watch.
• WWII interrupted TV’s development.
• After the war, new technology that had been perfected during the war
greatly improved TV reception and the working conditions of the
performers.
• TV screens were bigger.
• There were more programs available and stations were being linked
into networks.
• Many broadcast historians refer to the 1950s as golden age of TV. Many
shows aired during that decade became extremely popular.
• By the early 1960s, TV had lost its novelty and became just another
part of everyday life.
• Television journalism came of age during the 1960s.
 Journalist duties
• What is news?
• Any new information, idea, event, situation or development, that is of
interest to a large number of people, is news.
• It is a report of any event, technology or person, containing timely and
unknown information which has been accurately gathered and written
for the purpose of serving readers / audience.
 Types of News
Hard and soft news
Hard News includes two concepts:
Seriousness: politics, economics, crime, war, disasters, discoveries,
law, science, technology, medicine, education, breaking news on a
local, state, national or world level
Current- Stories that cover current events that affects the audience
and is important to all watching:
Examples of hard news
Fertilizer price drastically increases
Grasshopper invasion in east of Ethiopia
Drought affects millions of Ethiopia
Gas prices go up again
Outbreak of a virus
Crime spree in a two-mile radius
Car accident
Cure to a deadly disease found
 Soft News “Feature News”
Soft news is sometimes referred to as “infotainment”.
They are entertaining most of the times.
These stories appeal to the emotional side and doesn’t directly affect
the audience. Some viewers may care and others won’t.
Might include an interesting, odd or heartwarming story that appeals
to the curiosity of the viewer.
Not timely: There is no event triggering the story, other than a
reporter's curiosity. It doesn’t have to be a current event.
These stories happen in less serious subjects—sports, celebrity
misadventures, movie releases, art exhibits, shopping, book reviews,
cooking segments, social media, interviews, exposes, how-to’s, reviews.
Identify whether the following news themes are Hard or Soft?
• Gardening tips and hobby "news“ in Addis Ababa
• Prime minster Abiy inaugurated Sheger park
• Warnings about natural disasters risks in Afar region
• Gun control laws in Ethiopia
• Sports statistics and game results in Ethiopian premier league
• Ethiopian prime minster getting Nobel price award
• Ethiopian northern conflict victimized civilians
Principles of news writing
• Timely / New
• Factual (not opinion-based)
• Interesting
• Unusual
• Unbiased / truthful
• Important to and affecting the readers
 Chapter Two
Theories of the press
• Scholars who compare media systems around the world describe four
different approaches (theories of the press) to government regulation
of the media.
• These approaches describe the amount of control government should
have over media, from high levels of control to low levels of control.
These four approaches (theories) are:
2.1 The Authoritarian press theory
2.2 The soviet communist press theory
2.3 The Libertarian press theory
2.4 The Social responsibility press theory
2.1 The Authoritarian press theory
• Authoritarian theory is developed in the 16th and 17th century in
England (during monarchy period).
• The Authoritarian Theory was practiced as strict control of content
by the state and a general lack of freedom for the public to criticize
state policies.
• Media regulations are aimed at controlling what the population sees,
reads, and hears through media outlets.
• Under an Authoritarian media system, ownership of the media can
be either public or private.
• Ownership of printing Media are mostly private, while broadcast and
cinemas usually remain in the hands of the government.
• The Authoritarian Theory describes the situation where states view
the mass media as an instrument at all ties.
• The role of the media is to mainly educate citizens, and acts as a
propaganda tool for the ruling party.
• The mass media, under authoritarianism, are educators and
propagandists by which the power elite exercise social control.
• Journalists who wrote reports that threatened the ruling party were
imprisoned.
• Stiff censorship regulations were in place as well, and only state-
controlled newspapers, usually propaganda-filled, is allowed to
publish daily.
• Countries whose media are practicing the Authoritarian Theory
includes: North Korea, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.
2.2 The soviet communist press theory
• The Soviet-Communist Theory originated from the Soviet Union from
Marxist, Leninist, and Stalinist thoughts after the 17th century.
• The state owns or in some way controls all forms of mass media directly.
• The media’s authority falls in the hands of a small group of party leaders.
• The mass media in a communist society, said Marx, were to function
basically to perpetuate and expand the socialist system.
