ETHICAL ISSUES IN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
What is Ethics?
Ethics is a system of standards, principles, and values defining what is right in terms of professional conduct.
As medical doctors have ethical standards and lawyers have theirs, so do journalists.
In other words, ethics refers to the understanding among journalists about what is proper behavior.
From the Greek word ethica (root word ethos), meaning ‘custom’ or ‘behavior’ or ‘character’
Why the need for ethical standards?
Because unlike other professionals whose roles are more clearly defined, journalists have been left on their own to work out their roles and determine their ethics. (‘Doing Ethics in Journalism’, 1993)
Law ≠ Ethics
Ethics = ideal behaviors: what we ought to do in order to be moral individuals and professionals
Law = minimal standards: the bottom line, below which we should not fall
Why is ethics important?
Good investigative journalism =
Skills + Critical + Ethical
thinking decision-making
Pyramid of journalists’ competencies [The Poynter Institute 1998]
Ethical competence
Cultural and civic competence
Visual literacy, technological competence
News judgment, narrative and language, reporting skills
Basic ethical principles in journalism [Society of Professional Journalists]
Seek the truth and report it as fully as possible.
Act independently.
Minimize harm.
Be accountable.
How do journalists uncover the truth?
We’ve learned about the investigative trails: The paper trail (documents); The human trail (interviews, observations); The electronic trail
While doing all that, ethical considerations become most important in …
Methods
Relationship with sources
Accepting favors and/or money
Moonlighting
Privacy issues
Seek the truth and report it as fully as possible.
Journalists should …
Be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
Inform themselves so that they can competently inform the public.
Give voice to the voiceless.
Hold the powerful accountable.
Deception happens when a journalist uses deceptive methods, such as …
Misrepresentation (false identity)
Hidden camera / recorder
Entrapment
Undercover reporting
When is deception justified?
The information obtained is of profound importance and other ways of getting it have been tried
The journalists are willing to disclose the nature of the deception and the reason/s for it
The harm prevented by reporting that information outweighs any harm caused by the deception
The journalists invest time, effort, and resources to pursue the story fully. Meaning, that the deception is not a shortcut.
Deception is never justified when …
The motivation is to win a prize or beat (‘outscoop’) the competition
It is used as a short-cut to what should be a deliberate and thorough process
The journalist’s justification is that the subject is unethical anyway
These guidelines are not presented as absolutes …
But as a process for making the decisions.
These guidelines set the bar very high, forcing journalists to justify when it might be appropriate to “tell lies to get to the truth.” (Poynter Institute)
When deciding whether or not to use deception, you weigh …
The consequences of the deception on those being deceived
The impact on journalistic credibility
The motivations for your actions
The editorial policy/mission
The legal implications
(Robert Scheer, an American journalist who was with a radical publication in its anti-war heyday in the 1960s.)
“When you feel a story is important and there is no other way to get the information, then you use certain means.”
“I don’t mean to say that I’ve got some little calculus that allows you to make these judgments, a measuring stick that will tell you where it’s right or wrong. I think these
are tough questions.”
Strive to act independently.
Journalists should …
Be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know
Resist pressure from sources
Not accept bribes or other inducements
Pay their own way
From News for Sale, a 1998 PCIJ study on the corruption of the Philippine media:
When offered money by their sources, one of every three beat reporters admitted to taking it.
Many of them justified accepting money by saying they did not ask for it and that the sources did not ask for anything in return.
(The survey asked 100 reporters [69 from print & 31, broadcast]; covering ten major beats)
But ethical standards do not only speak about not accepting bribes and inducements. Ethical dilemmas can come in as well even without attempts at direct bribery.
Sources of journalists’ conflicts of interest
Involvement in particular activities
Affiliation with groups or causes
Acceptance of favors and money
Financial investments
Outside employment
Friendships
Minimize harm. Act with compassion.
Portray subjects as human beings deserving respect, not merely as means to your journalistic ends.
Keep sources confidential if that is what they demand.
Do not endanger sources.
Respect an individual’s right to her/his privacy.
Be accountable.
Abide by the same high standards to which you hold others.
Clarify and explain news coverage and invite dialog with the public over journalistic conduct.
Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
Expose unethical practices of journalists and the news media.
Using anonymous sources
Is the story important enough?
Does the source know the information first hand?
Is the information confirmed by a reliable second or third source?
Can I explain in the story the reason for the anonymity?
Would more reporting get the material on th record?
If the anonymous source is used, will the story still be accurate, complete, fair and balanced?
Does the source realize the consequences of revealing the information?
Will the reporter take all the risks to protect the source’s identity?
Can the story stand without this source?
Journalists who face ethical dilemmas are reminded to ask themselves …
What should we do in cases like this?
Who will be hurt and who will be helped?
Is there a better alternative?
Can I justify this to other people or to the public?
What principles or values can I apply.
