Principles and the Role of the Media

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Copyright © 2020 by Nelson Mgeni.

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 Principles and the Role of the Media

PREFACE

This manual has been developed to assist LEVEL 5 ABMA Journalism students, but can also be
useful in other boards and levels. The manual is not a substitute for classes nor is it a ceiling for
students not to under-go independent research and study. Students are, therefore,
encouraged to attend classes for maximum understanding, insight and clear grasping of
subject matters expressed herein.

Enjoy, and not endure the reading.

Nelson Mgeni
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Contents

Introduction

Chapter One – Relationship between Theory and Practice

Chapter Two – Conceptual Frameworks relevant to understanding Journalism

Chapter Three – Subject Disciplines for Examining Journalism

Chapter Four – Normative Theories of the Press

Chapter Five – Theories of Objective Truth

Chapter Six – Media as the Construction and Reconstruction of Truth

Chapter Seven – Commercialised Media System and Impact on Journalism

Chapter Eight – Key Principles of Journalism

Chapter Nine – How Media Shapes Perceptions

Chapter Ten – New or Alternative Media and impact on Journalism Roles

Chapter Eleven – The Relationship between Media and Society

Chapter Twelve – Impact of Journalism on Politics

Chapter Thirteen – Power Relations and Transformative Potential of New Meia

Chapter Fourteen – Reporting of Humanitarian Issues

References

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 Principles and the Role of the Media

INTRODUCTION

Journalism is expected to perform certain functions in the society, but, at times, the
perceived role of the media would be faced with difficulties, not only from the legal and
political perspectives, but at times from theoretical underpinnings behind media systems. This
module will therefore focus on all forces behind media practice and systems, and theories
that justify such actions and presentation.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

UNIT AIM

This unit enables learners to understand the key philosophies, theories and principles of
journalism, the relationship between journalism and societies and the ways journalism is
changing. It also focuses on the relationship between local, national and international
journalistic activities.

UNIT OVERVIEW

This unit is for those considering careers in journalism and who wish to gain an understanding
of the principles and roles of journalism. The unit will equip learners with skills and knowledge
to examine the contribution of relevant theories and philosophies to journalistic practices
and key principles, especially the need for objectivity and responsible journalism. They will
analyze the purposes of journalism in different countries and the changing role and status of
journalism in contemporary society.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After successfully completing this unit, the learner will be able to:

 Evaluate the philosophies and theories of journalism

 Analyze the key principles of journalism

 Evaluate the relationship between journalism and societies

 Analyze the changing role of journalism

 Evaluate changing technology on the role of journalism

 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
1

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE

DEFINITIONS OF KEY WORDS

 THEORY - A coherent statement or set of ideas that explains observed facts or

phenomena, or which sets out the laws and principles of something known or
observed; a hypothesis confirmed by observation, experiment, etc.

 PRACTICE - Actual operation or experiment, in contrast to theory.

Largely, Theory is used to explain a certain phenomenon in a particular setting and should
address practical problems and that is why scholars like Creswell (2009) believed that the
main focus of theory is in its application. The relationship between practice and theory is
therefore reciprocal.

Extensively, theory is a hypothesis which, when tested repeatedly and proven, transforms into
practice. Practice is an application or a realization of a theory. Practice can be said as the
application of principles in a theory.

Some scholars have suggested theory is should be looked at as a model, or set of hypotheses
or assumptions and principles about reality – a sort of mental map. It is an internal
representation of the world. Practice, is what one does, such as “way of doing what one
does” as in, for example, professional practice, whereas theory is that which one is told to
follow when practice comes into play.

Therefore, practice refers to the actual observation, operation, or experiment. It is the

observation of different concepts (or a phenomenon) that needs explanation. A theory is a
proposed explanation of the relationship between two or more concepts, or an explanation
for how/why a phenomenon occurs.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Conclusively, what journalists do on the ground as a matter of practice, is a direct

representation of what has been stipulated in theoretical terms. Based on this, therefore, it
could be said that theory informs practice.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
2

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO UNDERSTANDING JOURNALISM

Journalism can be understood from different perspectives, other than from the theoretical
concepts that underpin this profession. The perspectives provide different approaches to
understanding journalism practice, by side-lining theoretical perspectives that scholars have
defined as principles that guide and should guide operations of journalists.

(a) Pragmatism

Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that began in the United States around 1870. Its origins
are often attributed to the philosophers William James, John Dewey, and Charles Sanders
Peirce. Peirce later described it in his pragmatic maxim: "Consider the practical effects of the
objects of your conception. Then, your conception of those effects is the whole of your
conception of the object.

Pragmatism considers thought or theory as an instrument or tool for prediction, problem

solving and action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought or theory is to describe,
represent, or mirror reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics such as the
nature of knowledge, language, concepts, meaning, belief, and science are all best viewed
in terms of their practical uses and successes. The philosophy of pragmatism emphasizes the
practical application of ideas by acting on them to actually test them in human
experiences. Pragmatism could therefore be said to focus on a changing universe rather
than an unchanging one.

Pragmatists generally believe that to understand something better, it is best to focus on its
practical application than its theoretical backing. In this case, pragmatists would say, to best
understand journalism, it would be helpful to focus on what journalists do on the ground than
what is expected of them to do (normative theory). They believe that, over time, and due to
factors surrounding the environment, things are bound to change and practitioners are likely
to do things differently from what is expected of them in theoretical terms.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

(b) Notion of Interpretive communities

Notions of interpretive communities are a theoretical concept stemming from reader-

response criticism and publicized by Stanley Fish. Fish's theory states that a text does not have
meaning outside of a set of cultural assumptions regarding both what the characters mean
and how they should be interpreted. This cultural context often includes authorial intent,
though it is not limited to it. Fish claims that we as individuals interpret texts because each of
us is part of an interpretive community that gives us a particular way of reading a text.
Furthermore, he claims, we cannot know whether someone is a part of our interpretive
community or not, because any act of communication that we could engage in to tell
whether we are part of the same interpretive community would have to be interpreted. That
is, because we cannot escape our interpretive community, we can never really know its
limits.