• Transmission of social policy, not searching for the truth, was to be the
main rationale for existence of a communist media system.
• Also, under the Soviet-Communist system, the media reports less on the
bad things that happen under communism, and emphasizes the bad
things that happen in democratic areas.
• The role of the media is to act as an instrument of the ruling party to unite
people of the state, and to carry out plans of the party and state, bringing
about societal change.
• Mass media, under this theory, are instruments of government and
integral parts of the State.
• They are owned and operated by the State and directed by the Communist
Party or its agencies.
• Criticism is permitted in the media (i. e. criticism of failure to achieve
goals), but criticism of basic ideology is forbidden.
• The main difference between the Authoritarian theory and the Soviet-
Communist Theory is that while the former allows both private and public
media ownership, the latter allows strictly only public media ownership.
• Another difference is that while the Authoritarian media are mainly use to
maintain societal status quo, a Soviet-Communist media is often used to
bring about societal changes.
• Russian’s media is still under the Soviet-Communist system.
2.3 The Libertarian press theory
• The Libertarian Theory originally came from liberal thought in Europe
from the 16th Century (during the Enlightenment).
• The Libertarian Theory describes societies that provide media with
unrestrained freedom, especially from government control, so that
they are free to report a variety of views.
• There is no control or censorship.
• Under a libertarian media system, ownership of media is mainly
private. The media’s purpose is to inform, entertain, sell, and serve as a
“watchdog”, keeping the government in check.
• Libertarian Theory involves some innate distrust of the role of the
government and a belief that everybody has rights to information.
• The theory also sees people as rational enough to decide what is good
or bad and hence the press should not restrict anything.
• Even negative contents may provide audiences with knowledge.
• Libertarian thoughts are exactly the opposite of the Authoritarian
Theory.
• The best example of a country whose media system applies the
Libertarian Theory would be Finland.
• Threats against journalists are rare, unlike those working under
Soviet-Communist or Authoritarian media systems.
• Countries whose media apply the Libertarian Theory include: The
Netherlands, and to a lesser extent, Hungary.
2.4 The Social responsibility press theory
• Social Responsibility theory is an outgrowth of the Libertarian
Theory around mid-twentieth century in America.
• However, the Social-Responsibility Theory does not assume that
anyone can use the media to publish anything like the Libertarian
Theory.
• It’s more emphasis on the press's responsibility to society than on the
press's freedom.
• This theory requires the media to adhere to professional standards
and codes of conduct when exercising their editorial freedom.
• Ownership of media is mostly private and practice self-regulation
according to standards, codes and guiding principles.
• The media is relatively free of arbitrary government controls.
• The role of the media is to serve the public, and in order to do so,
should remain free of government interference.
• The idea of this theory is that the media has a moral obligation to
provide adequate information for citizens to make informed
decisions.
• However, the different media can retain a liberal notion of healthy
public disclosure.
• The media is also expected to represent the diversity of cultures they
represent, and should have high standards for professionalism, truth,
and accuracy.
• One example of a country that practices the Social-Responsibility
Theory is the United States of America.
• Other countries that apply a Social-Responsible media system
include: France, Germany, and Japan.
 Chapter three
Ethics of Journalism
• Ethics is an inclusive term, meaning that it can be understood in a variety
of ways.
• Ethics is associated with morality and deals with matters of right and
wrong.
• Ruch (1980) sees it as set of moral principles or values dealing with what
are considered good or bad, right or wrong.
• In mass communication, Media Ethics refers to the code of conduct or set
of rules and principles which morally govern and guide the mass media
and their personnel in the discharge of their functions:
 Respect for authority, being fair to the audience, quality, equity, moral
behavior and all that constitutes a good life are ethics-orient;
 these traits touch on conscience and morality.
• The ability to judge and behave ethically or otherwise is the function of our
conscience and morality.
• Journalism ethics is a specific of applied media ethics that investigates the
“micro” problems of what individual journalists should do in particular
situations, and the “macro” problems of what news media should do, given
their role in society.
Journalists
• As members of news organizations have rights, duties and norms
• As human beings, they fall under general ethical principles such as to tell
the truth and minimize harm
• As professionals, they have social power to frame the political agenda and
influence public opinion.
