EYE ON ETHICS

This article was first posted on the website http://www.asiantribune.com last May 27.
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Trial by media seems to have become the rule rather than the exception in Sri Lankan journalism these days.

There is no question that the press in a democratic society has the right to criticize governments, individuals or organizations on political, social or economic issues or terrorist-related activities. But do the media have the right to make one-sided, unsubstantiated charges of corruption, embezzlement or sexual misconduct against a clearly identified individual, giving that person no chance to defend himself?

Self-regulation on such matters appears to have totally failed as far as some newspapers here are concerned. This issue has again come to the limelight in the wake of a formal complaint lodged by the German Dharmadutha Society (GDS) this month with the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka against the Lakbima news. The complaint follows a news story by Ashwin Hemmathagama that appeared in the paper’s business page (FEB) on April 6, attacking by name the caretaker of a Sri Lankan-managed Buddhist Temple in Europe.

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This article was first posted on The Jakarta Post last May 7. The author is a journalism instructor at the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS) in Jakarta.
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May 3 is World Press Freedom Day, when journalists take stock of their work-linked concerns. One such concern relates to their professional conduct or lack of it. North Sumatra journalists recently discussed this issue as it relates to local reporting.

A madrasah or Islamic boarding school offers free tuition, with donors covering the school expenditures. However, a local newspaper charges the madrasah lets its pupils go hungry. The madrasah complains rightly the story is one-sided, as none of the school executives were interviewed.

Meanwhile, a weekly paper reports on a money pyramid scam in Medan that promised investors 60 percent monthly interest. After the fraudulent company, PT BMA, collapsed and its boss became a fugitive, the paper printed this headline: “Bos PT BMA Siluman Anjing?” (PT BMA Boss a Phantom Dog?) The story is accompanied with a line drawing of a menacing dog with a protruding tongue and set of sharp teeth.

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The article was first posted on UPI Asia Online last May 5.
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NAKHONRATCHASIMA, Thailand– Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi warned the country’s media on Friday that they need to cooperate, be responsible and ethical. Seeming to mimic a wizened statesman, he enjoined Malaysia’s media to understand the subjects they report on, to earn public respect, and to convey correct reports to the public. So far, so good — in principle.

Maybe it was like Thailand’s Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who in a February 2008 interview with Al-Jazeera condescended at the end of the interview to tell the better-informed female reporter, “Next time, you should do your homework.”

So the leaders of two Southeast Asia neighbors somehow feel up to giving the media guidelines on how to be reputable, helpful, correct and ethical. It’s a shame that they don’t always adhere to the same guidelines themselves, especially in Samak’s case. With a memory that doesn’t allow him to recall his part in the October 1976 massacre where some four dozen pro-democracy protestors were killed, and to add insult to injury, foolishly insists “only one unlucky guy was killed” in the state-incited bloodbath, Samak is hardly the one to advise anyone on accuracy in reporting, being ethical or accurate.

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This article was originally posted last April 25 in the Khaleej Times Online.
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The second day of the Arab Media Forum held in Dubai saw serious criticism of the Arab League Broadcasting Charter issued by Arab ministers of information, to regulate satellite broadcasting in the region.

Eminent journalists and media personalities who attended the panel discussion rubbished the relevance and legality of the Charter saying the ministers of information had no right to draw ethical codes for the Press.

They maintained that it was a clear violation of Press freedom and impeded free and fair coverage by satellite channels.

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This report was posted last March 24 in Xinhuanet, the internet arm of the official press agency of the People Republic of China, Xinhua News Agency. The press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders has described the Xinhua News Agency as the world’s largest propaganda agency.
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Chinese experts on journalism and communications have expressed disappointment with some western media’s distorted reports on the riot in Lhasa and urged them to replace those reports with truthful accounts.

“They should make corrections and report more objectively,” said Guan Shijie, professor at the School of Journalism and Communications of Peking University.

In recent days, some western media organizations were criticized by Chinese netizens for distorted coverage of the violence in the capital city of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.

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Prof. Haque teaches Agril.Extension, Apllied & Agricultural Journalism at Shere-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Government-sponsored ethics. Ethics is a matter of voluntary compliance, but some governments have issued their own codes of ethics, or demand that journalists comply with their concept of ethical journalism. The following piece, adapted from Bangladesh’s The New Nation on Feb. 21, 2008, assumes that that country’s government is well within its rights to expect compliance with its views on ethical journalism. Your views and comments would be welcome.

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Recently I read an apology from the editor of a reputable English daily for publishing an article in that newspaper which was malicious, sweeping, and full of innuendos and few facts.

I was glad to see the editor’s goodwill and courage to admit a mistake and to express his regret for it. He mentioned three reasons why he apologized. While stating his third purpose, he raised a core ethical question–whether a columnist has the right to malign individuals, families or groups without any proof.

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