Ethics And Journalism

Ethics & Journalism KAREN SANDERS Ethics & Journalism Ethics & Journalism KAREN SANDERS London SAGE Publications Thousand Oaks • New Delhi • © Karen Sanders, 2003 First Published 2003 Reprinted 2004 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers. SAGE Publications Ltd I Oliver's Yard, 55 City Road London EC1 Y I SP SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B-42 Panchsheel Enclave PO Box 4109 New Delhi 100 017 British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 7619 6966 7 ISBN 0 7619 6967 5 (pbk) Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 2002104220 Typeset by Mayhew Typesetting, Rhayader, Powys Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cromwell Press Ltd., Trowbridge, Wiltshire For my parents, Terence and Dolores Sanders. Contents Acknowledgements List of tables x Xl 1 Ethics and journalism? The reporting bestiary: Watchdogs, vultures and gadflys The hack's progress Skills and knowledge Why j ournalism matters Journalism as story-telling Comfortable bed-fellows 1 1 3 5 8 9 10 2 Thinking about ethics What is ethics? The Aristotelian tradition Natural Law tradition Humean sentiment Kant and the categorical imperative Bentham, Mill and Utilitarianism Modern approaches Objecting to ethics Concluding thoughts 14 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 24 3 Virtue ethics The temptations that journalists are heir to Ethical approaches to journalism Virtue ethics The education of the emotions Acting virtuously Why act virtuously? Key features of virtue ethics Professional and occupational goals 27 4 Lying to tell a story The value of truth Truth and truthfulness Lying and deception Lying and the public interest 40 40 41 46 47 5 Faking it Seeing and believing 54 27 29 32 35 35 37 37 38 53 ETHICS AND JOU RNALISM 6 7 8 9 10 11 Breaking trust The mendacious medium Restoring trust 58 59 60 Freedom's scope 63 Understanding freedom Freedom of expression Freedom of the press Avoiding harm Freedom, truth and goodness Undermining human dignity Being free and responsible 63 66 67 69 71 72 74 What is privacy? Protecting privacy Death in Paris Making the private public Private lives and public figures Public interest and public good Private lives and public interest 77 77 80 82 85 86 90 Death, disease and destruction 93 Suffering, compassion and pity Coverage of suffering Death and disaster Domestic tragedy Picture power 'Only connect' 94 95 96 100 101 103 Liaisons Dangereuses: reporters and sources Reporters and sources Trust and confidentiality Types of sources 107 107 109 114 Conflicts of interest 120 121 122 124 125 126 The bottom line 128 129 130 131 135 137 Intentions and motives Bribes, j unkets and freebies Financial j ournalism Puffery and suppression Personal views Chasing the market Concentrating ownership The product's integrity The reporter's integrity 'Ethical efficiency' viii