3.1.1. Defamation
• Defamation can be defined as the transmission to a third party, either
orally or in writing, of information which tends to damage the
reputation of another person.
• Experts (e.g Ewelukwa, 2004: 209; Malemi 1999:74, etc cited in Okoye,
2008) are all agreed that for a statement to be defamatory of a person,
that statement must be false and calculated to:
1. Lower him/her in the estimation of right-thinking men; or
2. Cause him/her to be shunned or avoided, or
3. Expose him/her to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or
4. Conveys an imputation on him/her disparaging or injurious to him/her
in his/her office, profession, calling, trade or business.
5. Injures his/her financial credit
Essentials of Defamation
• The following points must be proved for an action of defamation to
succeed in court:
1. Publication
• The offending statement must have been published.
• Publication means that the statement was communicated to a third party,
other than the plaintiff.
• Furthermore, communication of defamatory matter by husband to wife
and vice versa, does not amount to publication since they are regarded as
one person, for that practical purpose (Okoro, 2008).
2. Malice
• Another essential ingredient of defamation is that the offending
statement must have a malicious intent.
• Malice is evil motive or spite.
If the plaintiff can prove the existence of a malicious intention, the defense
of fair comment by the defendant will be defeated (Okoro, 2008).
3. Damage
• Damage is quantifiable loss as a result of defamation.
• In a situation where the defamatory statement is not actionable per se
on mere publication, the plaintiff must prove some special or actual
damage to succeed in his claim (Okoro, 2008).
4. Repetition
• Though it is not an essential condition for defamation, every repetition
of a defamatory statement in writing, orally or in any other form,
amounts to a fresh publication.
• And this may create a fresh cause of legal action.
• Repetition and dissemination of defamatory matter may necessitate the
suing of the printer, publisher, author and vendor news agent, in the
case of books, newspapers and magazines (Okoro, 2008).
Types of Defamation
• There are basically two types of defamation: Libel and Slander.
I. Libel defined as defamation by means of writing or by any other
permanent form such as video tapes, pictures, effigy etc. (Ewelukwa, 2004)
• The following are as the conditions for libel:
(a)The publication must be in writing
(b) The publication must be false
(c)The publication must be published to third party.
(d) The publication must refer to the plaintiff and must be defamatory.
(e)The publication must be by the defendant.
II. Slander, on the other hand, is defamation through the spoken word or
gesture.
• It is not generally actionable upon mere publication. However, there
are instances where slander could be actionable per se, that is, without
proof of special damage (Okoro, 2008).
They include:
1. Allegation of a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment, such as
theft, rape etc.
2. Imputation or allegation of a contagious disease which may necessitate
the exclusion of the sufferer from other members of society e.g. AIDS,
leprosy etc.
3. Allegation of unchastely against a young woman.
4. Imputation of incompetence or unfitness against a workman, which can
injure him in his trade, office, trade or profession.
Defenses for defamation
• There are many defenses for a journalist who is brought to a court on
matter of defamation. Some of these defenses are major others are
minor. We shall discuss only some of these:
i. Justification or truth
• If the publication complained about is true, entirely or even
substantially, it can form a solid defense to defamation. But the onus is
on the defendant who pleads justification to prove that the publication is
true.
ii. Fair Comment
• It is also a defense against defamation if the defendant can prove that
the publication complained about is a fair comment made in the interest
of the public.
• Indeed, since the constitution charges the press to make government
accountable and uphold the fundamental objectives of the Nigerian
state, it follows that fair comment made in respect of any public officer
or public figure on any matter of public interest can form a defense
against an action for defamation (Okoro, 2008).
iii. Privilege
• Privilege means a benefit or immunity enjoyed by someone or a class of
people which does not apply to the general public. In communication,
privilege is the freedom enjoyed in certain circumstances whereby
statements can be made without the bogey of an action of defamation.
As a defense against defamation privilege is in two kinds: absolute and
qualified privilege (Okoro, 2008).
iv. Consent to Publication
• If a person willingly invites the press to cover his function or he grants
an interview on his own volition, then the press can plead consent if the
person turns round to bring an action of defamation.