The idea has been very influential in reader-response criticism, though it has also been very
controversial. It is often interpreted as a relativistic standpoint that "words have no meaning,"
though this is not what Fish means. Quite the contrary, Fish is a staunch advocate of his own
readings of various texts. Rather, he means to point out that readings of a text are culturally
constructed.

Applicably, theorists who believe in this theory argue that, in trying to understand journalism,
it would be best to focus on what people say as interpretations or feedback to productions
by journalists.

The theory therefore makes an assumption that audiences are interpretive and active
individuals, capable of digesting content and producing their own feedback. A better
understanding as to what journalism in given societies would be to have an analysis of
audience feedback and interpretations, as they would give a picture of what journalism
does and is in such a society.

(c) Epistemology

Epistemology from Greek episteme, meaning 'knowledge', and logos, meaning 'logical
discourse is the branch of philosophy concerned with the theory of knowledge. Epistemology
clearly studies the nature of knowledge, justification, and the rationality of belief. Much of the
debate in epistemology centers on four areas:

 The philosophical analysis of the nature of knowledge and how it relates to such
concepts as truth, belief, and justification
 Principles and the Role of the Media

 Various problems of skepticism

 The sources and scope of knowledge and justified belief, and
 The criteria for knowledge and justification. Epistemology addresses such questions as
"What makes justified beliefs justified? "What does it mean to say that we know
something?" and fundamentally "How do we know that we know?"

If we are to use epistemology to understand journalism, epistemologists would argue that, to

understand journalism, focusing on what is expected of journalists to do won’t yield best
results and picture of journalism. Rather, focusing on the processes, methods and techniques
journalists use to generate their products, i.e news. An assessment of the news writing process
would in this case help epistemologists arrive at a conclusion as to what journalism is all
about.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
3

RELEVANCE OF OTHER SUBJECT DISCIPLINES AS FRAMES FOR EXAMINING JOURNALISM

Understanding journalism could not be complete by only looking at it from the point of view
of standards that generally define journalism practice. Neither can an understanding of
journalism be based on the conceptual frameworks, but also on other subject disciplines that
could give one reflections of journalism practice that could in the end help us make
conclusions as to what facets and perspectives of journalism there are and might be out
there.

(a) Sociology

Sociology is defined as the study of the society and its associated features. Sociology is very
relevant to the understanding of journalism, as it helps scholars determine how journalists in a
given society are likely to operate. Journalism is responsive. Usually, it is said, journalists need
to have a basic understanding of the society so as to tailor their stories in a way that meets
the society’s needs and expectations. The justification for doing such could be to attract
audience attention by providing them with information that is convenient to their needs and
expectations. By understanding sociology, in general, one would expect how journalists are
to operate in a given society without being introduced to journalism practice on the ground.

(b) History

Journalism cannot be understood in the absence of history. Journalism revolves around

historical lines. History, for most journalists, determines how they should operate. A historical
picture of journalism in a given society makes it clear as to how they are expected to
operate. Historical lines could be connected to the law, or media’s relationship with
government and other institutions. An examination of history could therefore be helpful in
helping understand journalism better, because it could provide scholars of journalism a
starting point and build their expectations as to how journalists are likely to conduct
themselves. Journalism practice could reveal some historical elements and aspects, and
could help one predict journalism practice in a given setting.

(c) Language studies

Journalists use language to communicate. It makes sense therefore that in order for
someone to understand journalism practice in a given society, a study on/of language could
 Principles and the Role of the Media

be crucial, as this would reveal the nature of journalism practice and could predict the
manner in which information is to be disseminated in terms of language.

(d) Political science

History has revealed that, there is a close relationship between journalism and politics. In fact,
these two disciplines work hand in hand, and are symbiotically related. Political science,
which is the study of systems of governance and the analysis of political activities, could help
scholars determine and understand journalism better. An understanding of a society’s
governance systems could give a picture as to the relationship between the media and
politics which would eventually paint a picture of the role and expectations regarding media
practice in a given society.

(e) Cultural analysis

A study of a society’s cultural system could reveal aspects of journalism practice, and
eventually could help one understand the role of journalism in a given society as expected
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
4

NORMATIVE THEORIES OF THE MEDIA

In 1956, three professors of communication - Fred S. Siebert, Theodore Peterson and Wilbur
Schramm - brought out their Four Theories of the Press which went a long way in establishing
a typology in the minds of journalism educators and students.

Siebert, Peterson and Schramm discuss journalism philosophy presenting four theories
(concepts might have been a more realistic term):

 The authoritarian theory

 The libertarian theory

 The communist theory and

 The social responsibility theory.

Very briefly, here are the main characteristics of each of these theories.

AUTHORITARIAN

The state, as the highest expression of institutionalized structure, supersedes the individual
and makes it possible for the individual to acquire and develop a stable and harmonious life.
Under this theory, mass communication, then, supports the state and the government in
power so that total society may advance and the state may be viable and attain its
objectives.

The State (the elite that runs the state) directs the citizenry, which is not considered
competent and interested enough to make critical political decisions. One man or an elite
group is placed in a leadership role. As the group or person controls society generally it (or he
or she) also controls the mass media since they are recognized as vital instruments of social
control.

The mass media, under authoritarianism, are educators and propagandists by which the
power elite exercise social control. Generally, the media are privately owned, although the
leader or his elite group may own units in the total communication system. Media
 Principles and the Role of the Media

organizations therefore owe their obligation to the leadership of the time, and not to public
interest.

