Introduction
Raymond Finkelstein submitted the Finkelstein Inquiry to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy on February 28, 2012. Finkelstein was charged with a responsibility to examine the Australia media industry and the regulations that governed the industry. Finkelstein undertook the task with the assistance of the Independent Media Inquiry from September 14, 2011, to the day of submission stated. The findings and recommendations of the Inquiry caused national and international debate. Finkelstein addressed critical issues that influence the media and the society in general. For instance, the Inquiry addressed issues such as the media and democracy, the regulation of the media and the structure and role of
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The codes of ethics also would incorporate aspects of public accountability and responsibility. Though the findings concerning the issues of fairness, impartiality and integrity were of great importance, different bodies, mainly media organizations felt that the move towards regulation would limit freedom and deter effective and free reporting. Apart from this, the Inquiry found less consensus on the enforcement of accountability after the implementation of the regulation. The existence of self-regulation mechanisms in the newspapers industry within the country posed a question of whether the Inquiry recommendation should be applied to the entirety of the media industry. The newspaper industry in Australia had well-established ethical codes that imposed obligations of accuracy, fairness and responsibility on the journalist and the newspaper before the Inquiry. However, findings of the report indicated that neither self-regulation nor external regulation of the media industry were not sufficient in the assurance of accountability (Finkelstein, 2012, p. …show more content…
The report posits that the media defends its adherence to certain standards using the readers and audience in general as the frame of reference. For instance, bias in reporting causes the passage of inaccurate information to the reader(s). Arguing against the claims of bias and inaccuracy, the media industry, for example, the News Limited used the audience as defense stating that such allegations were an insult to the public. However, in support of the Inquiry finding, Finkelstein argues that the public expects accurate and non-misleading information. Tiffen (2012) supports the argument by suggesting that though the public can interpret and make its mind, misleading and inaccurate information influences their thinking. The media has the responsibility to meet the expectations of the reader(s) or audience by delivering meaningful, accurate and impartial
The Ins and Outs of Ethics is a Business Week Online magazine article from May 13, 2001, it was written by Eric Wahlgren. In the article he interviews Michael Rion, the author of The Responsible Manager. Rion is also a leading business ethics advisor who consults many Standard and Poor’s 500 companies. In the article Wahlgren asks Rion why it is important for businesses to have a high ethical standard. In his responses, Rion explains that effective organizations utilize ethics programs to clearly define ethical expectations, resolve ethical issues quickly, and to remove moral constraints. Additionally, employees who understand how to deal with ethical dilemmas will also be more productive and have strong core values to guide them. According to scripture, Rions concepts are biblically sound, relevant, and desirable, proving that ethical organizational behavior is shaped and influenced by sound ethical principles.
The Leveson inquiry practices ethics of the media; they made a set of recommendations so the same thing will not happen again. The inquiry was set up as a result of the mobile phone hacking scandal of the murdered teenager Milly Dowler. The lawyer of the Dowler family describes the Leveson inquiry as a “game changer.” Many agree that there is the difference between the right to privacy and the right to a freedom of expression, but the difference of opinions is with the term public interest. The Leveson inquiry aim is to have ethical standards while having the freedom of the
In “Reporting the News” by George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Robert L. Lineberry, the main idea is how the media determines what to air, where to get said stories that will air, how the media presents the news, and the medias effect on the general public. “Reporting The News” is a very strong and detailed article. The authors’ purpose is to inform the readers of what goes on in the news media. This can be inferred by the authors’ tone. The authors’ overall tone is critical of the topics that are covered. The tone can be determined by the authors’ strong use of transitions, specific examples, and phrases or words that indicate analysis. To summarize, first, the authors’ indicate that the media chooses its stories that will air
Through manipulation and lies, media manages to modify objective news into biased news in order to convince the public of what the media wants them to believe. The article, “How the Media Twist the News”, by Sheila Gribben Liaugminas discusses the major influence that news has on readers based on their choice of stories and words. “How the Media Twists the News” has borrowed from multiple other texts such as the books like Public Opinion and Liberty and News, news magazine writers such as Ruderman, and news networks like CBS through Bias, A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News and CNN to make her arguments valid and prove that the news is biased and that it does influence readers significantly because of it.