• However, if the publication goes beyond the limit of the initial approval,
there may be grounds for an action (Okoro, 2008).
v. Death of the Plaintiff
• If the person allegedly defamed is dead, it will be difficult to sustain the
action because reputation is a personal possession and only the owner of
the reputation can sue for it.
• vi. Accord and Satisfaction
• It shall be a defense to defamation if there is a mutual settlement
between the two parties to the satisfaction of both of them. This
settlement is usually outside the court.
vii. Statute of Limitation
• This is the time limit upon which someone could bring a defamation
action against another person.
• For libel it is 6years and slander is 3years.
• After this time periods had elapsed, you can no longer institute a legal
action against an accused.
Remedies for defamation
• If a case of defamation has been established and accepted by the court,
then the plaintiff is entitled to one or a combination of the following
remedies:
(a) Damages
(b) Injunction, which may be interim, interlocutory or perpetual.
(c) Publication of retraction or correction
(d) Publication of apology and offer of amends.
3.1.2. Contempt of Court
• The law of contempt, according to Okoro (2008), is predicated on the
absolute necessity to provide an enabling environment for the courts
and the legislature to perform their constitutional duties without
hindrance.
• Definition of Contempt
• From all the foregoing, contempt of court ( as cited in Okoro, 2008), can
be defined as: any act which is calculated to embarrass, hinder or
obstruct court administration of justice, or which is calculated to lessen
its authority or its dignity, committed by a person who does an act in
willful contravention of its authority or dignity, or tending to impede or
frustrate the administration of justice or by one who, being under the
court’s authority as a party to a proceeding willfully disobeys its lawful
orders or fails to comply with an understanding which he has given.
Contempt of court can be in two ways:
(A) Contempt in the face of the court: otherwise known as direct contempt;
(B) Indirect contempt: This is contempt committed outside the court, so to
say.
3.1.3. Privacy
• The right of privacy refers to an individual's right to be left alone.
• An individual's right of privacy may be violated by:
1. An intrusion into an area where the individual has a reasonable
expectation of privacy;
2. The publication of true but embarrassing facts about the individual that
are of no legitimate interest to the public;
3. The publication of facts that, while true, create a false impression about
the individual; or
4. The use of the individual's name or other identifying characteristics in
advertising or for similar commercial purposes.
• Unlike actions for defamation, actions for violations of the right of
privacy are based on the publication of true information.
• The basis for the claim is not that the information published is false, but
is instead that the information is personal, and that the person to whom
the information relates should be entitled to prevent it from being
exposed to the general public.
• Most privacy claims in the publishing world involve the use of
information or photos obtained without the knowledge or consent of the
subject.
• there are some circumstances under which a privacy claim is not likely
to be sustained:
• Writing about or publishing photos of events that occur in a public place
• The publication of facts that are already known by or available to the
public
• Publications of facts relate to a public figure and are of legitimate
concern to the public.
3.2. The core ethical guideline in journalism
3.2.1. Accuracy
• Accuracy is the ability to be precise and avoid errors.
• Our purpose is to pursue the truth.
• Diligent verification is critical.
• We take great care to ensure that statements of fact in our journalism
are both correct and in context.
• Accuracy can have a huge affect on the credibility of your paper, your
article and you as a journalist.
• It is imperative that you fact-check and ensure that what you’ve written
is, in fact, true.
• Before, during, and after you have finished writing a piece, you should
go back and check everything that is considered a fact. This includes:
 Nouns (names and places)
 Dates and times
 Job titles, duties
 Literary quotations
 Interview quotations
 Sequence of actions
 Contact information etc
3.2.2.Balance
• Balance means a lack of bias, and it is the ethical imperative of a
journalist to transmit the news in an impartial manner.
• A reporter should, whenever possible, demonstrate the opposing
viewpoints at play in a story dynamic; it is important to note that
there are often more than two sides to any story.
• The journalist should let the reader make a decision for himself;
rather than assign value, a journalist's job is to present the facts.
• Like its close relations, impartiality and fairness.
• Fairness is best defined as the manner in which journalists
interact with people, and balance as the manner in which journalists
gather and present information.
• Journalists continually seek out and report multiple points of view
(balance) are those who live up to the most basic standards of the
profession.