This press concept/theory has formed and now forms, the basis for many media systems of
the world. The mass media, under authoritarianism, have only as much freedom as the
national leadership at any particular time is willing to permit.

LIBERTARIAN

The libertarian press concept is generally traced back to England and the American colonies
of the seventeenth century. Giving rise to the libertarian press theory was the philosophy that
looked upon man as a rational animal with inherent natural rights. One of these rights was
the right to pursue truth, and potential interferes (kings, governors et al) would (or should) be
restrained.

Advocates of this press movement during the 17th century, and the 200 years which followed,
included John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and John Stuart Mill. Individual liberties were stressed
by these philosophers, along with a basic trust in the people to take intelligent decisions
(generally) if a climate of free expression existed.

In theory, a libertarian press functions to present the truth, however split it may be in a
pluralism of voices. It is impossible to do this if it is controlled by some authority outside itself.
Through the years many new ideas were grafted on to early press libertarianism: One of
these, for example, was the general acceptance of a kind of obligation to keep the public
abreast of governmental activities, or being a kind of fourth branch of government
supplementing the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

This was actually a rather recent concept, having been grafted on to the original libertarian
theory. There flows a basic faith, shown by libertarian advocates that a free press- working in
a laissez faire, unfettered situation-will naturally result in a pluralism of information and
viewpoints necessary in a democratic society.

COMMUNIST

The communist theory of the press arose, along with the theory of communism itself, in the
first quarter of the present century. Karl Marx was its father, drawing heavily on the ideas of
his fellow German, George W. F. Hegel. The mass media in a communist society, said Marx,
were to function basically to perpetuate and expand the socialist system. Transmission of
social policy, not searching for the truth, was to be the main rationale for existence of a
communist media system.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Mass media, under this theory, are instruments of government and integral parts of the State.
They are owned and operated by the State and directed by the Communist Party or its
agencies. Criticism is permitted in the media (i. e. criticism of failure to achieve goals), but
criticism of basic ideology is forbidden. Communist theory, like that of authoritarianism, is
based on the premise that the masses are too indecisive and too ignorant and unconcerned
with government to be entrusted with governmental responsibilities.

Thus, the media have no real concern with giving them much information about govern-
mental activities or of its leaders. Mass media are to do what is best for the state and party;
and what is best determined by the elite leadership of State and Party. Whatever the media
do to contribute to communism and the Socialist State is moral; whatever is done to harm or
hinder the growth of communism is immoral.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

This concept, a product of mid-twentieth century America, is said by its proponents to have
its roots in libertarian theory. But it goes beyond the libertarian theory, in that it places more
emphasis on the press's responsibility to society than on the press's freedom. It is seen as a
higher level, theoretically, than libertarianism - a kind of moral and intellectual evolutionary
trip from discredited old, libertarianism to a new or perfected libertarianism where things are
forced to work as they really should have worked under libertarian theory.

The explainers and defenders of this theory maintain that they are libertarians, but socially
responsible libertarians, contrasted presumably with other libertarians who (if their views and
actions do not agree with those of the new libertarians) are not socially responsible.

This fourth theory of the press has been drawn largely from a report published in 1947 by the
Hutchins Commission. Emerging from the Commission's publications and solidified in the
literature of journalism by Four Theories of the Press, this new theory maintains that the
importance of the press in modern society makes it absolutely necessary that an obligation
of social responsibility be imposed on the media of mass communication.

CRITIQUE OF DEMOCRATIC THEORIES OR MODELS OF THE MEDIA

Libertarian developed during period of enlightenment, meaning the belief that truth would
emerge through the clash of competing opinions. This theory makes an assumption that truth
can only come out of the multiplicity of vies, and mostly, in such democratic dispensations,
the majority decides the truth. It fails to establish the truth based on reason, and buys the
majority views as representative of a community or society.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Social responsibility based on the reciprocity between the press and society, in which the
press, in return for journalistic privileges owe a society a responsibility to provide reliable and
accurate information. The requirement to provide reliable and accurate information is
dependent on the positivity of other factors like political, legal and sometimes cultural
environment.

Some scholars also argue that democratic models not necessarily endorsed by private
media organizations, tension relating to government controlling or regulating media and
their power regarding its independence.

THE DEVELOPMENT MEDIA THEORIES

Development media theories were developed in response to differences in resource

acquisition and development between the developed and the developing worlds. The
theory was recommended for use in developing countries. It borrows principles from David
Lerner’s Adoption theory which requires the absorption of strategies and methods used by
developed countries in order for developing nations to learn from the benchmark set by the
developed ones. Lerner argued that, in order for developing nation to reach development
levels, they need to adopt strategies employed by the developed, and the media should
play an important role in that process. In such a setting, the role of the media is therefore to
act as agents of development. The government uses the media to streamline its agenda for
development. In most developing countries, this theory led to the birth of Public Service
Broadcasters. In practice therefore, media freedom under such a media set-up would be
subordinate to the requirements of economic, social and political development, meaning
media freedom will be lost in the name of meeting such development agendas.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
5
OBJECTIVE TRUTH AND JOURNALISM

UNIVERSAL TRUTH, ABSOLUTE TRUTH AND OBJECTIVE TRUTH

In philosophy, universality and absolutism is the idea that universal facts exist and can be
progressively discovered, as opposed to relativism, which asserts that all facts are merely
relative to one’s perspective.

Objective truth are a reminder that the truth of a belief or statement is entirely a matter of
how things are with its object, and has nothing to do with the state of its subject, the person
who has the belief or makes the statement. Therefore, truth is considered objective when its
truth conditions are met without bias caused by a sentient subject.

