LECTURE #5 - IT’S A MATTER OF ETHICS WITH DR JOHN HARRISON

Lesson 5 – If it’s not ethical, it’s not journalism

WARNING: Some of the following material may offend some (sensitive) viewers

“Most (ethics) codes are not worth the PC they are written on….” – Dr. John Harrison.

This week it’s all about ethics, but whose ethics do we actually abide by – now that is the real question. As journalists our duty (in my opinion) is to remain factual, to tell the whole truth and to at all times respect the rights of others.

Without truth or some kind of ethical code what are we but glorified novelists? The public must have faith that the information given to them by the news media is both factual and fair and in order to provide this faith a strict code of ethics must be followed – but whose?

We’ve all seen the results caused when all journalistic ethics are ignored, just take a look at the News of The Worldscandal!

The global ‘rep’ of journalists has taken a substantial blow thanks to our good friend Rupert Murdoch and the explosive scandals that continue to develop from a lack of boundaries when it comes to sourcing information. But how do we tell if the end justifies the means, and who makes that call?

In order to make ethics plain and clear organisations develop codes that govern what they can and cannot do.

So, what codes of ethics are relevant to journalism?

·        MEAA CODE – Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance

·        PRIA CODE – Public Relations Institute of Australia

·        AANA CODE – Australian Associates of National Advertisers –

                                                                                     

Oh, and one other thing Dr. Harrison taught us about ethics codes? They are "crap".

He explained that a code of ethics is only as powerful as the sanctions behind it, and the willingness of the ‘code keepers’ to enforce those sanctions.

Ethical Theories:

1.   Deontology – Belief in rules, principles and theories e.g. You will do the ‘right thing’ by following these rules (all codes = deontological)

2.   Consequentialism (aka Teleology) – Getting a ‘good’ or ‘right’ outcomes matters most, the end may justify the means

3.   Virtue – Relating to the “goodness” or “happiness” of a person from good habits of character e.g. – courage, justice, temperance and prudence.

We also focused on distinguishing the “tacky” from the “unethical” in media, news and advertising. Here are a few examples that were used in the “Tacky or Tasteful, Ethical or Unethical’ debate, decide for yourself where you think these ads stand:

TACKY, UNETHICAL or SIMPLY EFFECTIVE?

1– Tourism Billboard

2 - A (banned) French ad that has raised international attention…

3 And the infamous Aussie, Sam Kekovich strikes again…

4 - I’m pretty sure that this ad raises a few tacky and ethical questions if not a law suit of some kind, but judge it for yourself…

5 - A finalist for a 2010 Superbowl competition in the US …

6 - This Australian tourism commercial made headlines around the world – but why the bloody hell is it considered unethical?

IN CONCLUSION, Dr. Harrison was an entertaining and informative speaker who caused me to think seriously about what limits journalists must set in order to remain unbiased and ethical. The main thing that I got out of this lecture was “codes” aside, values are what to trust when it comes to matters of ethics, trust your ‘gut’ - if you wouldn’t tell the world how you did something chances are that you shouldn’t be doing it.