EYE ON ETHICS

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) first published this report on Dec. 9, 2008.
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Excessive use of defamation and lese majeste charges by opposing political groups and authorities in Thailand to curb free expression on the Internet has forced a coalition of Internet users comprising media reformers, human rights campaigners, webmasters, bloggers, and operators of online news publications, to form a civic network called the Thai Netizens Network, designed to promote and protect cyber liberty.

The non-partisan group, officially launched on Dec. 2, was a spin-off of an earlier initiative called Freedom Against Censorship in Thailand but its mission is much broader than its predecessor’s—that is, to campaign at the national policy level to promote and protect netizens’ rights, freedom of online media as well as civic journalism, and at the same time to promote a self-regulatory framework to ensure responsible use of internet.

According to the network’s coordinator, Supinya Klangnarong, about 400 URLs have been banned over charges related to criminal defamation and lese majeste pending the court’s hearing. “The problem is that cyber-crime police find it difficult to proceed with these cases in court because they could not arrest the suspected offenders,” said Supinya.

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Mr. Torres is the chair of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. He is also the editor in chief of the online news magazine GMANews.TV.
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There is a growing consensus among journalists and media practitioners around the world that “unethical practice” is slowly killing journalism. The threat has become so serious that the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) last year launched an “Ethical Journalism Initiative.”

The initiative is supposed to be journalism’s response to the challenges the craft faces – the increasing polarization around the globe, the clamor for change in a number of countries on the fringes of development, war and terrorism.

Amid these developments – racial, religious, cultural and political conflicts that most of the time lead to shooting wars – are the media, which most of the time are used by partisan interests to deceive, sow falsehood and speculation, and provoke misunderstanding, hatred and violence.

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Mr. Conde is a journalist based in Manila. He is a correspondent for The New York Times and International Herald Tribune. This is a slightly edited version of a paper Mr. Conde delivered at a media forum on torture last June 25, organized by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the non-government groups International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, International Federation for Human Rights, and Balay Rehabilitation Center.
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Five years ago, I wrote a story about a Muslim teenager who was imprisoned in General Santos City for allegedly being a terrorist. The boy showed signs – bruises, mainly – that he was tortured by whoever captured him.

Today, I can’t even recall the name of the teenager. I do remember this, however: I never bothered to check back to see what had happened to him.

He was, after all, just a story.

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Mr. Dura is a staffwriter for the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.
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Would it have improved the prospects for peace negotiations between the bandit group and the government if ABS-CBN’s Ces Drilon had obtained and aired that exclusive interview with the new leaders of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) she said she was after? Should peace negotiations between a police problem like the ASG and the government be on the national agenda at all?

Both questions are crucial to the main ethical issue, unremarked by many commentators, that was at the heart of the Ces Drilon episode. Mostly dismissed as a spent force and no more a terrorist organization than a common kidnap for ransom gang operating in Manila would be, any interview with ASG leaders aired over a major network would have re-conferred on it the status it once had as a supposedly separatist rebel group, thus putting it on the same level as formations with clear political aims like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The capacity to confer legitimacy and status is inherent in the mass media.

The ASG gained notoriety in the late 1990s as a supposedly terrorist organization with its bombing, assassination and kidnap for ransom operations. Eventually, however, its lack of any clear political aim made it clear that it doesn’t even qualify as a terrorist group, the definition of which includes having a political program. It does qualify, however, as a group that uses terrorist methods for non-political aims.

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Mr. Macale is assistant editor of the Manila-based media monitoring publication Philippine Journalism Review Reports (PJR Reports). This article was first published in the May-June 2008 issue of PJR Reports.
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In the age of Web 2.0, when computers and the Internet have become necessary research and writing tools for reporters, any one can plagiarize by using online search and copy-and-paste technology. But this convenience is a double edged sword: the same tools can also be used to detect plagiarism.

Investigative journalist Alecks Pabico found that out one Sunday. Since he had been writing about the generics drug law for the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Pabico kept himself updated on the issue through Google Alerts. A useful tool that journalists can use to monitor issues, Google Alerts can send anyone information on whatever topic s/he wants through e-mail.

One item from Google Alerts caught Pabico’s attention: a special report on the issue from The Manila Times posted online that same day, Feb. 3. He was surprised that the Times report contained sentences and quotes that were eerily familiar. Pabico found that the Times report as well as an accompanying story had lifted several portions of a story he did on the generics law almost two years ago. The stories contained several paragraphs nearly identical with portions of Pabico’s September 2006 report. Even several of the quotes in his story two years ago were in the Times stories.

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This article was first published by the news site China Daily on June 10 and was updated on June 12.
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When Chongqing-based magazine New Travel Weekly featured China’s May 12 earthquake, it maintained its popular themes of glamour and sex.

Scantily-clad models draped themselves over the rubble, bloodied bandages as accessories to their bikinis, tight tee-shirts and mini-shorts, under the headline “Reborn from the Ruins”.

The public reaction to this display of questionable taste and insensitivity was immediate.

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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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The writer is a Malaysian journalist.

The daily struggle of the Malaysian journalist is to try to apply journalism principles in an environment where the government treats the media as its personal tool. Some rebel and leave, citing principles, but almost all try to come to terms with it for the sake of a paycheck.
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A journalist with one of the leading dailies in Malaysia looked worried as he watched the editor-in-chief of his newspaper go through his commentary.

The editor-in-chief wanted to “clear” the story on an anti-government movement that the journalist had been asked to write a few days after the announcement of Malaysia’s general election date. Malaysians will vote on March 8.

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