Absolute truth however refers to the condition where that which is claimed to be truth is
agreed upon to be in that state and condition by all, everyone, everywhere.

Extensively, absolute truth is something that is true at all times and in all places. It is something
that is always true regardless of the circumstances. It is a fact that cannot be changed. For
example, there are no round squares could be said to be an absolute truth, because under
any circumstance and condition, a square wouldn’t be round.

The following discussion focuses on the arguments to suggest that in as far as journalism and
other subject disciplines are concerned, it is difficult, and far-fetched to have truth that is
absolute.

JUSTIFICATIONS FOR LACK OF ABSOLUTE TRUTH

There are no eternal facts, as there are no absolute truths. – Friedrich Nietzsche: Human, All-
too-Human

In contemporary culture, it is fashionable to echo Nietzsche’s words and proclaim that there
are no absolute truths. Many people find this to be a truism, they feel that there is something
obvious and right about it.

However, if you were to survey the latest philosophy journals, you would find no mention of
‘absolute truths’ and no philosophers intent on demonstrating the existence or nonexistence
 Principles and the Role of the Media

of this apparent species of truth. The reason for this is not a lack of interest, on the part of
contemporary philosophers, in the issues that people have in mind when they give the
statement ‘there are no absolute truths’. Philosophers have many things to say about these
issues. Rather, the reason why contemporary philosophers avoid talk of ‘absolute truths’ is
that they find such talk to be an obstruction to careful, rigorous debate.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE EXISTENCE OF ABSOLUTE TRUTH

(a) RELATIVISM
Relativism is the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture,
society, or historical context, and are not absolute. It is the idea that views are relative to
differences in perception and consideration. There is no universal, objective truth according
to relativism; rather each point of view has its own truth.

The major categories of relativism vary in their degree of scope and controversy.

 Moral relativism encompasses the differences in moral judgments among people

and cultures.

Truth relativism is the doctrine that there are no absolute truths, i.e., that truth is always
relative to some particular frame of reference, such as a language or a culture
(cultural relativism).
 Descriptive relativism, as the name implies, seeks to describe the differences among
cultures and people without evaluation, while
 Normative relativism evaluates the morality or truthfulness of views within a given
framework.

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking, origin, orientation and environment might
make it so.

PERSPECTIVES TO RELATIVISM

 Healthy Relativism – This refers to an expression of truth whose relative factor makes
logical sense. This means, the reason given in support of a claim for something being
true is making logical sense, and cannot be argued against based on the reasoning.
 Unhealthy Relativism - The expression of truth where a relative factor or justification for
it being the truth does not make logical sense, and is likely to be questioned because
it provides a reasoning that falls apart.

(b) SKEPTICISM
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Skepticism is the theory of knowledge that is generally any questioning attitude or doubt
towards one or more items of supposed knowledge or belief. It is often directed at areas,
such as the supernatural, morality (moral skepticism), religion (skepticism about the existence
of God), or knowledge (skepticism about the possibility of knowledge, or of certainty).
Formally, skepticism as a topic occurs in the context of philosophy, particularly epistemology,
although it can be applied to any topic such as politics, religion, and pseudoscience.

Philosophical skepticism comes in various forms. Radical forms of skepticism deny that
knowledge or rational belief is possible and urge us to suspend judgment on many or all
controversial matters.

More moderate forms of skepticism claim only that nothing can be known with certainty, or
that we can know little or nothing about the "big questions" in life, such as whether God exists
or whether there is an afterlife. Religious skepticism is "doubt concerning basic religious
principles (such as immortality, providence, and revelation)". [4] Scientific skepticism concerns
testing beliefs for reliability, by subjecting them to systematic investigation using the scientific
method, to discover empirical evidence for them.

Conclusively, absolute truth according to skepticists cannot exist because people will always
question and subject anything considered true with an element of doubt, thus denying the
absolute application of a claim deemed to be true.

PERSPECTIVES TO SKEPTICISM

 Healthy Skepticism - Refers to the expression of doubt towards something, and the
subsequent reason for the expression is based on a warranted reason.
 Unhealthy Skepticism - Refers to the expression of doubt towards something, and the
subsequent reason for the expression is not based on a warranted or logical reason.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST VIEWS THAT THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH

The problem with the statement ‘there are no absolute truths’ is that it is a catchphrase
under which several related but logically distinct ideas are collected. As such, whenever
someone uses this statement it is unclear which (or which combination) of these logically
distinct ideas they have in mind. Because of the lack of conceptual clarity in the notion
‘absolute truth’, contemporary philosophers prefer to avoid it and instead employ terms that
capture with more precision the different ideas that people associate with ‘absolute truth’

To make the statement that there is no absolute truth is illogical. Yet, today, many people are
embracing a cultural relativism that denies any type of absolute truth. A good question to
 Principles and the Role of the Media

ask people who say, “There is no absolute truth” is this: “Are you absolutely sure of that?” If
they say “yes,” they have made an absolute statement—which itself implies the existence of
absolutes. They are saying that the very fact there is no absolute truth is the one and only
absolute truth.

Beside the problem of self-contradiction, there are several other logical problems one must
overcome to believe that there are no absolute or universal truths. One is that all humans
have limited knowledge and finite minds and, therefore, cannot logically make absolute
negative statements. A person cannot logically say, “There is no God” (even though many
do so), because, in order to make such a statement, he would need to have absolute
knowledge of the entire universe from beginning to end. Since that is impossible, the most
anyone can logically say is “With the limited knowledge I have, I do not believe there is a
God.”

