Ethics and Media Pertemuan 09 - 10

Matakuliah : O0394 – Teknik Reportase dan News CasterTahun : 2010

Learning Objectives

The discussion will be on the understanding of ethics of media. This material will be limited to the understanding of ethics in media communication. For illustration, the part on ethics (1 & 2) will also represent ethical cases in media communication.

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Journalistic Ethics in Indonesia – a Reminder (1/4)

What is Freedom of Press?

The freedom of press is a facility for people in a community to communicate and obtain information. The Indonesian Journalistic Ethics is a basic statement for journalists in Indonesia to responsibly provide information to the community.

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Journalistic Ethics in Indonesia – a Reminder (2/4)

The Indonesian Journalistic Ethics - It Covers What? Indonesian Journalists obey the Ethics in terms of:

1.Obtaining and providing the right and balanced information to the public;

2.Properly protecting and, as well as, revealing the sources;

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Journalistic Ethics in Indonesia – a Reminder (3/4)

3. Disapproving bribery and avoiding professional misconducts;

4. Obeying the embargo and committing to the off-

the-record agreement;5. Detaching and correcting the mistakes and providing

the right to answer.

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Journalistic Ethics in Indonesia – a Reminder (4/4)

The Indonesian Journalistic Ethics (Kode Etik Wartawan Indonesia/ KEWI) is supported with Regulations on Pers (Undang Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 40 Tahun 1999 tentang Pers).

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Ethics in Communication Process (1/6)

In examining the ethical situation from the perspective of communication process, there are 5 (five) important aspects that (especially) all media practitioners need to know.The following 5 (five) aspects relate to the components in the process of news production.

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Ethics in Communication Process (2/6)

a. A moral agent (communicator)Those who make moral judgments whether on their own decision or on institutional representatives. For example: reporters and editors could not become politically active because to do so would compromise their independence.

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Ethics in Communication Process (3/6)

b. MotivesWe must examine the motives of the moral agent because good motives can sometimes be used to justify what appears to be an unethical act. For example: a reporter may use dishonesty to uncover governmental corruption, a journalistic technique most of use would be willing to tolerate in the name of the public good.

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Ethics in Communication Process (4/6)c. Act

It is the act of behavioral component of the communication process and it draws the attention to the actions of others and may lead us to describe their actions as either ethical or unethical. For example: Acts may be verbal when a reporter lies to a news source, and it can also be nonverbal when an advertiser omits product information vital to informed consumer choice.

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Ethics in Communication Process (5/6)

d. Individual(s) or audienceAn ethical situation should also be evaluated in terms of the moral agent’s relationship to the individual(s) or audience most directly affected by the ethical judgment. For example: an advertiser that markets its products to children might employee less aggressive sales techniques that one that appeals to an adult audience.

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Ethics in Communication Process (6/6)e. Consequences

Ethical judgments produce consequences -either negative or positive- for both the moral agent and others who may touched by the agent’s actions. Although too often the consequences are either unanticipated or diverge from the expectations of the moral agents, it is very likely that the agent must know it in advance and act accordingly.

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Social Responsibility (1/7)BackgroundBased on the Libertarian view, a company is socially

responsible if it provides employment and a stable financial base for the community.

Within the libertarian framework, both individuals and corporations pursuing their own self-interests in a competitive marketplace will contribute to the public welfare.

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Social Responsibility (2/7)Views and facts on Social Responsibility1.Conducting business is not a right but a privilege granted

by society (Friedman);2.The pursuit of profits has not automatically contributed to

the public good, society has placed increasing demands on corporations to contribute to the correction of social ills.

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Social Responsibility (3/7)What should the media do to perform its social responsibility in this contemporary society?

The media must provide a “truthful, comprehensive, and intelligent account of the day’s events in a context that gives them meaning.”

The press must not only be accurate, it must also clearly distinguish between fact and opinion.

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Social Responsibility (4/7)The press serve as “a forum for the exchange of comment and criticism.”The press is urged to provide a platform for views that are contrary to its own while not abandoning its traditional right or advocacy.

