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Welcome

Who we are

What are we doing?

Why are we doing it?

Journalism Law & Ethics

Who we are

� Martin Hirst

� At AUT since 2007

� 15 years as a print &

broadcast journalist in

Australia

� Author:

Journalism Ethics:

Arguments & Cases

� Blogger:

Ethical Martini

� Allison Oosterman

� Teaching at AUT since

1999.

� Many years as a

journalist in Auckland.

� Taught at Otahuhu

College for two years

� Researching

journalism history.

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What are we doing?

� The principles of journalism ethics

� A discussion of ethical dilemmas

� Steps towards ethical decision-making

and problem solving

� Enough media law to keep you out of

jail

� An introduction to court reporting

How will we do it?

� Lecture series

� Ethics till Easter

� The legal issues

� Court reporting –

weeks 8-10

� Media Law Test in

week 12

� Weekly two hour

tutorials/seminars/

workshops

� Arguments &

Cases

� Reading

assignments

� Online

debates/discussion

Why are we doing it?

� News is about matters of public interest

� Journalists have a responsibility to

society

� With freedom of the media comes

accountability

� Frameworks for ethical thinking apply

across most situations you will encounter

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Journalism = public service

� A commitment to

democratic ideals

� Giving a voice to

communities

� Checks and

balances

� Accuracy, balance,

fairness

even in the face of severe

economic pressure, most

journalists remain convinced that

their news organizations are

performing well in keeping their

readers, viewers and listeners

informed, which is a key aspect

of public service (Beame, et.al. 2009)

Reflection-in-action

The reflective journalistic

practitioner needs to be able to

test ideas against practical

experience, be engaged with the

social context in which she or he

operates, and have the ability to

reflect upon dilemmas and make

crucial decisions in the midst of

practice.(Richards 2005, p.155)

� The daily work of a journalist

is an ethical minefield:

� Each interview is a social

interaction

� There is a need for informed

consent in some cases

� There is potential for harm

� There is an element of risk

� There is an issue of respect

The public interest

� Journalism holds a

mirror up to society

� It must reflect the good

and the bad

� The fourth estate model

holds that journalism

makes government

accountable to the

people

There can be no higher law in

journalism than to tell the truth and

to shame the devil - remain detached

from the great Walter Lippmann

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What is the public interest?

“The public interest is the only test that justifies

departure from the highest standards of journalism, and

includes:� detecting or exposing crime or serious misdemeanour;

� detecting or exposing serious anti-social conduct;

� protecting public health or safety;

� preventing the public from being misled by some

statement or action of an individual;

� detecting or exposing hypocrisy, falsehoods or double

standards of behaviour on the part of public figures or

institutions or in public institutions.”

�(Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, 2009)

Frameworks for ethics

� A philosophical approach (meta-ethics)

� Thinking about doing the right thing

� The materialist approach

� The dialectic in journalism

� Political economy of ethics

� A situational approach

� What’s best under the circumstances

� An applied approach (normative ethics)

� Ethics codes, standards and rules

� Decision-making in action

Philosophy & ethics

� Aristotle’s “golden mean”

� a middle ground between extremes

� what causes the least harm

� Virtue ethics

� there is good and we must always do it

� everyone should be virtuous

� Utilitarianism

� do what’s best for the most people

� a good end (outcome) justifies the means

� The social contract

� what is necessary to keep society functioning

� Rights-based ethics

� everyone has inalienable rights

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Means, Ends & Consequences

� Teleology – everything is designed for a purpose

� if the intrinsic purpose is good, the action is good

� Deontology – the morality of an action based on the

action's adherence to a rule or rules

� an action is governed by a duty to good or to a higher cause

� Consequentialism – the consequences of a particular

action form the basis for moral judgment

� the ethics of an action are determined by its outcomes

Situational ethics is a teleological, or consequential theory, in that it is

concerned with the outcome or consequences of an action; the end, as

opposed to an action being intrinsically wrong such as in deontological

theories.