Another problem with the denial of absolute truth/universal truth is that it fails to live up to
what we know to be true in our own consciences, our own experiences, and what we see in
the real world. If there is no such thing as absolute truth, then there is nothing ultimately right
or wrong about anything. What might be “right” for you does not mean it is “right” for me.
While on the surface this type of relativism seems to be appealing, what it means is that
everybody sets his own rules to live by and does what he thinks is right. Inevitably, one
person’s sense of right will soon clash with another’s. What happens if it is “right” for me to
ignore traffic lights, even when they are red? I put many lives at risk. Or I might think it is right
to steal from you, and you might think it is not right. Clearly, our standards of right and wrong
are in conflict. If there is no absolute truth, no standard of right and wrong that we are all
accountable to, then we can never be sure of anything. People would be free to do
whatever they want—murder, rape, steal, lie, cheat, etc., and no one could say those things
would be wrong. There could be no government, no laws, and no justice, because one
could not even say that the majority of the people have the right to make and enforce
standards upon the minority. A world without absolutes would be the most horrible world
imaginable.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUTH AND PURSUIT OF TRUTH

Truth is that which can be seen, and observed, and that which is regarded as the truth is not
debated upon by differing circles. Journalism essentially is not about providing audiences
with the truth, since, as established, it is difficult to attain the truth because of theories
ranging from relativism to scepticism. Journalism therefore is about pursuing the truth.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Providing audiences a version of what the reporter, through his research and sources he has
collected information from, to be truth. News stories might not necessarily carry the truth, but
will simply pursue the truth from a reporter’s perspective since that which a reporter will
establish as being the truth will be disagreed upon by others as not being true, with reasons
attached.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
6

THE MEDIA AS A CONSTRUCTION AND RE-CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY

Structurally, media tends to centralize issues for it needs a common national currency of
protagonists and references to deal in. It looks to convert complexity into binaries, issues into
people and perspectives into disagreements. It narrativises reality by threading together
discrete events into a coherent storyline. It favours developments that can create a
compelling narrative regardless of how important those might be. It hunts for symbols and
metaphors, preferring those over more substantive dialogue. It frames reality by amplifying
the exceptional rather than the normal, looking for words and actions that disrupt rather than
confirm. And underlying all of this was a tonality of relentless aggression, with the media
placing itself in a role of the prime inquisitor, and in turn begetting practised defenders from
each party, skilled at the art of blanket stonewalling.

the world ‘out there’ really is ‘there’ or is only constructed by the media. Through its
operations, the media can define, build our image of the world and events and issues in it, to
the extent that we would begin to look at those aspects in line with the media’s portrayal of
such. The general consensus here should be that, our image of the world is mediated –
meaning the media defines our image of the world and realities in it. In doing so, the media
could either give us a picture of something we have never seen, heard of experienced, or at
times, the media would give us information that would change our original views, picture
and perception and beliefs about that element or aspect. Therefore, the media would
construct reality by giving us information in order to help us build a new image of an aspect
of something or could change our original image of something, thereby reconstructing the
reality.

HOW THE MEDIA CONSTRUCT AND RE-CONSTRUCT REALITY

Selection of ideas for stories

Quite a number of events and issue befall all over the world, but willingly, principally, and
according to capacity, the media selects a few and report. The decision to decide which
ones to report means that the media people choose to make us view the world in their own
light and line. In that way, the media is building the reality for us, and therefore guiding us as
 Principles and the Role of the Media

to how we should look at the world and aspects in it. By selecting the stories, the media are
deciding the reality for us, and building an image of the world for us, to the extent that they
push us away from those issues that were not reported in the news.

Selection of sources

Even during news writing process, journalists decide which sources are to tell a story. This
means they decide before-hand how a story should be told, and how audiences should
picture an issue, and build a reality based on that. Clearly, stories are not reflections of reality
on the ground, but a decision by the reporter to make us look at something in the way
he/she wants us to look at it, and our belief system begins to be aligned towards such
reporting focus.

Selection of headlines

Strategically, editors choose which stories are to appear as headlines in a news bulletin on
radio or television, and the message put across, mostly, is that, the ones pr4esented in the
headlines are important are should be considered so by the audiences, and consequently
be used by the public when building reality.

Selection of stories for front page placement

Most stories that are placed on front pages of newspapers are considered professionally
important, and should also be viewed in the same way by audiences. The importance
rendered towards such stories becomes the basis for building reality.

Framing of stories

The presentation and interpretation of the stories is also another way through which the
media builds reality. How the media presents, represents and interprets issues can lead to
audiences believing in line with such presentations.

Setting the agenda

The media sets the agenda. Simply put, the media decides what we should see and discuss
in public discourse and forum, by bringing as topics for discussion and the ideas upon which
our reality is built and based. Instead of audiences focusing on other important things, their
horizon is closed to the stories and issues brought forward by the media.

Editing

Editing, in journalistic sense involves, among other things, the removal of what is considered
irrelevant by the journalists and the addition of what is considered important. If a reporter
 Principles and the Role of the Media

removes or gets rid of something, it means he/she would not want audiences to look at the
story with that aspect/element in it, as it would tamper with the image he wants to establish
of the reality in mind.

Camera positioning

During live or recorded events, television journalists would focus their attention on capturing
things that matter to them, because they would want people to base their image of reality
on that which they are being fed with.

Narratives

Even the manner in which stories are told including the choice of words used to give a
description of something does show that consequently determines how people should build
their image of aspects, as well as reality. While one might not have made a choice to
believe in something, a creative and careful description of issues and events by journalists
would convince them otherwise.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
7

COMMERCIALISED MEDIA SYSTEM AND IMPACT ON JOURNALISM PRINCIPLES AND

PRACTICE

A commercialised media system is a media system highly characterised by media

organizations’ heavy reliance on advertising revenue. in this disposition, media organizations’
work towards attracting advertisers. Ideally, advertisers are attracted by audiences. The
more the number of audiences a news organization has, the more the advertisers will flock
towards that news organization as they will be in search of exposure.

