viewpoint


Ethics should be at the centre of journalism


A charity is working to make this happen, says David Hencke I


n an age of fake news and when the distinction between professional journalists and


bloggers is becoming blurred, the ethics of publishing information are becoming increasingly important. How do journalists distinguish


between fact and fiction, comment and reporting? Does the internet foster a greater exchange of views or confirm people’s prejudices in their own silos? Thirty years ago, it was much


simpler. Print newspapers and TV were the gatekeepers – if professional journalists didn’t report or comment about something, it didn’t exist in the public mind. The main issue then was the conglomeration of media power within fewer and fewer hands. Then there was a short, liberating


period with the spread of the internet when anyone could say and report what they wanted. Citizen journalism exploded on the scene and traditional mainstream media was put on the defensive. Now we have the worst of all worlds. Mainstream media is owned by oligarchs, hedge funds and powerful individuals. Social media is dominated by the duopoly of Facebook and Google which are so powerful that whether you are the president of the United States or a nation state like Australia, the owners can silence you with one keystroke. In this day and age, ethics have been


reduced to an algorithm – your moral compass is whether what you write leads to mass acceptance or bombs without trace. Fact or fake, it matters not. That is why the Ethical Journalism


Network (EJN), a small charity operating at both national and international levels, is so very important in this very dangerous, difficult age. On the international stage media is under threat, whether it is the 119 journalists murdered by corrupt politicians or drug cartels in Mexico or censorship of the free press in Hong Kong or Hungary. The charity is being revamped. It has


a very ambitious agenda and plans to reach out to schools and universities as well as to working journalists and photographers. It holds webinars with experts to address the reporting of controversial issues, whether domestic abuse, the science of Covid 19 or the power of internet moguls in the information age.


I am one member of the 20-strong


UK national committee of journalists and academics that is drawing up a programme which, if successful, could make journalistic ethics mainstream rather than a side issue or an option. The charity has signed up with


Speakers for Schools so its members can go out and talk to young people about being a journalist and working for media organisations. They can discuss issues such as fake news and how to distinguish it from fact-based news as well as how to source and rate information from the internet. The charity also wants to work with universities that run journalism courses. The EJN is asking the 75 UK journalism course providers whether they include any teaching on ethics and, if they do, what this includes. The ultimate aim is to create a national


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ethics module or, more ambitiously, a book alongside Essential Law for Journalists. Another issue that the EJN is highlighting (in a series of online panels) is the highly controversial question of regulating social media. Should it be self-regulating, should it be regulated by national governments or should the giants of social media set up proper accountability mechanisms? And, since it is an international issue, is there a role for the UN? Since it is such a huge subject, the possibilities for bringing the issue of ethics into journalism are endless. The diverse EJN committee is buzzing with ideas. I am keen to link with the Migration Museum - the UK’s first museum celebrating the diversity of migration – to debate the coverage of this issue, which can be extremely toxic.


Ethics are reduced to an algorithm. Your moral compass is whether what you write leads to mass acceptance or bombs. Fact or fake, it matters not


Or there is another toxic issue – reporting racism – including everything from Black Lives Matter and the so-called ‘woke’ culture to the government’s defence of what it believes is British history and culture. The charity is going to set up an


international committee that will deal with the problems and ethical issues journalists face when reporting abroad. Without doubt, there is a real need for journalism, from mainstream media to the individual blogger, to regain the trust of the general public. That can be done only with a proper grounding in ethics. Without it, all that is left is propaganda, fake news and a culture of mutual distrust and hate.


https://ethicaljournalismnetwork. org


theJournalist | 09


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