It is not uncommon to hear people complaining about what they hear on the news. Everyone knows it and the media themselves knows it as well. Some of the most renowned journalists have even covered the the media’s issues in detail. Biased news outlets have flooded everyday news. We find that journalism’s greatest problems lie in the media’s inability for unbiased reporting, the tendency to use the ignorance of their audience to create a story, and their struggles to maintain relevance.
Censorship, defined as the act of destroying, suppressing or withholding information otherwise intended for the public, is detrimental to the community in a number of ways and has no place in a democratic society. Firstly it is detrimental to the progression of social ethics, morals and ideals and limits diversity in society while prolonging ignorance. Secondly it is a breach of freedom of expression, free speech and the free press. It will be demonstrated in this essay that censorship does happen in Australia, that it is not beneficial to society, and that it should be replaced with a system of management where members of the public will always have a choice as to whether or not they can view material intended for the public.
Voices That Must Be Heard! 2003. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the Independent Press Association. 14 September 2003 <http://www.indypressny.org>.
The introduction of the internet to modern society has brought about a new age of information relation. Since there is no longer a need to wait until the next print day, news from all over the world is available at a person’s fingertips within hours or even minutes of the event. With this advent of such easily accessible information, new problems for the news media have also arisen. Aside from potentially losing good economic standing because newspapers are no longer being purchased in the quantities they used to be, the credibility of the information itself is also put into question. No one would argue that credibility of news sources is unimportant, but there is a discrepancy in what takes precedence; economy and speed or getting the information out correctly at the first publishing by taking the time to make sure all facts are checked. The importance of having a system of checks on all information submitted is paramount. People trust what they read and believe it to be so without always questioning. If all information were to not be checked thoroughly, there would be instances where people read an article only for information included to be wrong and they go on believing such information. This can be very dangerous as misinformed people make misinformed decisions. With an increase in errors being made by citizen bloggers and even major publications, many are worried that journalistic ethics and credibility in the news media are being sacrificed in order to maintain swiftness in the news circuit and to retain personal profits. Though getting information to the masses quickly is a major part of the media’s importance, this should not mean that the credibility of that information being presented should be sacrificed for it...
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) provides a very clear and thorough Code of Ethics, which serves as a good definition of ethical journalism. According to this code, an ethical journalist must try to minimize any potential harm done to people directly involved with the event being reported. Such a journalist should also act independently of any personal biases, and be responsive to any criticism of their work. Finally, a truly ethical journalist must seek to find and report the truth (Society). Common sense reaffirms these guidelines. When one thinks of ethical behavior, one usually thinks along terms of being truthful, appreciative of others, acting responsively and using fair judgement. All of these concepts are explicitly stated in the SPJ's Code of Ethics.
There are two distinct sides to the debate of journalism, their journalists, and the consumers: traditional journalism and public journalism. In the current digital age there is a greater number of public journalism being practiced. However, journalists and their consumers run into several issues concerning that matter. To express more clearly, there are particular roles and characteristics in which journalism standards are being gauged.
One of the fundamental roles of the media in a liberal democracy is to critically scrutinise governmental affairs: that is to act as a watchdog of government to ensure that the government can be held accountable by the public. However, the systematic deregulation of media systems worldwide is diminishing the ability of citizens to meaningfully participate in policymaking process governing the media (McChesney, 2003, p. 126). The relaxation of ownership rules and control, has resulted in a move away from diversity of production to a situation where media ownership is becoming increasing concentrated by just a few predominantly western global conglomerates (M...
"Journalism Ethics Online Journalism Ethics Gatekeeping." Journalism Ethics for the Global Citizen. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. .
In the document, Media transformation, Ownership and Diversity, the ANC criticises the South African media’s self-regulatory model. The fact that the media are first and foremost corporations is incredibly important. Following the recent decline in print media consumption, journalistic standards have dropped following budget cuts by the corporations. (Duncan, 2014, p. 170) Because of the former self-regulatory model, the ANC were concerned that journalists would not call each other out on lapses of ethical conduct.
“Power is the ability to define reality and to have other people respond to your definition as if it were their own (Nobles).” People fail to see responsible journalism as a crisis because it is so convenient to have news media make up your mind for you. The foundation of our personal philosophies stems from irresponsible journalism through the major news sources we consume, the exposure to less responsible entertainment, and the biased reporting enforcing negative stereotypes.
Meyers, C. (2010). The 'Standard Journalism ethics: a philosophical approach? Oxford University Press. Nordenstreng. K. (1995)