News organizations, consequently work towards attracting audiences, who in turn help news
organizations attract the advertisers. A commercialised media industry, despite helping news
organizations survive in the industry, might affect professional journalism practice. A number
of journalism principles would not be observed especially when such principles stand in the
way of a news organizations’ path to generate income. It is unlikely that a news organization
would come up with a story that would project an advertiser in a negative way, and that
alone means that audiences might be deprived of essential information for decision making.

In most developing societies, a media system will mostly be dependent on the government
because of a lack of a vibrant corporate system to help in sustaining news organizations’
revenue. A system that relies on government support will mostly likely fail to provide objective
political information. Allegiance will always be rendered towards where the financial support
is coming from. As such, it is not surprising to see that media organizations will be in support of
the government, since in most developing nations, the government is the biggest advertiser.

Consequently, governments and companies in most developing nations take advantage of

news organizations’ reliance on them for advertising revenue, with the idea that, without the
advertising revenue, they cannot survive. With such a system, news organizations become
agents of ideological and commercial interests at the expense of public interest.

It could be seen as a form of corruption in the media, where the media are bribed in
exchange for positive publicity. In practice, it is not really companies or governments paying
for adverts, but using the media for positive publicity. One could therefore argue that the
media have become propaganda agents or public relations managers for companies and
 Principles and the Role of the Media

governments that heavily advertise through them. The message is clear, that, if these
companies are denied positive publicity having invested into the news organization
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
8

KEP PRINCIPLES OF JOURNALISM

Each profession has its own codes of practice or conduct that stipulates how professionals
are expected to behave or operate, and so does journalism.

The codes of conduct define or provide the very basic principles of any profession. The
principles are what a profession is known for, and without them, it is surely hard to describe or
identify a profession.

Codes of conduct are a set of principles, values, ethics and doctrines that individuals in a
specific profession are expected to abide by.

IMPORTANCE OF CODES OF ETHICS

 Ethics are important because they act as a guide to journalism practice
professionally. The codes define the standards of good practice for journalists and
journalists are more likely to behave accordingly and responsibly because they have
guiding values, principles or codes.
 Codes of ethics are necessary in helping journalists in times of ethical dilemmas, and
deciding on a course of action that is professionally acceptable, of public interest
and legally defensible. This therefore justifies the need for a guiding principle.
 They might also serve as points of reference when a journalist is in doubt or in any sort
of ethical dilemma.
 Ethical principles are necessary because they help journalists understand ethical
issues better and make reasonable decisions.
 Ethical standards in journalism is necessary because, unlike other professionals whose
roles are more clearly defined, journalists have been left on their own to work out roles
and determine their ethics. So codes are helpful in defining more clearly the roles of
journalists. With codes of ethics, journalists are constantly reminded of their roles,
responsibilities, and obligation in society

KEY CODES OF JOURNALISTIC CONDUCT/PRACTICE

Among others, journalism profession is dictated by the following major ethical principles:
 Principles and the Role of the Media

SEEK TRUTH AND REPORT IT

Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting
information.
Journalists should:

 Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid
inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
 Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to
allegations of wrongdoing. Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to
as much information as possible on sources’ reliability.
 Always question sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions
attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises.
 Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video,
audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not
oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context. Never distort the content of news
photos or video. Image enhancement for technical clarity is always permissible. Label
montages and photo illustrations.
 Avoid misleading re-enactments or staged news events. If re-enactment is necessary
to tell a story, label it.

 Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information except

when traditional open methods will not yield information vital to the public.

 Use of such methods should be explained as part of the story.

 Never plagiarize.

 Tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience boldly, even
when it is unpopular to do so.

 Examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others.

 Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual

orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status.

 Support the open exchange of views, even views they find repugnant.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

 Give voice to the voiceless; official and unofficial sources of information can be
equally valid.

 Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should
be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.

 Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the
two.

 Recognize a special obligation to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in

the open and that government records are open to inspection.

MINIMIZE HARM
Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of
respect. Journalists should:
 Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use
special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.

 Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by

tragedy or grief:

 Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort.

 Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.

 Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about
themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or
attention.

 Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy.

 Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.

 Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects or victims of sex crimes.

 Be judicious about naming criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges.

 Balance a criminal suspect’s fair trial rights with the public’s right to be informed.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

ACT INDEPENDENTLY
Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know.
Journalists should:
 Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.

 Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage
credibility.
 Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary
employment, political involvement, public office and service in community

 Disclose unavoidable conflicts.

 Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.

 Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to
influence news coverage.

 Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; avoid bidding for news.

BE ACCOUNTABLE
Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other. Journalists
should:
 Clarify and explain news coverage and invite dialogue with the public over
journalistic conduct.

 Encourage the public to voice grievances against the news media.

 Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.

 Expose unethical practices of journalists and the news media.

 Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.

DISADVANTAGES OF CODES OF CONDUCT

From a strong professional point of view, codes of conduct are very important, but they
seem to have also been faced with challenges and weaknesses as far as application is
concerned.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

 They do not guarantee compliance or enforcement, and it’s very likely that a
reporter would choose not to abide by it for either personal reasons or due to
external/outside influence and pressure. This explains why codes of conduct are said
to be not legally binding.

 No formal legal backstops to enforce the rules of the schemes, so these systems rely
on strong alignment between the incentives of participants and the wider public
interest.

 Membership of self-regulation bodies is often voluntary and can be incomplete.

 Dependent on environment

 Misunderstandings as to the origin of the principles

RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM
Responsible journalism, principally, is the type of journalism that requires a reporter to abide
by the journalistic code of ethics. However, responsible reporters are also expected to follow
the ground rules of the environment they are operation under such as abiding to the:
 Legal considerations relating to reporting of facts and use of quotes, plagiarism,
fabrication and doctoring of photos or videos

 Regional and local policies and guidelines for media, e.g. guidelines issued by the
police for the media coverage of incidents.