• The first step toward being fair is to seek balance to gather
3.2.3. Objectivity
• Objectivity is expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without
distortion by personal feelings, prejudices or interpretations.
• Journalists should never mix personal feelings in their professional work.
• The value of objectivity is constructed on the idea that it objectifies subjective
analysis and therefore is a method for discovering truth or at the very least is more
truthful than subjective accounts because subjectivity is related to opinion.
• Objectivists maintain that truth exists despite the inconvenience of opinion and
therefore truth exists independently of perception.
• Objectivity is both attainable and a desirable outcome for good journalism.
• An objective journalist is one who is detached, neutral, impartial, and unbiased.
• Many of journalism’s critics have defined objectivity as something that approaches
perfect truth and then dismissed the term so defined as an absurd idea.
3.2.4. Ethical dilemmas in journalism
• A dilemma arises when faced with two (or more) undesirable
alternatives.
• A dilemma is not a mere problem or question: ethical problems come
up all the time, and ethical questions can be asked about every aspect of
journalism practice.
• Journalists often face more mundane decisions between protecting
confidentiality and exposing important information.
• This is especially common when interviewing sources who confess
crimes to the interviewer after being promised confidentiality.
• A dilemma is something more substantial: a situation with no easy
solution and few attractive alternatives.
• In a dilemma, there is a downside to whatever choice one has to
make.
• Personal bias poses an ethical dilemma, because it can affect
everything from which stories are cut from the newspaper or splashed
across page one, to the number of quotes reported from each side of an
argument.
• Journalists are people, too, and they try to prevent harm when they
can.
• However, neutrality enables journalists to inform people about both
sides in a conflict, and that neutrality would be jeopardized if journalists
used the information they gathered from one side to warn the other
side.
• Dilemmas are not puzzles that can be solved; they are conundrums
that can only be managed.
• Journalists have to make ethical decisions quickly, sometimes in
mere moments.
3.2.1. Ethics and responsibilities
1. A journalist has a duty to maintain the highest professional and ethical
standards.
2. A journalist shall at all times defend the principle of the freedom of the
press and other media in relation to the collection of information and the
expression of comment and criticism. He/she shall strive to eliminate
distortion, news suppression and censorship.
3. A journalist shall strive to ensure that the information he/she
disseminates is fair and accurate, avoid the expression of comment and
conjecture as established fact and falsification by distortion, selection or
misrepresentation.
4. A journalist shall rectify promptly any harmful inaccuracies, ensure that
correction and apologies receive due prominence and afford the right of
reply to persons criticized when the issue is of sufficient importance.
5. A journalist shall obtain information, photographs and illustrations only by
straightforward means. The use of other means can be justified only by
overriding considerations of the public interest. The journalist is entitled to
exercise a personal conscientious objection to the use of such means.
6. A journalist shall do nothing which entails intrusion into anybody’s private
life, grief or distress, subject to justification by overriding considerations of the
public interest.
7. A journalist shall protect confidential sources of information.
8. A journalist shall not accept bribes nor shall he/she allow other
inducements to influence the performance of his/her professional duties.
9. A journalist shall not lend himself/herself to the distortion or suppression
of the truth because of advertising or other considerations.
10. A journalist shall mention a person’s age, sex, race, color, creed,
illegitimacy, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation only if this
information is strictly relevant. A journalist shall neither originate nor process
material which encourages discrimination, ridicule, prejudice or hatred on any
11. A journalist shall not interview or photograph children in connection
with stories concerning their welfare without the permission of a parent or
other adult responsible for their welfare.
12. No journalist shall knowingly cause or allow the publication or
broadcast of a photograph that has been manipulated unless that
photograph is clearly labeled as such.
• Manipulation does not include normal dodging, burning, color
balancing, spotting, and contrast adjustment, cropping and obvious
masking for legal or safety reasons.
13. A journalist shall not take private advantage of information gained in
the course of his/her duties before the information is public knowledge.
14.A journalist shall not by way of statement, voice or appearance endorse
by advertisement any commercial product or service save for the
promotion of his/her own work or of the medium by which he/she is
employed.
 Chapter Four
New Media and its social significance
 What is new media?
