Ethics in Journalism

Ethics are defined as ‘a set of prescriptive rules, principles, values and virtues of character that inform and guide interpersonal and intrapersonal conduct: that is the conduct of people toward each other and the conduct of people toward themselves’ (Edward Spence, 2005). They govern the behaviour of individuals through prescribing what can be done, prohibiting certain things that cannot be done, and guiding individuals through which choices to make when regarding ethical choices. Naturally, these ethical choices will vary according to the socio-cultural context of the individual, as well as the historical and political contexts in which the choice is made in. 

In terms of journalism, there are three forms of ethics:

·         self-regulation, where the state hands over the power to regulate the industry which enacts its own standards of behaviour through the creation and maintenance of codes of conduct, ethics, standards or principles.

·         semi-regulated/co-regulated environment, where governments and industries work together to draft rules that determine the ethical and regulatory framework in which the industry will operate

·         Absolute government regulation, where the government prescribes the rules in legislation which is overseen by a statutory authority 

Australia has a combination of self- and semi-regulated journalism; this is partially due to the fact that journalism is an open profession, and does not require a licence to be practiced. Despite this, there are several Australian regulators who monitor the content produced by journalists, including:

·         MEAA (Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance)

·         APC (Australian Press Council)

·         AJA (Australian Journalists Association)

·         ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 

There are several journalists who say that they are simply giving the audience what they want when as an excuse to breach ethical conduct. One way to sidestep this problem is to identify a true public interest in any story being covered. Through doing this, it can be determined whether or not a story is newsworthy and whether or not it adheres to the codes of journalistic practice.

Click here for a video lesson on the ethics of journalism.