ETHICAL VALUES AND ISSUES IN NEWS COVERAGE IN NIGERIA

Jimi Kayode

ABSTRACT
This is a discourse on the place of ethics in journalism practice in Nigeria. The paper examines the
pervasiveness of the media and the influence it has on the public and makes a case for the
imperativeness of ethical values.
It also establishes that there is a need for more ethical practice if the journalist is to ameliorate the
credibility gap that has been associated with the frailties of the media. The paper assessed the ethical
situation of the Nigerian media and also dealt with ethical theories that could help journalists make
sound ethical judgments on the job.

INTRODUCTION.

The media are a social institution that must make a moral contribution to the society.

According to Paul Johnson [1997:102] the media are a potentially “great secular church”

and “a system of evangelism for dispensing the darkness of ignorance, expelling error

and establishing truth”. One major way by which truth in its entire ramification can be

passed along in any modern society is essentially through the media, and people would be

virtuous and take the right courses of actions so long as they are fully informed of the

facts.

Someone once said that “after ten years of observing government and other social

institutions at work, if the world is to be saved from selfish self-destruction it would be

the journalist, in all their objectionable practices, who would do it”. [Black, Steele and

Barney, 1999:1]

This and other such utterances portray the media as societal agents of dissemination of

information by which people shape and mold their realities of life. Such is believed to be

the influence of the media that they have been referred to as ‘agents of power’ and every

society ascribes certain duties, rights and responsibilities to the media. In addition, the

1
media are also expected to operate within the context of a high sense of responsibility and

morality.[ Altschull, 1995]

Paul Johnson [1997:103] in making a case for an ethical journalism enumerated the roles

of the media in a democracy. He quoted Noah Webster as arguing that the press is

essential to the success of a democratic government because it is the only sure way to

correct government’s abuses. The press is expected to be placed upon a “respectable

footing” by society because it is a herald of truth, and a protector of peace and good

order”. However, a dilemma seems to exist concerning the role of the press and the

responsibilities of its activities. The society needs the press to oil its democracy but fears

the damage and corruption its frailties inflict on the people and the polity.

Hence, in spite of the various legal restraints, there is still a need for a moral media,

serving moral purposes and being worked by moral people. This is where ethics becomes

imperative, more so, as the press above all other social institutions is believed to have a

lot of influence and power often said to be enormous and fearsome. Such influence and

power can not be curtailed by legal restraints only but also by awareness by journalists of

the duties the exercise of such power imposes.

Johnson [1997:103-104] maintains that people who work in the media are often

insufficiently aware of the obligations of their powerful position, much less so than say

politicians. He opines that journalists even see themselves as part of the entertainment

industry, “operating in the frivolous margins of life”. This, he says, is false.

According to Johnson, the press more than politicians stands right at the centre of all

human activities and touches many aspects of life that may be beyond politics, especially

in a democracy where politicians are limited by other arms of government.

2
 “The media are omnivorous, ubiquitous, uncircumscribed and

comprehensive. There is no nook or cranny of the world, scarcely

a hidden area of the human spirit which they do not seek to

penetrate. And most of us want it that way because our own

curiosity is infinite.”

This enormous coverage and influence on society thus bestows on the press the

imperative to be moral in order to be perceived as professional. The point being made

here is that the press has a moral duty and awesome responsibilities that go with such

power and influence it possesses.

The main focus of this discourse is to assess the ethical ‘bag of virtues’ of journalism

practice in Nigeria and to explain ethical theories and principles that have provided the

diverse pathways to ethical dilemmas that the reporter faces on the job.

According to Lawrence Kohlberg, a contemporary press ethicist, editors and reporters

carry in their heads a bag of virtues, and when faced with ethical dilemmas they fumble

more or less in the bag for whatever virtue seems to fit the occasion. [Meyer, 1987:7]

This is because journalistic ethics is a slippery issue, so variable and contextual that clear

clarification becomes difficult, if not impossible. While there are many ethical questions

that are easily answered, there are many more that are not so easy but are full of

paradoxes and parallels and are hotly debatable.

In spite of this dialectic nature of journalism ethics it is still imperative that the practice

be required to be ethical for excellence to be achieved.

3
THE NEED FOR A MORE ETHICAL PRACTICE

There is hardly anyone who will argue against the imperativeness of ethical practice of

journalism. One thing that is obvious to all today is the widespread criticism concerning

the corruption that exists in journalism practice, though it could be argued also that this is

the case in the society at large.

