MEDIA LAW ASSIGNMENT – REPORT ON MEDIA ETHICS

ARYAN KHAN

1342

7TH SEMESTER

The term ethics corresponds to the Greek word ethos meaning character, customs, usage or
habit. Ethics has been described as a moral philosophy. The word moral comes from the
Latin word mores which signifies customs or habits. Ethics can be defined as the
philosophical treatise which studies human behaviour from the view point of rectitude. It is
not only the study which says that human behaviour should or should not be, but more than
that it is also the study of norms and principles which should guide us in choosing what is
right and put them in to practice in daily life. Thus ethics is both theoretical and practical
study and is both a speculative and normative science. The application this ethic in the field
of media is known as media ethics.

Importance of Ethics in Media

As ethics discusses the human voluntary acts such as their habits and customs. There must be
some norms and principles to constitute the rightness and wrongness of this acts. The notion
of right and wrong is meaningless without any reference to the idea of highest good. In the
same way in relation to media ethic has its own norms and principles as a reference point for
the people those who are working in the field of media The growth of the mass media of
communication is having a profound effect on manners and morals. The different means of
communications such as newspaper, radio, television, films and other social networks like
Facebook, twitter, instagram etc. have been used by powerful groups to serve their special
interest or to influence the attitude and thinking of the people. It is true that we have some
excellent means of such communications as an instruments for the good as well as for evil.
Most of the knowledge we gain is through these means of communications. They form and
also affect our attitudes in the society. Thus media plays a vital role in the formation of the
society. Thus the need of ethics in the field of mass communication is more important.

Scope of Ethics in Media

The concern for being ethical is the starting point of ethics. Ethics in media as a science of
morality discussed the rightness and wrongness of human actions in media. Human actions
here means the voluntary actions, the distinction between the voluntary and non-voluntary
acts of a journalists. The main scope of ethic in the field of media is to protect the public from
unethical performance and the media from unreasonable public demand. They provide a
reference point that can be used to protect people working in media from internal pressure
and external pressure that could free them to violate their own conscience. These ethics
sharpens the focus on ethical issue that people in all branches of the media must face
regularly. It also provide them the context for media practitioners to discuss on their
responsibilities and obligations. It also encourages the people to seek the true value of means
of communications. It always tries to answer the questions such as: What values are most
worthwhile? Why one should act better than the other? Therefore the scope of ethic in media
is to study and attempts to stimulate the moral sense, to discover the true values of life.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Freedom of expression is the first adjustment to everyone gives the mass media a breathing
room to make their own decisions to be responsible and irresponsible.9But if their decisions
are seen as continually irresponsible, the result has often been public pressure to limit the
media’s freedom. Every media person will agree that freedom and responsibility are
important for the mass media to function properly in the society. The freedom of expression
and the responsible exercise of that freedom must be carefully looked into. However there
will be always people who abuse the protected freedom of expression. Because for them it is
just doing business in the society that values the right to express oneself freely. So the right of
expression should be protected against all unethical movements. As we connect the ethical
conduct with the freedom of expression it does not worry about the limitations of freedom of
expression is permissible but rather it searches where to draw line and how far to extend the
regulations and who gets to make those decisions.

Limits on Free Expressions

It is true that every nation, every country has its own limits and regulations on the exercise of
free expressions. Such limitations restrain a journalist in publishing which are directly
provoke the violence and which also threaten the nation security.Because the media is the
quickest means to reach people. The rules has made clear that certain types of speech are not
protected by the free expression act such as publishing details about troop or movements in
wartime. But, other exceptions would include restrictions on offensive speech or on so-called
fighting words that could probably stimulate violence or criminal actions. And the news
media are almost always subject to laws of common applicability that is, laws that apply to
everyone but that do not single out the press for special duties or punishment. For example,
laws that prohibit the interception of telephone conversations without permission apply to
journalists as much as they do to corporations. But even these exceptions are tempered by a
strong tradition that there always will be a belief against any government attempt to choke the
free press. Journalists have very important responsibilities so they cannot express in
publishing or broadcasting unhealthy public opinions for their own selfish motives. It must
not affect the nation’s culture and arts. For example: In a democratic society the people are
given the ultimate power to decide and they retain that power even when a large majority of
the people think the decisions are wrong. The remedy for such dangerous political decisions
is to convince enough people to make right decisions next time. In this the media has to be
sensitive because it does not has the freedom to interpreting the decisions as it wants because
those decisions have already cured by understanding its implications on the society. There is
also something called offensive communications.

INDIVIDUAL AND ETHICAL DECISIONS

In forming and ethical media the individual is more concentrated because individual are the
moral agents who is able to determine their own ethical criteria, directions, and behavior. As
individual a moral agent can influence the other people in the media. The collective decisions
made by men or women who work for mews and entertainment and other media flow from
the individual values. Often these individual values will align with other people and some
time they compete with them. During this competence of the majority will always win
whether it may that it is ethically right or wrong

Sources of Ethics

The values and kinds of ethical decisions media people and the public make are based on life
experience, education, and interaction with other social groups. Then when we come to an
journalist the experience, religious upbringing, family life, education and other behaviors
clearly says that the journalist don’t live or work in isolation. Thus the values which they
base their professional ethical choices are rooted in experience, including social experience.
Thus society becomes the source of ethics but it has to be filtrated by an individual who is
responsible for his own decisions. Men and women entering journalism must be a college
educated because the college level work both teaches and requires critical thinking, which is
very important in journalism.

Competence and Commitment

Every journalist should maintain five principles distinguishes ethical journalist and
journalism they are truth telling, justice, freedom, humaneness and stewardship. These clearly
gives the techniques that ethical journalist should use and the motivation for their work. They
must be encouraged to examine their motivations, their methods, and their work product. The
reporters and editors to ask tough questions about how they make decisions. And these
ethical precepts invite journalists both to consider other perspectives and to contemplate how
their decisions affect others. The broadly stated tradition of journalism appear to be simple
and clear cut but they are not. The pressure on the media include the pressure of time and
competitions as well as the adequate sources and information. Events may come up one after
the other and with little warning. Journalists try to make decision accurately but sometimes
even the best make poor decision. Such times a person should need the competence to face
and commitment to resolve it. So the individual values the decision making, but these
individuals often work with the other and final decisions are made by the other the authority.

External pressures on an Individual

Media has both entertainment and news media and is determined by a vast series of decisions
made by those working in the media, but it is tough to say that the individuals decision
makers are free to act based only on their own ethical values. It is true that the decisions of
the individuals in the media are heavily influenced and in some cases are dictated by various
political and social forces that operate the society.

Political Pressures

Although in democratic society media are basically free to operate without political
interference, the threat of the government regulation or influence certainly cannot be ignored.
Many media broadcasters still have not gone so far as to specify in writing or broadcasting
any controversial issues and people fairly. Politicians have their own media broadcasting
system and they try to pressurize the other media people by publishing the unfair news to the
society. Thus a media worker is made to indulge in unethical media activities.