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Social Responsibility (5/7)The press project “a representative picture of the constituent groups in society.”Racial, social, and cultural groups should be depicted accurately without resorting to stereotypes. Social responsibility demands an affirmative role for the media in building positive images, both in their informational and entertainment content.

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Social Responsibility (6/7)The media should also be responsible for “the presentation and clarification of the goals and values of society.”The media should transmit the cultural heritage, thereby reinforcing traditional values and virtues.

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Social Responsibility (7/7)The press should provide “full access to the day’s intelligence.” The increase in the number of and scope of laws regarding public records and open meetings, at both the state and federal levels, is the manifestation of this right access to government information.

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Media as Socially Responsible Institutions (1/11)For media, the attitudes of social responsibility can be acquired

through a two-step process:To promote a positive corporate and to improve the chances of

gaining public respect.This can be done through external communications campaign and consideration of the impact on society of any ethical decisions made by media managers and employees.

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Media as Socially Responsible Institutions (2/11)Through community involvement.

This can be accomplished by encouraging employees to participate in civic affairs and providing corporate financial support for community projects. For example: major newspapers might consider greater coverage of low-income and minority neighborhoods.

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Media as Socially Responsible Institutions (3/11)

The recognition of social responsibility as a moral duty has been reflected in 3 (three) self-regulatory mechanism:

Codes of Conduct Media Ombudsman (sometimes referred to as

“readers’ representatives”, and News Councils

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Media as Socially Responsible Institutions (4/11)

Codes of ConductCodes seen from different perspectives:

A written statement of principles that is the only way to avoid leaving moral judgments to individual interpretations;Codes provide employees with a written notice of what is expected of them;

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Media as Socially Responsible Institutions (5/11)

A form of self-censorship, a retreat from the independence and autonomy necessary for a free and robust mass communication enterprise;

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Media as Socially Responsible Institutions (6/11)In the field of journalism philosophy, John Merrill and S

Jack Odell have dismissed codes as meaningful tools for ensuring accountability:“… Journalists, of all people, … when it comes to codes

and creeds they seem to retreat into a kind of

bureaucratese, or sociological jargon that benumbs the

mind and frustrates any attempt to extract substantial

meaning from the writing.”

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Media as Socially Responsible Institutions (7/11)

There are 2 (two) kinds of codes

Professional CodesProfessional codes are used for guidance and prominent feature of moral landscape for certain professions. For example: the Society of Professional Journalism (SPJ) has adopted standards for things as truth, accuracy, conflicts, interests, and fairness;

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Media as Socially Responsible Institutions (8/11)

Institutional CodesThe conduct of employees of certain media institutions;The Codes are comprehensive and deal with diverse

matters as the acceptance of gifts and other gratuities from outside sources, conflicts of interests, the use of offensive or indecent materials, the publication of rape victims’ names, the staging of news events.

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Media as Socially Responsible Institutions (9/11)

The Ombudsman SystemThe Ombudsman System is an effective tool of

corporate management to demonstrate a skeptical public that they are serious about the idea of social responsibility.

The future of Ombudsman as a self-regulatory device has reaped pros and contras on the role of ombudsman from its environment.

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Media as Socially Responsible Institutions (10/11) The Pros of the Ombudsman System thinks that the electronic

media have renewed their efforts at self-criticism and accountability in the form of audience feedback programs, on-air-critics, and even ombudsmen.

The Cons of the Ombudsman System thinks that several papers have fired or re-assigned their ombudsman for their brutal candor in assessing the ethical indiscretions of their employers.

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Media as Socially Responsible Institutions (11/11)

News Councils Functions as “watchdog”, the news councils arguably the most democratic of regulatory devices are designed to foster a dialogue between the media and their various publics.

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ClosingBy understanding the most basic concept on the relationship between ethics and media, the students are expected to have a big picture on how the media will perform within its society. And further, how the media will perform when they are producing news.

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