(un)Ethical Situations

� Founded on Christian

principles

� The only rule is

absolute,

unconditional love

� Can also be used in a

materialist context

SITUATIONAL ETHICS

decision-making should be based

upon the circumstances of a

particular situation, and not upon

fixed Law

In the case of situational ethics, the

ends can justify the means.

Joseph Fletcher (1905–1991) was an

American professor who founded the

theory of situational ethics in the 1960s,

and was a pioneer in the field of bioethics.

Fletcher was a leading academic involved

in the topics of abortion, infanticide,

euthanasia, eugenics, and cloning.

Ordained as an Episcopal priest, he later

identified himself as an atheist. (Wikipedia)

Applying ethical thinking

� Applies ethical thinking

to practical problems

� In journalism this

covers

� sources

� dubious methods

� daily actions

� consequences

Applied ethics is the branch

of ethics which consists of

the analysis of specific,

controversial moral issues

such as abortion, animal

rights, or euthanasia.

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Ethics and materialism

Being determines consciousness

� Material relations exist between

people and nature

� Social relations exist between

people and people

� Social relations also exist between

people, structures and institutions

� Social relations contain unequal

distributions of power

� Our emotional attitudes are

determined in the real world

Ethical fault lines in

journalism are not just a

clash of ideas – freedom

versus responsibility –

but also a clash of social

forces – ideas embodied

in material things

Ethical Dialectics

� An ongoing process of

contradiction and resolution

� Ideas and ideals clash

� People,, institutions &

structures are in tension

� Thesis-antithesis-synthesis

� Paradoxes abound in

journalism…and that is

good (Merrill)

The key contradiction in the

news media is between the

commodity form of news

and the public interest

function of journalism(Hirst & Patching, 2007, p.6)

The movement of the dialectic

action

Thesisaction

Antithesis

action

Synthesis

action

Antithesis

action

Synthesis

Ideas and social forces are in constant motion

– a moment of balance is

not stasis –

there is constant

disequilibrium

Merrill talks of a “triadic movement”

– the dialectic in

journalism

A thesis is challenged by its

opposite

(antinome or

antithesis)

The struggle is momentarily

resolved, but

then erupts

again

Each new thesis

(synthesis) is

challenged in

turn

Change is caused by the

actions of

people

reacting to

the world around them

Institutions and structures

contain

competing social

forces

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A dialectic in motion

Freedom of the press

Fourth Estate

Industrial Journalismaction

Citizen Journalism

Blogs and social media

Autocratic press

C18th : French and American

revolutions

Advertising grows in C19th

Newspaper owners seek

power

Watergate -1972 Rise of

corporate

media

1990s

Dissatisfaction with corporate

media

Digital Revolution Drudge Report

Web 2.0

News 2.0Paywalls

Legislation

C20th

Responsible journalism & codes of ethics

WMDs

Rathergate -2004

Start of 21st

Century

1st

Amendment

The ethico-legal paradox

� The law proscribes right and wrong

behaviours

� Ethics is a guide to doing the right

thing

� In some situations law and ethics

contradict one another

Ethico-legal paradox - sources

� Codes of ethics usually contain a

clause relating to source-confidentiality

� Legally, a judge can potentially*

require a reporter to name sources in

court proceedings

� What should a journalist do?

� What would you do?

* See Evidence Act for current legal situation regarding source confidentiality

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A fault line in journalism ethics

� We need public interest journalism now, more

than ever…BUT

� Global news media is in crisis

� A crisis of profitability and investment

� A crisis of trust and confidence

� Journalists are under pressure to work harder

(more stories) and faster (deadlines)

� Less time for investigation, less time for ethics

� More chance of conflict and dilemma

SDL – your responsibility

� BCS

� Hirst & Patching

(2007) Ch. 1

� Join the AUT

Online discussion

forum

� P/G Dip

� Hirst & Patching

(2007) Ch. 1

� Beam, et.al. (2009)

� Sign up for Values

Exchange and

learn how to use it

Everyone: check the handbook, get a copy of

the Burrows pamphlet, check AUT Online,

make a note of assessments and class

schedules