ADDITIONAL PRINCIPLES TO JOURNALISM PRACTICE

 Journalists’ first obligation is to the truth

 Its first loyalty is to citizens

 The essence is a discipline of verification

 Its practitioners must maintain an independence from they cover

 It must serve as an independent monitor of power

 It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise

 It must strive to make the significant interest and relevant

 Principles and the Role of the Media

 It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional

 Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.

THE DOMINATION OF GLOBAL MEDIA BY WESTERN JOURNALISM

Journalism, as it is in most countries, is a western concept. A look at the principles that govern
this profession is testament to this statement. The journalism standards were developed in the
United States, and during their development, it is argued in scholarly circles that
consideration regarding the operating environment was crucial. The political, legal and
cultural factors of the American society played a bigger part in the development of the
standards.

This factor explains why it has been largely difficult for most countries to fully and without
difficulties internalize these standards. The difference in the operating environments would
mean there has to be differences in standards that should define a complex industry or
profession like journalism. Some media scholars have argued that, journalism couldn’t
experience difficulties if it was to be society-factors-based. What has been seen is therefore a
domination of the west in global media, where only principles developed in their societies
have become a standard for operating the journalism industry. Research has found that
journalism is faced with difficulties because they fail to squeeze in these principles, and in the
process creates clashes with political, social and economic system of a society.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
9
HOW THE MEDIA SHAPES PUBLIC PERCEPTION AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

In making decisions and having knowledge of the world, the society looks upon the media.
Their view points about the world and everything in it is actually built by the media.

Evidently, it could be established what people believe in is shaped by the information from
the media. Through its agenda setting role, the media can influence beliefs and perceptions.
Media reports determine the decisions people make. In that way, the media can influence
how people think and view issues. It decides how we should look at things and issues of the
world and in the world.

Ideally, people tend to have viewpoints about issues in the society because of the
information they get from the media, and they use such information as bases for their
decision making and topics for debates and public discussion. The media achieves this
through –

(a) Setting the agenda

Through its agenda-setting role, the media can influence beliefs and perceptions. Practically,
the media decide for us what news areas we should focus on on a given day, thus directing
us towards an issue we should render so much significance and attention to. Media reports
consequently, determine the decisions people make. In that way, the media can influence
how people think and view issues within a given period of time. It provides people with topics
for consideration in a given day.

(b) Through interpretations and analyses of issues

When events happen and issues arise, the media would not only provide audiences with
information about what has happened, but would also go further in guiding audiences
decision-making by providing an interpretation or analysis to an issue or event audiences
have got information already. This eventually makes it easy for audiences to think within the
lines of the journalists’ interpretations, and consequently shape their perceptions and
opinions about issues and people in society.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
10

NEW OR ALTERNATIVE MEDIA AND ITS IMPACT ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM

PRACTICE

NEW MEDIA OR ALTERNATIVE MEDIA

The new media is characterised by the proliferation of the use of the internet for
disseminating information. In fact, the modern media landscape is largely characterised by
the online media. It arose from opportunities provided by the internet and social media. This
media platform has come with its own advantages and disadvantages. Principally, the new
media is characterised among other things by its ability to reach out to the grass-roots, its
small scale nature, its participative and interactive aspect, its capacity to facilitate and
cement the need for audiences to be active as well, for some, its non-commercial drive.

New Media and the Overlapping Roles of Content Providers and Content Consumers

In the new media and communications context, audiences are more empowered than ever
to make their voices heard. Audiences, consumers are actively influencing the production of
media contents. The rise of digitally networked technologies such as the Internet and mobile
phones is reshaping journalistic practice across the world. This change is technological with
social media platforms enabling new forms of publishing, receiving, and discussing of stories.
News organisations are interpreting online user participation mainly as an opportunity for their
readers to debate current events, while other stages of the news production process are
closed to citizen involvement or controlled by professional journalists when participation is
allowed. Because it is not controlled, it allows members of the general public to participate in
the news delivery process.

It has also offered journalists a means of gathering and disseminating information without any
legal or institutional limitations/restrictions. This therefore means that audiences can get
sophisticated political information as well constructed analyses and criticism of those in
power, thereby bringing the questioning aspect in a democratic dispensation.

However, use of the new media has been associated with trust or credibility issues, where
due to its openness, the allowance for anyone to contribute to news production has
reduced the trustworthiness associated with news stories. With this, it has even made it
 Principles and the Role of the Media

difficult to differentiate between a journalist and others, and thus made it hard to define
journalism clearly.

The new media has also encouraged journalism of anonymity, where journalists might use
sources on social media platforms who don’t actually exist because of the social media’s
allowance to use pseudonyms (false names)

CHANGING ROLE AND STATUS OF JOURNALISM

KEY CHANGES IN THE MEDIA LANDSCAPE AND IMPACT ON MEDIA PRACTICE AND THE ROLE OF
JOURALISM

The major changes in the media landscape have largely been facilitated by the internet
which, in one way of the other, has changed a number of journalism functions, conventions
and norms. Ideally, the online media has provided journalists a new channel for
disseminating information. Aside that, journalists are able to generate news ideas through
content drawn from the online media platform. Journalists are also able to gather specific
information for stories as well collect feed-back to enhance performance.

The online media platform, however, poses as a number of challenges to journalism and the
society as a whole. Arguably, it is the online media that has given rise to fake news as well as
journalism of sensationalization. Because of its open nature, there has been an influx of
unprofessionally generated news stories on the media market, and in the process tarnishing
the image of journalism as a profession. It is because of this that audiences do not usually
trust content from online media platforms.