• It refers to any of the following related terms: emerging digital
technologies and platforms; online journalism; and electronic and
multimedia publishing (particularly on the Internet and World Wide
Web).
• It is 21st C catchall term used to define all that is related to the internet
and the interplay between technology, images and sound
• The definition of new media changes daily, and will continue to do so.
• A generic term for the many different forms of electronic
communication that are made possible through the use of computer
technology.
• New technology has continued to have a major effect on the industry in
general, and on journalists in particular, with the arrival of the Internet
as a source of information and news
• New media — often known as multimedia or digital media — relies on
digital means to communicate, as opposed to traditional media like
print newspapers or television.
Types of new media
Citizen journalism

• Concepts: citizen journalism, participatory journalism,

interactive journalism, public journalism, user-generated
media...
• Public journalism aimed to ‘see people as citizens rather
than as spectators, readers, viewers, listeners, or an
undifferentiated mass’ (Rosen, 2000) and to reinvigorate
participatory democracy by emphasizing journalism’s
social responsibility (Glasser, 2000)
• Participatory journalism is any kind of newswork at the
hands of professionals and amateurs, of journalists and
citizens, and of users and producers benchmarked by
commons-based peer production (Bentley, et al.,2005)
• Interactive journalism: practices in online journalism, that
use the Web as a platform for
 Citizen Journalism Vs Mainstream Media
Mainstream Journalism Citizen Journalism
Amateurs, ordinary citizen-value transparency,
 Professional journalists-code of do not have set values
ethics, cross-check sources and
leads
 Some sees CJ as a threat Redefined the ‘news’ and who can give be a
‘journalist’
 Embraced social media to further
their influence get a scoop Social media has given the masses a voice and
the means to produce their own content
 Seek to control news
Challenges the news, offering an alternative
perspective
Cont.
• Lack of competition in the media Adds diversity to the media
industry landscape
• Journalists are costly expense in Cost effective
journalism, a sustainable economic The news fourth? Makes up for the
model still needed shortcoming of mainstream media
• The idealized fourth state
 Risks of Citizen Journalism
• “One bad apple can spoil the barrel”
በጥባጭ ካለ ማን ጥሩ ይጠጣል፡፡
• Some argue that citizen journalists threaten to destroy the circulation
of factual news, spreading incorrect, misleading information and
opinion rather than truth.
• This is due to lack of training, ethics and accountability.
• Can give a voice to extremists groups: racism, hate, violence…
that would not be allowed on the mainstream media.
• “Participation journalism” could not result in any
improvement over previous ways of doing things, or of any
effective or useful consequences.
• Untrustworthy: Without the code of journalistic ethic.
• Without contrast of facts and sources.
• Not trained as professional journalists.
• Content can be not reliable / trusted
• Subjective: Conflicts of interests.
• Digital Divide: it tends to reinforce existing institutional
arrangements and social inequalities
• It challenges journalism as a profession.
• A report conducted by Social Media Today found that almost half (49.1) of
online users have been tricked by false ‘breaking news’.
• CJ should not be used as a primary news source, lack of credibility and
reliability.
• CJ, in nature, is also more reflective of personal opinion and/or belief.
This is dangerous.
• For a new article to be considered fair, it must be exempt of bias, emotion
and personal belief.
• Citizen journalists claim that their central role is to “publish information
and stories for the sake of bringing about true change. However, this is
believed to be incredibly idealistic.
 Benefits
• New alternative voices and sources.
• It improves democratic system as it ensures the diversity of
public opinion.
• First-hand contributions during crisis events (Photo sharing
websites, blogs…)
• It removes ‘elite’ gatekeepers
• It gives a space for marginalized, alternative and activists social
groups.
• Counterbalance to the mainstream media
• Independent from corporate sponsors and government.
• Influential political function in highlighting social problems ignored by
the mainstream Media.
• Activism, organization.
• Transcend geographic boundaries
• Clearinghouse for disaster relief information
• Low production costs, focus on news than traditional media doesn’t
find profitable
• Social and political responsibility.
• Citizen participation in the evaluation of public policies.
• Strengthen democratic culture.
• Collective intelligence.
• Collaborative learning. Participatory culture.
• Collective, egalitarian and non-hierarchical journalism