Criticism of journalists from virtually every member of the society has been more or less

the order of the day. The bad journalist and indeed almost all journalists have become the

scapegoats of every Nigerian from the politician to the preacher. Journalists are being

cast as corrupt, social villains who are disseminating superficial, trivial, negative and

sensational information harmful to the health of the country’s nascent democracy. Even

where the role of the Nigerian journalist in the chequered history of the country is

acknowledged positively, the smear of corruption and ineptitude-ness of many reporters

have tended to become the albatross of the media.

This situation is similar across the globe. John Merrill [1997: 1-2] said that numerous

surveys in recent years concerning media and society in the USA had shown that the

public has little faith in, or respect for, the press. He pointed out that it is not so much that

the people dislike the media; they seem to have affection for them in a general sense, but

that increasingly they do not believe them and they are also complaining about their

insensitivity, arrogance and general bad behaviour.

Similarly, Richard Keeble [2001:3-6] mentions the ‘moral panic over the media’ in

Britain and more or less all of Europe over the ‘dumbing down’ and ‘tabloidization’ of

4
news and information and cites a motion signed by 46 British members of parliament

which ‘deplored the steep decline in serious reporting and analysis of politics and current

affairs in the UK, and notes that this decline has gathered pace in recent times with

increasing emphasis on personalities rather than policies and on trivia rather than

substance’.

In the UK public opinion places journalists at the bottom of 15 professional groups in

terms of credibility rating and berates the way in which all news are being presented in

the format of ‘congenial adjuncts of show business and ‘fickle orgasmic sensationalism’.

Festus Adedayo in an article he wrote in the Nigerian Tribune newspaper cited a social

commentator who referred to journalists as ‘a group of professionals slightly worse than

hired assassins’. [Nigerian Tribune, 5-11-2001]

Dan Agbese, himself a journalist, confirms that certain breaches of the professional code

of ethics are obvious in the Nigerian journalistic practice and identifies such practices as

‘brown envelope’, ‘daily returns to editors’, and conflict of interest as examples. [ Post

Express, 28-2-2001]

Another journalist, Dayo Aiyetan, said that “once vibrant and independent, the Nigerian

mass media is gradually transforming into a behemoth of corruption, a situation which

threatens the capacity of the media to report the truth objectively and perform its

constitutional role of making the government accountable to the people”.

All these criticisms, both from within and without of the media, underpin the need for a

more ethical media and the readiness of practitioners to start a process of ethical house

cleaning that would enhance and diminish the morality and credibility gap.

5
The erosion of media credibility extends to all media, print and broadcast, and there

seems to be a growing sense of guilt and despair within the profession.

The result is that there ought to be a growing media ethical sensitivity and a new

emphasis on ethical responsibility.

The media needs to be responsible and to care more about ethical dimensions of its

practices and try to remedy their excesses and moral lapses. For a long time, the media

has pummeled the other parts and personalities in the society as the watchdog, and has set

itself up as a paragon of virtue but those days are over. The media, itself, has been caught

in the moral undercurrent within the society. It has been sinking in the quicksand of time

and it is now basking in the spotlight of the public sphere and should prompt journalists

to clean their acts, otherwise its claim to being the watchdog of the society would be

seriously undermined and diminished.

ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE

There is no doubt that there is a connection between excellent journalism practice and

ethical journalism. The daily practice in the field presents an ethical turf in which good

ethical decision making ought to be learned and utilized.

It is the belief of this writer that good ethical practice is a craft and a skill comparable to

good writing, good editing or good reporting, and that ethics ultimately results in

professional excellence. This position is supported by most media ethicists, some of

whom include, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, John C. Merrill, Louis A. Day and Jay Black

and his colleagues. [Akinfeleye, 2003: 39-41; Black, Steele, and Barney, 1999: 2-4]

In what ways can ethics enhance professionalism? When journalists embrace, and learn

how to do ethics they end up developing values and attitudes that enables them to make

6
good ethical judgments that may lead to excellent practices based on such moral premises

as, fairness, equity, justice, dignity and integrity.

Such moral premises are fundamental to human values extolled by a large segment of

society. Values, moral values, are the building blocks of attitudes, that is, the ‘learned

emotional, intellectual, and behavioural responses to persons, things, and events’.

Attitudes about morality are packages of values comprising of the individual’s feelings,

thoughts, and actions, and they are important to the extent that they form the foundations

upon which the individual’s moral behaviour are based. The individual’s moral behaviour

conforms with his or her actions whether professional or otherwise and also forms the

foundation of institutional and professional standards of conduct. Institutions or

professions do not behave morally or otherwise, it is people who do.

