Over the years journalists have been jailed for failing to reveal confidential sources to the court despite being guided by code of ethics. Journalist should only reveal their confidential sources to the court if the information may harm national security or disclose is necessary to show the innocence of an accused. If a journalist reveals confidential sources without reason the result will be breach of confidentiality and limited flow of information to journalist. In this essay will discuss the definition of confidentiality and its ethical considerations. Will also address several reason for contempt of court for confidential. Lastly will examine the reform strategies over the years. These will be supported with relevant cases.
Confidentiality means the person has given you information in confidence and they trust you not to reveal them. According to Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) that states that “where confidences are accepted, respect them in all circumstances”. In the case of R v Barrass, Perth journalist severed five days in jail and fined $10, 000 for refusing to reveal sources some sources on the follow up on DPP v Luders case. The judge referred to the information was essential to establishing the guilt or innocence of the accused and therefore he was required to answer the questions. Despite Australian journalist sticking to their ethical obligation for protecting their sources in order to secure free flow of information, the courts require them to reveal sources when needed to secure fairness of trail which brought a contradiction between two parties and journalist were jailed and fined when they failed to provide the information.
There has been an ongoing battle between the courts and journalist due to ...
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...se they refused to reveal sources because of the agreement of confidentiality between the two parties. However this has changed over the years from the introduction of ‘newspaper rule’ to ‘shield laws’ that protected journalist sources unless they are necessary to conduct a fair trail. Commission concluded the continuation of the existing summary procedures for dealing with refusal to answer a question contravened fundamental doctrines of criminal law and procedure leading to the perception that justice, while perhaps being done and was not being seen to be done. Journalists now have immunity to secure the confidential sources despite being some circumstances that require them to reveal the sources depending on the agreement between the journalist and the source. Breach of confidentiality can result to high damages because the plaintiff may sue you for defamation.
After the article was published, Branzburg was immediately subpoenaed by the Jefferson County Court system. The court demeaned that he name the two individuals featured in the article, but he stood strong and refused to give up their names like he had promised them. Branzburg argued that the Kentucky Privilege Statute passed in 1962 protected him from having to give up the names.(1) He also argued that the First Amendment and Kentucky constitution, (Sections 1,2, and 8) protected his right not to disclose the information of the two individual’s identities.(2) However, the Kentucky courts fought back arguing that the Kentucky Privilege Statute didn’t allow a reporter to refuse to testify about things they saw, or not disclose the names of people they were in contact with. Branzburg then took his case to the Kentucky appeals court, which ruled against him once again. He continued to fight the good fight for what he thought was true and right; the case finally ended up at the Supreme Court.
In comparing ethical issues surrounding the journalists in “All The President’s Men” and “Welcome To Sarajevo”, there are several ethical issues that the journalists experienced. Ethics are an important aspect of journalism, since journalists face a multitude of ethical issues within their industry. Therefore, there are ethical guidelines that journalists’ use called “The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics” [SPJ Code of Ethics]. When analyzing how the journalists in “All The President’s Men” and “Welcome To Sarajevo”, one can refer to the SPJ Code of Ethics to observe the possible ethical issues the journalists experienced. The four main concepts in the SPJ Code of Ethics are: seek truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently,
Totalitarianism describes a Political system where the sate holds all the authority over the society and controls all aspects of public as well as private life. So to do this they would need an organization to enforce anything they want. This is where secret police step in, the role of secret police is to do the dirty that the public doesn’t need to know about.
The internet and all technological advances give us easier communication and increase productivity, however, at what cost? The loss of one's privacy. It is okay only when it is violated for one's own protection. There are different reason, good and bad, for the loss in privacy. In 1984 the characters don't have privacy due to big brother always watching,the NSA does more snooping than securing, social media does more than connect friends, and technological advances make our lives easier.
Corbin, J. (n.d.). Confidentiality & the duty to warn: ethical and legal implications for the
In keeping within current legislation on the protection and respect of an individuals’ right of anonymity, (Clamp, Gough and Land 2004; Polit and Beck 2007), and to confidentiality, (Burns and G...
The aim of this study was to investigate individual’s behavior around privacy issues and factors affecting it. For this purpose, a research model was developed with external factors (age, gender and profession) and the factors privacy concern, attitude and audience awareness influencing audience behavior. Also, hypotheses were formulated about the research model to examine differences based on gender, age and profession on individual’s attitude, concern and awareness.
Terms and Laws have gradually change overtime dealing with different situations and economic troubles in the world in general. So then dealing with these issues the workplace has become more complex with little or no rights to privacy. Privacy briefly explained is a person’s right to choose whether or not to withhold information they feel is dear to them. If this something will not hurt the business, or its party members then it should be kept private. All employees always should have rights to privacy in the workplace. Five main points dealing with privacy in public/private structured businesses are background checks, respect of off duty activities/leisure, drug testing, workplace search, and monitoring of workplace activity. Coming to a conclusion on privacy, are there any limits to which employers have limitations to intrusion, dominance on the employee’s behavior, and properties.
Despite all the controversy and disagreements, most of the populous would agree that on an individual level, privacy is our space to be ourselves as well as to define ourselves through autonomy and protecting our dignity. Our interactions with others can define the level of our relationships with them through the amount of privacy we can afford in the relationship. As we age and immerse ourselves into society, we gain a sense of confidence and security from our privacy. A sense that others know only what we tell them and we know only what they tell us in exchange. What we fear is what others can access and what they might do if they knew of our vulnerabilities. Maintaining and keeping our vulnerable aspects private, we develop a false sense of personal safety from the outside.
Journalists are protected by freedom of the press that is mentioned in the first amendment to the constitution.
I stayed within the agency’s confidentiality policy guidelines by following the regulations of the policy. TCC Counseling center confidential policy states that every counselor must provide free and/or confidential assistance to TCC students. Before receiving personal counseling students are encouraged to complete the TCC’s confidential form often provided by the counselors or accessed online.
In conclusion, though the media serves as a platform to relay legal proceedings, it is evident that the media can pose serious negative influences upon the accused. Undue, unjust, and misconstrued comments by media houses will eventually lead to an unfair and prejudiced trial. Hence, the media must be regulated by exerting the law of contempt of court to prevent interference in the courts administration of justice including to reprove those found in violation of the basic code of conduct. However, the media can utilize the defence options available if he/she can prove otherwise.
As society has progressed, there have been many new innovative and unbelievable developments in almost all aspects of life that have ultimately created an impact. More specifically, advancements in technology have rather had a much larger and intense impact on society as it continues to grow. Technology has allowed for many great and useful applications that has made life much easier and convenient. However, many aspects of technology have given a rise to a number of social and ethical issues, causing numerous debates and concerns. One of the more prominent concerns deals with the issue of privacy rights.
Confidentiality is defined as the protection of personal information. It means keeping a client’s information between the health care providers and the client. Every single patient has the right to privacy regarding their personal information from being released to anyone outside of their health care providers. Health care providers have a legal and ethical responsibility to protect all information regarding patients by not disclosing their information to anyone without their written consent from the patient.
"Journalism Ethics Online Journalism Ethics Gatekeeping." Journalism Ethics for the Global Citizen. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. .