To generate discussion on the unique ethical issues that confront journalism in Asia, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and the Asia Media Forum (AMF) launched a blog site on journalism ethics last Jan. 30.
The site, Eye on the Asian Media: Asia Media Forum (http://www.eyeonethics.org), will feature stories and analyses on ethical issues facing journalism in Asia—a region in turmoil and change as well as stability and progress. Readers may comment on the articles as well as contribute to encourage dialogue. The site also contains various journalism codes of ethics across the continent and links to other media ethics resources.
Original content will be uploaded monthly in the site, which is edited by CMFR deputy director and UP journalism professor Luis V. Teodoro.
For its maiden issue, The Jakarta Post chief editor Endy Bayuni analyzes whether peace journalism could have eased the transition of East Timor to independence. Hector Bryant L. Macale, assistant editor of the CMFR’s flagship media-monitoring publication the Philippine Journalism Review Reports (PJR Reports), focuses on the blurring of the line between news and advertising: Is it really a choice between “old-fashioned ethics” and “rationalized profit”?
Taking a cue from the Nov. 29 siege at a hotel in Manila’s financial district, CMFR staffwriter Don Gil K. Carreon asks another timely question for journalists: Which should take precedence for journalists, the presumably lawful orders of the authorities, or the public’s right to information?
“While the ethics of journalism has evolved enough to be in many ways universal in character and application (truth-telling, for example, is among journalism’s universally accepted ethical principles),” Teodoro writes about the site. “There is at the same time a specificity to the circumstances in which they are practiced which complicate and affect the application of principles in decision-making. To what extent, for example, is trial by publicity avoidable in societies where the justice system is failing, and where only press exposure often makes the difference between wrong doers’ being brought to court or escaping prosecution?”
CMFR is a Philippine based non-profit organization promoting press freedom and advocating professionalism and ethics among media practitioners.
AMF is a network of journalists from across Asia to share insights on issues relating to media and their profession, as well as stories, information and opinions on democracy, development and human rights in the region.
Readers are encouraged to visit the site http://www.eyeonethics.org. Comments and contributions are highly welcome.
3 comments:
whooo! project nya yan! project nya yan!
i like the idea for this project. teodoro was my teacher in college and i respect him very much. having him edit the main posts is a good decision. i will visit that new blog later :).
when i was covering the banking sector for businessworld more than 10 years ago, i stumbled on information that would make a big bank close down. it was difficult for me to decide whether to write the story and let small pnb depositors and government retirees lose their money, all for the sake of truth-telling...
i'm expecting some pretty good discussion trail in CMFR's new blog.
Thanks Salve. =)
That sure was a tough spot to be in. As for me, I'd probably consult my editors and a number of colleagues first before I decide and hopefully I can come up with is the right one.
I hope that you could share that experience in the site sometime. It would be very interesting to know how other journalists would act in such a situation.
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