Being ethical involves moral reasoning that utilizes moral and ethical principles to guide

one’s actions, especially, when one is faced with ethical dilemmas, for example, on the

job. In this way ethics becomes a critically important contributor to excellent professional

practice. [Day, 1991: 9-16]

THE ETHICAL STATE OF THE NIGERIAN MEDIA

It has been asserted that Nigeria has the largest press community in Africa and a survey

dated 1999 puts the number of regular newspapers at 78, magazines at 45, television

stations at 52, and radio stations at 31. Furthermore, since this date, several more

newspapers and magazines have been established and many radio and television stations

had been commissioned under the umbrella of the Nigerian Television Authority [NTA]

by the Obasanjo government. As the political turf heats up due to the forthcoming

elections in 2007, more newspapers and magazines are expected even though such

7
publications may not be more than electioneering campaign journals that will predictably

get off the streets as soon as the elections are over. [ Olukotun, 2004:9-10]

In discussing about the media capacity in Nigeria, Olukotun [2004:10] pointed out the

place of the vernacular papers, a genre that has become increasingly assertive and popular

on the streets, most especially, in the southwest and perhaps in the north.

Even though the Nigerian media may be the most virile in the continent, in terms of

ethical practice there are varied perspectives as to the situation. However, everyone

agrees that there exist a lot of ethical lapses generally in the media. The various shades of

opinion only differ as to the extent of such lapses.

Dayo Aiyetan[2002:32] portrays the situation by saying that the media in Nigeria today is

more unethical than what obtained in the past, the media’s glorious epoch being the years

of military rule. According to Aiyetan, the media in Nigeria is ‘afflicted by a cancer,

which not only threatens its credibility but also its capacity to perform its constitutional

roles’. The cancer of course is corruption which has extended to such an extreme that

today journalists who hitherto used to be highly respected by the Nigerian public, are

now ‘treated with general scorn’ and are ‘derisively likened to the policeman at illegal

roadblocks who extorts money from drivers’.

Supporting this position above, Festus Adedayo [2001:12] writing in the Nigerian

Tribune, said, ‘the ethical imperatives of accuracy, balance and objectivity which the

granddads of journalism like Herbert Macaulay, Chief Babatunde Jose, Chief Alade

Odunewu and others handed down, have taken flight. The situation is so sickening today

that various degrading epithets like “hired assassin”, “news contactors” and sundry others

have come to be affixed on the Nigerian media practitioner’.

8
Reverend Father Matthew Kukah, writing on the public perception of the press in

Nigeria, epitomizes the press for it roles in colonial and post-colonial Nigeria but also

mentions the advent of ‘junk journalism’. He opines that this type of journalism is an

‘evidence of the depth of decadence into which the society had sunk’. [Dare and Uyo,

1996:132-136]

Corruption and other ethical lapses have generally been identified in the Nigerian media

and have been indicated in various dimensions and practices such as, the ‘brown

envelope’ which refers to gratification accepted by the journalist in the course of duty,

daily returns to news editors from ‘lucrative’ beats, ‘headline journalism’ in which

headlines are manipulated to sensationalize so as to sell the paper, invasion of privacy

especially by soft sell magazines that concoct or sensationalize stories of public officials

and celebrities, plagiarism, ‘media consultancy’ in which senior journalists work as

public relations agents of political big wigs even when the journalists are still employed

in the media, and ‘blackmail journalism’ which had been especially linked with the ‘beat

associations’. Other ethical issues that have been associated with the Nigerian media

include, ‘junk journalism’ which describes a paper’s penchant for sleazy, lurid and

sensational stories, sycophancy, character assassination, self-censorship, conflicting

interest, ethnicity, and undue interference of media owners on news published. [ Okunna,

1995:47-53; Aiyetan, 2002:32-35; Adedayo, 2001:12; Dan Agbese, 2001:7; Oduyela,

2005:1-3]

In a study done by the author, it was found that Nigerian journalists are generally strongly

disposed positively to being objective, fair and truthful, but they may not see these values

being compromised even when they accept gifts or privileges in the course of duty.

9
For instance, most journalists polled in the study say that they could accept gifts, even

money, but that they would still go ahead and do the right thing afterwards.

Secondly, the study found that Nigerian journalists have generally internalized their

professional codes, though their commitments to such codes could be compromised by

some of them if their work environment is not motivating enough, and that the main

hindrance to journalists’ commitment to the ethical codes is poor pay or poor conditions

of work.[Kayode, 2006:12-15]

Another factor responsible for unethical practices is the drive for money and material

acquisition which has forced many journalists and news organizations to go outside their

purview, awarding questionable awards and to individuals who probably are willing to pay for

such honours.

