Moral Minefields: law & ethics

When Walkley Award winner Paul Chadwick stated in 2003 that "ignorance" is the biggest legal challenge facing professional communicators he wasn't wrong. (Chadwick 2003, in Briet 2007, p.xvii)

As our industry changes and information streams to us at the click of a mouse button the lines have been blurred. The continuing evolving nature of the industry means less time, tighter deadlines, and fewer resources. All of which equal more ignorance about our legal and ethical responsibilities.

Citizen journalism has risen, some reliable, some not. Our information is now more a commodity than it has ever been. Journalists rush to publish, to be the first, to break an exclusive. And for that our information suffers. It has created an environment of competitive information capitalism.

The loss of 'rounds' within the newsroom also sees less time to become familiar with legal perimeters and ethical guidelines. So, where to from here?

I think part of the answer lies in the journalists role as an ethical professional. We are not lawyers, but pushing the legal limits is something contemporary journalists seem to be well acquainted with.

By producing ethical journalistic content, journalists should be able to remove any legal 'ignorance', commonsense tells you that printing the address details of an accused criminal is illegal, and why is it commonsense? Because our ethics build our commonsense.

Thus, legal and ethical concepts in journalism, in my eyes, are mutually exclusive. Law offers a framework for human action and even though ethical responsibilities go beyond our legal obligations, ethical choices must always be justified according to a set of standards in consideration of the law.

Public V Private

Disclaimer: There is actually nothing of any interest on this video, it however serves a point that I may have invaded my classmates privacy by posting it, or have I?

Public V Private

Debate was hot this week about privacy, what really constitutes public interest and what is in effect, in the public interest?

According to some, celebrities don't deserve privacy. I must say I disagree.

Yes, I am guilty of flicking through trashy magazines, but I highly question that choosing to be in any profession is juxtaposed with selling your soul like a paparazzi prostitute. Yes, they are in the public eye, but if roles are reversed and the public is being filmed we cry foul at the media machine. Problem? I think so.

The notion of privacy is packaged with ethical and moral debates and strapped by legal tape. No, we don't want the proposed privacy tort, too far. But we do need to pull our ethical socks up.

PRrrrrrrrrrr Piracy?

Post Modern Casualties or Victims of PR Piracy?

Has the traditional format of news been abducted by PR agencies or are citizens still entitled to truth and objectivity in their information?

This question was pondered yesterday at a seminar held by journalism students of the University of Newcastle, Gemma Noon and Rachael Pudephatt.

Lecturer, Christina Koutsoukos, questioned the notion that people mistrust journalists, expressing confidence in their role of mediating a nation's information.

These assertions came from the conclusion that PR releases are an increasing resource in an industry plagued by cost cutting and the rise of the Internet.

Using an example from Media Watch, Making Mincemeat of Media Patsies, Pudephatt showed the result of an industry now reliant on PR.

A plethora of stories involving a survey that concluded, 'butchers make the best lovers', was sited as a trivial but important example of PR gone mad.

As the story spread across the nation few journalists chose to divulge that the results were indicative of a survey conducted by the Australian Meat and Livestock Association.

Koutsoukos maintained that however trivial this story was, it served as a lesson to future journalists to, "always ask yourself, and keep asking, why is this PR release news?"

Presenter, Gemma Noon, asserted that it is possible for journalists to be truthful and objective if given the right resources.

Noon highlighted the legal, professional and ethical requirements of journalists to be truthful and objective. Stressing that she did believe in credibility of the modern fourth estate.

Koutsoukos wrapped discussion by stating that PR piracy was a transitory stage in an evolving industry, where journalists would reject the, "PR massage of public opinion," and return to traditional newsgathering resources.

Online V Online

Following on from our presentation this week I thought I'd conduct a friendly comparison of online news sources.

Do we really see the same stories on every site or does the news worthiness change depending on audience consumption?

Homepage news stories V most popular

Nine msn http://ninemsn.com.au/?ocid=hmlogout

Homepage: 1. Stroke restores eyesight
2. Man shot dead in front of son
3. Silent rock concert video wins art prize
4. Celebrity Master Chef contestants named
5. 'Feminist' porn film premiers in Sweden

Most Popular: 1. Man accused of murdering boyfriend
2. Aussie shock jocks grill Gaga on penis
3. Murdered businessman a terrific bloke
4. Celebrity Master Chef contestants named
5. Family of kidnap girl reconnect

SMH http://smh.com.au/?s_cid=GSMHNEWS1&A=0

Homepage: 1. Street Execution: killing in Cremorne
2. Left on bedpan for days
3. Tech billionaire mauled by elephant
4. Jaycee kidnapper raped girl, 14
5. LA biggest-ever fire 'caused by arson'

Most Popular: 1. Hit for six: Commodore V Falcon
2. Kevin in 07 became real chic magnet
3. WSJ's website adds facebook function
4. Britney tops yahoo searches

News.com http://www.news.com.au/

Homepage: 1. Tummy trouble: magazine dares to share model's real body
2. Shooting leaves family in shock
3. Tasers too dangerous, police review finds
4. Palin 'can't cook, can't shoot, a bad mum'
5. Stars salaries to be slashed at nine

Most Popular: 1. Tummy trouble: magazine dares to share model's real body
2. Shooting leaves family in shock
3. Stars salaries to be slashed at nine
4. 'Hot Coffee' sex scene finally closed
5. Bus driver caught reading while driving

ABC http://www.abc.net.au/news/

Homepage: 1. Mummy mummy: 9yo sees dad gunned down
2. Minister must go after grieving teen's eviction
3. Queensland stalls taser roll out
4. 'Human Flesh' found on Phillip Island
5. Echidna found in Maccas drain

Most Popular: 1. Della Bosca's femme fatale revealed
2. Man 'stole shipping container full of beer'
3. Territory evicts 14yo, days after dad's death
4. New Japanese PM's wife 'rode to Venus on UFO'
5. Storm Boy pelican dies

So from this comparison I can assert two things: one, surprisingly each news site's headline stories were different. Apart from the overlap of the businessman shooting, which appeared on all four sites, and the taser story, which appeared on two of the four sites, each news outlet has chosen stories that seem to reflect independent news values.
And two, that audience consumption, using most popular as a gauge, did not coincide with the headline stories except in the case of news.com (top three stories were headlines) and one corresponding story for ABC and Nine msn.

So, are the websites getting it wrong or are online audiences only interested in fluff?