The Nigerian media situation can be seen as that of a virile widespread national media in which

corruption and ethical lapses have been found more or less due to the influence of societal

corruption and moral/ material decadence as well as the poor work conditions of journalists.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL AND ETHICAL BASE OF THE NIGERIAN MEDIA

The media has come a long way in Nigeria since the establishment of the first newspaper in

1859, but its constitutional base can be traced from the 1960 constitution which provided for

freedom of expression under section 24 then, but became section 25 in the 1963 constitution.

In the 1979 constitution, there emerged, apart from the freedom of expression, a provision that

gave a responsibility to the press to monitor governance and this provision has been retained

since then. The 1999 constitution which is currently in operation provides in section 22 the

duty of the press to hold government accountable to the people and in section 39 freedom of

expression and mode of media ownership. [ Momoh, 2004:50-59]

10
The ethical base of the Nigerian media could also be traced starting from a failed move in 1962

by the Guild of Editors to produce a code of ethics and the ratification of a code of ethics in

1998 by the Nigerian Press Organization which is made up of the Newspaper Proprietors

Association of Nigeria [NPAN], the Nigerian Guild of Editors [NGE], and the Nigeria Union

of Journalists [NUJ]. [Odunewu, 2000:126]

The media ferment that resulted in the 1998 code of ethics for journalists started from 1964

when the clamour for a press council and a media self-accounting mechanism was raised in

parliament. By 1996 the Federal Government took the decision to set up the Ekineh

Committee on the future of the press in Nigeria. The Chairman of the Ekineh Committee was

Aliyi Ekineh and other members were Lateef Jakande, Adamu Ciroma, G.B.A Akinyede,

Ibrahim Imam and A.G.S Momodu as secretary.

From this time on there was uproar, negotiations, and stalemate over press regulations and the

nature and role of a press council. And after two failed attempts, the Nigerian Press Council

was inaugurated in December 29, 1992. Subsequently, the Nigerian Press Council held a

National Workshop in 1996 in collaboration with the NUJ, NGE, which reviewed the old code

that was developed earlier by the NPO in 1979 and later the NPC organized the Ilorin forum

from where the current code of ethics was ratified in 1998.

The code of ethics for Nigerian journalists [1998] observes in its preamble that journalism

entails a high degree of public trust and to earn that trust the media needs to operate with the

highest professional and ethical standards, the cornerstone of which is truth diligently sought.

The provisions of the code of ethics include, editorial independence, accuracy and fairness,

respect of the privacy of the individual, observation of the principle of non disclosure of the

11
source of information, decency in dress and comportment, non discrimination due to ethnic,

religion, sex or handicap, avoidance of gratification or patronage to influence news reporting,

and non presentation of news report in such a way to glorify robberies, terrorism or vulgarity.

Other provisions of the code includes, being sensitive to news report of minors and children so

as to minimize hurt to them, open and honest means in news gathering otherwise except when

done in the public interest, social responsibility, plagiarism, copyright, and freedom of the

press.

The code also dealt with the issue of registration of journalists and asserts that only qualified

individuals who have undergone training in approved institutions are entitled to be registered,

especially, where they have shown good character, not been convicted for fraud or other such

crimes and must have attained the age of 18 years. Such individuals who have satisfied the

preceding requirements are entitled to a certificate of experience after they must have acquired

on-the-job experience. [Nigerian Press Council, 1998:10-25]

ETHICAL THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES

Simply put, ethics is the study of morality. Louis Day [1991:2-3] defines ethics as the

branch of philosophy that deals with the moral component of human life. It is the study of

rights and who is or should be benefited or harmed by an action.

Stoner and his coauthors [2002:107-109] defined ethics as the study of people’s rights

and duties, the moral rules that people apply in making decisions, and the nature of the

relationships among people. Another definition says that ethics are rules of conduct or

principles of morality that point us toward the right or best way to act in a situation.

[Dominick, 1996:434]

12
Alade Odunewu [2000:122] defines ethics as the study of standards of conduct and moral

judgment…… the system or code of morals of a particular profession, of a group, of

religion, etc.

Ethics is based on the Greek word ethos, meaning character or what a good person is or

does in order to have a good character. It deals with choosing among the good or bad

options that an individual faces. It may be seen as being concerned with that which holds

society or a profession together or provides stability and security essential to social or

professional cohesion. It involves thinking about morality, moral problems and moral

judgments. It deals with what obligations we owe or to responsibilities we have toward

our fellow humans, and what we should do to make the world a better place than we find

it.[ Black, Steele, and Barney, 1999:5]

It reflects a society’s or a professional group’s notions about rightness or wrongness of an

act and the distinctions between virtue and vice. It involves the evaluation and

application of those moral values that a society or professional group has accepted as its

norms.

The key ideas or concepts that make for a good understanding of the term ethics are:

values, rights, duties, rules or standards, relationships, and morality.

Values, or more precisely ethical values, are relatively permanent desires that seem to be

esteemed or regarded highly or good in and of themselves, like objectivity or fairness.

There are four influential sources of values: parents, peer groups, role models, and

societal institutions. All of these contribute to the moral development of the individual

through the process of socialization.

13
Rights are claims that entitle an individual the latitude to take certain actions subject to

his relationship with others. They are ‘spheres of autonomy’ or freedoms, upon which the

individual can act, though limited by such rights of other people, like freedom of

expression.

Duties are obligations to take specific actions. They are correlated with rights and they

are that which the individual is bound to perform in the course of his professional or daily

living, like gathering, reporting and interpreting information.

Rules and standards are guidelines upon which an individual acts and which provide

resolutions in the face of ethical dilemmas, like seeking and reporting the truth. Rules

often become internalized as values.

Relationships are connections of one individual to another in a web of mutuality. Every

one is connected to others in such a way that actions of an individual can lead to a

multiplier effect affecting one or more people.

Morality is the way or manner in which an individual behaves in line with socially

approved customs or practices. There is a common morality or body of moral rules and

standards governing the practice of journalism, such as would be found in the codes of

professional practice. [Stoner et al, 2002:110-112; Day, 1991:9-14]

The nature of ethics is such that all these concepts – values, rights, duties, rules,

relationships and morality - are interconnected in a complex entity upon which many

philosophers had deliberated over time.

Ethical theories or principles can be seen as ethical roads or maps of morality that point

the individual toward the right or best way to act in a particular situation.

14
Chinyere Stella Okunna [1995:9] defines an ethical theory as a principle put forward to

explain, describe, prescribe or predict human ethical behaviour. Over the years,

philosophers have developed several general ethical principles that serve as guidelines for

taking ethical decisions or for evaluating one’s behaviour.

According to John C. Merrill [1997:52], there are many such theories or principles and all

presumably lead to the same destination – ethical journalism. And journalists can be

ethical when they take decisions or act based on any of the ethical theories.

The reason there are many ethical theories is because there is no consensus among

philosophers on the precise criteria for taking ethical decisions and there are several

perspectives from which to determine morality. However, each of the theories is a

complete philosophical system from which an answer has been provided for the question:

‘what is the right thing to do?’ It is quite obvious that it would be difficult to provide a

perfect answer to such a question; hence the diversities of perspectives and theories.

In making a case for the need for journalistic ethics, Merrill [1997:1-26] identifies two

types of journalists: the libertarian journalist and the communitarian, and explains the

duality of perspectives based on the desires of each one to practice responsible

journalism.

The perspectives of libertarians and communitarians, both, give some indications as to

how journalists behaving on the basis of individual differences would likely adopt certain

specific ethical principles.

15
For instance, the libertarian journalist is likely to be inner-directed opting for principles

that emphasizes personal ethics whereas the communitarian is likely to be other-directed,

opting for civic transformation and professional codes. However, this duality in itself

may not prove very helpful concerning actual normative ethical standards that might be

used by the journalist.

To this end, Merrill [1997:55-74] propounds a binary way of looking at broad ethical

theories – pragmatic ethics and humanistic ethics.

There have been diverse ways of categorizing theories of ethics and there is a measure of

controversy about how many dominant theoretical approaches there are, but Merrill’s

typology has been based on the premise that all these theories can be placed under two

main categories – pragmatic and humanistic.

PRAGMATIC ETHICS

This category of journalistic ethics considers the focus of all journalistic endeavours as

the investigation and reporting of the truth so that people are given forthright and full-

disclosure of the day’s event as much as possible. The premise is that the job of the

journalist is to provide as truthful an account as possible and that the end may justify the

means; thus, it may be that unconventional ethical means could be used.

Merrill [1997:58-60] considers this a Machiavellian but pragmatic morality in which the

end justifies the means. This is also a teleological perspective in which consideration of

consequences and professionalism is deemed paramount.

For instance, a reporter who deceives a difficult source to unearth a story may be

considered to have done the right thing or at least, the professionally expedient thing.

16
HUMANISTIC ETHICS

Merrill [1997:62-63] explains that this category of ethics is focused on either self

improvement of the journalist or on a concern for others, especially, sources and

audiences. It can be divided into three main sub-categories: deontological, or “duty to

principle” ethics; teleological, or “consequence ethics”; and personalist, or “non-rational,

subjective ethics”.

Deontological Ethics

Deontologists (derived from the Greek Deon or duty) are sometimes referred to as ‘non-

consequentialists’ because they emphasize acting on principle or according to certain

universal morality without much regard to the consequences of their actions. They follow

maxims that have been acquired from religion, reason, universal norms, moral mentors or

employers. Their main focus is that the ends do not justify the means rather there are

absolute principles that must be adhered to. There is an emphasis on the intent or motive

rather than the ends. The most famous deontologist is the philosopher Immanuel Kant

(1724-1804).

A deontologist journalist would not subscribe to using deception in ferreting out a story

because to him, the end does not justify the means. In the same vein, he will be obliged to

tell it as it is even if some people are hurt because he is committed to telling the truth.

Teleological Ethics

The teleological theory postulates that it is the consequence of an action that ought to

determine the morality. Thus, it is called consequence-based theories in that the ethically

correct decision or action is the one that produces the best consequence.

17
Teleologists, unlike deontologists, do not ask whether a particular practice is right or

wrong based on certain specific principles they hold to, but whether it will lead to good

results. Thus the journalist who is a teleologist would want to take the action that would

result in good consequences to the person deemed most important in a particular

situation.

There are variations of teleology. At one extreme are the egoists, who believe that the

journalist should seek to maximize good consequence for himself; at the other extreme

are the utilitarian who believe that one should promote that which is good to the greatest

number of people. The person best known for this version of this theory is the nineteenth-

century British philosopher John Stuart Mill.

When journalists appeal to the public interest in justifying their actions they are acting as

utilitarian. In the same vein when a journalist acts in such way as to minimize hurt to a

third party such as a source or audience it is also utilitarian.

Personalist Ethics

The personalist justifies actions on the basis of some kind of feeling or insight that are

intuitive, spiritual or emotive. For the most part, personalists are non-rational; they would

rely on conscience or other such transcendental parameters. Journalists who follow this

path may rely on their religious convictions in making ethical decisions.

This school of ethics is best exemplified through philosophers such as C.S. Lewis or

Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard.

Another aspect of ethical principles are the virtue theories best articulated by Aristotle’s

golden mean which says that the proper way of behaving lies between doing too much

and doing too little. In other words, moderation is the key to morality.

18
Virtue theories are directed at the building of moral character and the premise that

virtuous conduct involves learning to avoid the extreme in any given situation.

Examples of golden mean are often found in the media, when news organizations cover

riots and disasters and try to exercise moderation or restraint in the report so as not to

inflame public sensibilities.

NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES AND ETHICAL CHALLENGES

There is no doubt that the new technologies are impacting on the practice of journalism such

that today a wide array of possibilities are emerging in the way journalists investigate, research

and write stories as well as produce content either on television, radio or the press.

The possibilities that are emerging are not without their various ethical consequences, and in

some areas these consequences are quite novel that legal implications are as yet without

precedence and ethical implications are at best hazy and controversial.

In the area of investigative journalism, technology has made possible the use of hidden cameras

and tape recorders. Should a journalist use these gadgets so long as it enhances the investigative

capabilities? The ethically pragmatic journalists would answer in the positive and argue that

every thing ought to be done to get at and publish the truth because of integrity and the public’s

right to know. On the other hand, the ethically humanistic journalist may answer in the negative

arguing that these gadgets are instruments of deception and the invasion or intrusion of

people’s privacy. Should undercover reporting be accepted as a standard in journalism? Are

there any ways in which deception, and or intrusion be justified in practice? Are there ways that

hidden cameras and tape recorders are used responsibly?

The Society of Professional Journalists and the Poynter Institute of Media Studies have

provided some kind of ethical guidelines for the use of hidden cameras and tape recorders and

19
they say that such gadgets can be used where the information obtainable is of profound

importance, or where there are no other ways of obtaining information, or when the good

resulting from the use far outweighs the hurt caused by the act of deception.

These guidelines stated above, profound as they sound, still leave the ethical dilemma to the

personal ethics of the individual journalist and his subjective definitions of the context in which

the gadgets are used. These are some of the ethical dialectics that are emerging as a result of

the impact of technology on news investigation and reporting. [Lissit, 1997:111-115]

Another aspect of this discussion is the ethical dimensions of computer assisted journalism.

Computer-assisted journalism, refers to the use of the computer by journalists not only for

gathering materials for reporting stories but also for more far reaching research through online

or internet databases, to gather facts and records from governmental and other agencies as well

as other sources, to analyze those records, and to use such analysis as background for writing

news stories and in-depth reports. [Roat and Gotthoffer, 2001:31-35; Callahan, 2003:1-18]

The main ethical dilemma concerning computer-assisted journalism is the credibility of

information and facts accessed on the internet. According to Callahan [2003:19-32] the

stunning growth of the internet has provided journalists with unprecedented reporting

opportunities, and unprecedented peril. This is because of the proliferation of ‘rumours and

misinformation on the internet’.

One of the things that makes the internet so appealing is that anyone can pull off the net so

much of information, but the other side of the coin is that anyone can also put anything on-line.

The internet has both useful and truthful information as well as trash and idle gossip, and many

reporters using it have no clue as to which is which. The internet has no gatekeepers therefore

information on it may be untruthful while it carries a seemingly authoritativeness usually

20
ascribed to the written word. This calls to question the ethical value of using information culled

from the internet. Internet sources must be evaluated for their integrity and journalists would do

well not to believe all information gotten on-line. A healthy skepticism is imperative here when

quoting or culling from the net.

Another aspect of the ethical dimensions of new media technology is the fact that the internet

itself has become a haven for people to publish whatever they deem fit for public consumption.

Any one with a little bit of computer knowledge can create a website either by himself or

through the help of a professional webmaster and provide information on the World Wide Web,

like any of the well known and well organized news media organizations or other such social

institutions. The freedom to publish on-line by just about anybody, laudable as it is, can be

grossly abused and has been so done through the availability of objectionable material, such as

racist literature and obscene literature and pictures.

Today hard core pornography can be accessed almost without any hindrance by anyone

including the adolescents, teenagers and children. While some believe that such obscene

material should be banned, others believe that the materials should be restricted and made

unavailable to minors.

Opponents argue that banning any materials violate the right to free speech and that the express

freedom now enjoyed by the Web should not be curtailed in any way. [ Shelly, Cashman,

Vermaat and Walker, 1999:14.23-14.27]

Today’s technology of digital photography has also brought about better production

possibilities as well as ethical problems through digital retouching of photographs and

animation.

21
Digitalization is quite a laudable technological breakthrough in print and broadcast journalism

resulting in crispier pictures, sharper and fuller colours, and better shots can be achieved than

used to be possible. However, the other side of the coin is the capability to retouch photographs

such that they can be manipulated to show pictures in whatever way desired by the skillful

reporter.

In other words, technology has made the adage ‘pictures don’t lie’ false – photographs can now

be manipulated such that pictures can now lie. To retouch photographs especially with a view

to distort information on them is unethical and journalists should be discouraged from such a

practice.

Another aspect of this is the capabilities made available through animation. While animation

has resulted in greater possibilities for film and cinematography as well as for television

commercials, it has also made possible the abuse of falsifying images with its attendant ethical

implications.

By and large, new media and communication technologies have brought hitherto unimaginable

possibilities and capabilities to the practice of journalism and so have they brought hitherto

unheard of ethical problems.

CONCLUSION

Media ethics is a complex topic. The issues are so variable that there often appears to be no

recourse but to handle them one at a time as they arise and this seems to be what journalists do

that make them susceptible to the ferments that follow on the trails of ethical issues.

22
Journalists who study ethics for the first time are often disappointed to find that the theories and

principles can not give clear directives upon which they can solve everyday on-the-job ethical

dilemmas.

The best everyone can do is to reach a better self understanding and a moral reasoning process

that can be applied as one comes face to face with the realities of the job. Journalists should be

able to see more clearly the connections between their morality and the ethical judgments they

make.

In the ethos of journalism, there are two kinds of codes. One kind is written by a professional

body such as the NPO, is made public, and fairly honestly represents how journalists think they

ought to behave. The other kind is unwritten, hidden sometimes from the consciousness of

journalists themselves, but more powerful in its influence on the practice.

Professional practice would be better enhanced when the external codes have been largely

internalized by individual journalists to create for each one, his or her own personal ethics.

Journalism is one profession that can only be practiced excellently only when it is anchored on

clear moral and ethical moorings. Also, every democratic society confers some level of social

reasonability on the media and this has always resulted in the public having certain

expectations of the journalist, as the fourth estate of the realm, which makes it imperative for

every journalist to strive to live and practice above aboard.

23
References

Alade Odunewu (2000), Ethics of Journalism, in History of the Nigerian Press Council,
Lagos: Nigerian Press Council.

Ayo Olukotun. (2004). Media Accountability and Democracy in Nigeria, 1999-2003, in

African Studies Review, Vol.47, No.3 (December 2004).

Chinyere Stella Okunna (1995), Ethics of Mass Communication, Enugu: New Generation
Books.

Clifford Christians and Michael Traber, eds. (1997), Communication Ethics and Universal
Values, London: Sage Publications.

Christopher Callahan (2002), A Journalist’s Guide to the Internet: The Net as a Reporting
Tool, 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson Education Inc.

Computer-Assisted Journalism: journalists Resource Guide on HIV/AIDS, Family

Planning, Reproductive Health & Sexual Rights, (2003) Lagos: Development Communication
Network.

Dan Agbese (2001), Ethics in the Press: An Insider View, in the Post Express, 28/2/2001.

Dayo Aiyetan (2002), Corruption in the Media, in the Tell, May 6, 2002.

Dennis McQuail (2000), McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory, 4th ed. London: Sage
Publications.

Ford Risley (1998), Ethics, in Christopher Harper (and the Indiana Group), Journalism 2001,
Madison: CourseWise Publishing.

Festus Adedayo (2001), Ethics and the Media, in the Tribune, 5/11/2001.

Gary B. Shelly, Thomas J. Cashman, Misty E. Vermaat and Tim J. Walker (1999), Discovering
Computers 2000: Concepts for a Connected World, Cambridge: International Thomson
Publishing Company.

James A.F Stoner, R. Edward Freeman, and Daniel R. Gilbert, Jr. (2002), Management, 6th ed.
New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India.

John C. Merrill (1997), Journalism Ethics: Philosophical Foundations for News Media, New
York: Bedford/ St. Martins.

J. Herbert Altschull (1995), Agents of Power: The Media and Public Policy, 2nd ed. New
York: Longman Publishers.

24
Jay Black, Bob Steele, and Ralph Barney (1999), Doing Ethics in Journalism: A Handbook
with Case Studies, 3rd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Joseph R. Dominick (1999), The Dynamics of Mass Communication, 6th ed. Boston:
McGraw-Hill College.

Jimi Kayode. (2006). Ethics and Professional Practice of Journalism in Nigeria. Accepted
for publication by the Nigerian Journal of Social Research (NJSR), Nasarawa State
University, Keffi, Nigeria.

Lanre Idowu (1996), Ethical Crises In the Nigerian Press: A Socio-economic Review, in
Olatunji Dare and Adidi Uyo, eds. Journalism in Nigeria: Issues and Perspectives, Lagos:
Nigeria Union of Journalists, Lagos State Council.

Louis A. Day (1991), Ethics in Media Communications: Cases and Controversies, Belmont,
California: Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Melvin Mencher (1993), Basic Media Writing, 4th ed. Madison: WCB Brown & Benchmark.

Matthew Hassan Kukah (1996), Public Perception of the Press In Nigeria, in Olatunji Dare
and Adidi Uyo, eds. Journalism in Nigeria: Issues and Perspectives, Lagos: Nigeria Union
of Journalists, Lagos State Council.

Nigerian Press Organization. (1998). Code of Ethics for Nigerian Journalists. Abuja: NPC.

Paul Johnson (1997), The Media and Truth: Is There a Moral Duty? In Mass Media, Annual
Edition 97/98, Guilford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.

Philip Meyer (1987), Ethical Journalism: A Guide for Students, Practitioners, and
Consumers, New York: Longman Publishers

Richard Keeble (2001), Ethics for Journalists, London: Routeledge.

Ronald Roat and Doug Gotthoffer (2001), Mass Communication on the Net (2001 edition),
Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Ralph A. Akinfeleye (2003), Fourth Estate of the Realm or Fourth Estate of the Wreck:
Imperative of Social Responsibility of the Press, (Inaugural Lecture Series) Lagos: University
of Lagos Press.

Robert Lissit (1997), GOTCHA! In Mass Media, Annual Edition 97/98, Guiford, CT:
Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.

Seyi Oduyela, The Media In Nigeria – Part 1, serosa1966 @ yahoo.com. June1, 2005.

25
Stephen P. Robbins (2001), Organizational Behaviour, 9th ed. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of
India.

Sean MacBride, ed. (1980), Many Voices, One World, Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press &
UNESCO.

Stanley J. Baran (2004), Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture,
3rd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

26