The other challenge this platform has posed is that it has made it difficult for audiences to
differentiate between those that are journalists and those that are not. This comes in
because it allows every Jim and Jack, journalist or not to generate content, and it clearly
does not provide a clue as to whether the information is coming from a professional or not.

The new media is largely characterised by competition. In their quest to realize more profits
to sustain their operations, news organizations employ quick means of information gathering
and delivery, of which the internet comes into play most of the times. The need to hastily
disseminate information.

In recent years, journalism has gone commercial, where the drive for profits is dictating
practice on the ground. In order to sustain themselves, media organizations are reliant on
advertisers and this in turn influence their compliance to journalism principles and standards
 Principles and the Role of the Media

POTENTIAL FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO EMPOWER INDIVIDUALS, COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL

GROUPS

New technologies, largely defined by the use of the internet and its associated
technological devices like mobile phones, computers etc., have been the catalysts for
empowerment of societies. Historically, audiences were seen and defined as passive. This
could be attributed, largely due to the traditional nature of the platforms under use, as well
as a lack of media means of production of content.

in order to generate content then, one would need permission to have access through
editors or designated leadership in news organizations. Today, audiences have the means of
production within their laps, and they are capable of generating content of their own
thereby facilitating debates and discussions about issues that affect them.

IMPACT OF NEW COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES ON JOURNALISM PRACTICE

New communication technologies have had an impact on journalism as well as audiences.

Journalists have acquired tools for use in the gathering and dissemination of information. The
tools have even facilitated the faster gathering and dissemination of information making it
very convenient for audiences.

They have also provided an opportunity for journalists to get information from sources which
they would use as news ideas or in the process of editing.

For audiences, the new communication technologies have made given an opportunity to
audiences to generate content of their own, as they have ownership of means of
communication for instance the internet.

Audiences are also able to provide their feedback on information they get from journalists
there by facilitating two-way communication.

DIFFICULTY OF APPLYING LEGAL AND REGULATORY CONTROL TO ONLINE JOURNALISTIC

ACTIVITIES

Unlike the traditional media platforms, the online media platform is open in nature, not
restrictive in its application. For that reason, journalists and non-journalists alike can generate
news content through this media platform. With such a perspective it is even difficult to
differentiate between a journalist and one who isn’t. For policy makers, owing to this fact, it is
increasingly becoming hard for them to consider regulatory frameworks to target a media
platform that does not have known practitioners to operate and any room for control like the
 Principles and the Role of the Media

traditional media platforms. At the same time, it could be argued that, not only is the open
nature of the online media platform a challenge for the formulation of legal principles to
control operations for its practitioners, but the allowance given by this platform for users to
use false names (pseudonym) also makes it hard for policy and law makers to target this
area as those regulatory codes will not point at ghost wrong-doers.

GROWTH IN SIZE AND REACH OF PRIVATE MEDIA COMPANIES AND IMPACT ON JOURNALISM
PRACTICE

The field of journalism, after the adoption of democracy by most countries, has been infested
with private media organizations, who try to re-organize themselves and set themselves
different from the old system where media organizations were mouth-pieces of ruling elites.
This growing number of private media organizations means that they need to survive through
adverts. The commercial aspect of media practice is that which poses challenges to
journalism practice where, in the desire to make profits for sustainability purposes, most news
organizations fail to provide objective perspectives to issues especially those affecting the
advertisers.

In practice, advertisers are projected positively in the news, more of positive publicity, even
when in the wrong. Consequently, the very purpose for which journalism was established gets
lost, and audiences are the ones that suffer, as they are deprived of key information that
could assist them in making key decisions in their lives. In principle, it could be argued that
whenever commercialisation takes its course in the journalism industry, media organizations
exist as propaganda agents, and not defenders of public interest.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
11

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEDIA AND SOCIETY

For years, the media and the society have established a relationship that is practically
symbiotic. The media looks at the society as a pool of sources which they can use to build
news stories. The society on the other hand, looks at the media as an institution responsible
for the provision of information which they use to make important decisions.

This relationship is however fruitful under certain conditions. the society is likely to get
important and objective information if the media works towards meeting public interest. If
journalists are working to satisfy certain interests, it becomes hard for them to establish a
reliability and credible base. The same way when the media is not granted opportunities to
gather and publish important information for the media, the relationship doesn’t work as
expected.

It could therefore be argued that the impact the media can have on the society is highly
dependent on a complex set of circumstances such as such as legal, personal as well as
social. The relationship between the media is said to be complex because the success of this
relationship is dependent on a number of factors.

The relationship between the media and society is complex. The media’s ability to perform its
societal functions is dependent on the flexibility and compatibility of the legal, cultural, and
political system.

In order for the media to operate freely, and effectively, and thus be beneficial to the
society, and key to public’s decision making process, there is need to have legal support.
There should be a legal framework that should be seen to advance public interest by giving
access to information of concern to journalists.

There is also a need for a political will and support. The political and government system
should be accommodating to journalism, and allow journalists be an integral part of the
political system existing to solely serve the people with information that assists them make
political decisions.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

PUBLIC AND POLICY MAKING ELITES

Ideally, journalism is tasked with the responsibility to provide the public with information to
assist them in making decisions. The duty of journalists to perform such a role can be
hampered by policy making elites in the society who design policies or deliberate decisions
aimed at controlling the gathering and the dissemination of information, thereby hampering
the right for audiences to be informed.

WAYS THROUGH WHICH POLICY MAKING IS APPLIED ON THE MEDIA

Limits on amount of advertising

Media organizations in democratic dispensations rely heavily on adverts, and a limit on

adverts, though justified at times, could affect the normal operations of some media
organizations, thereby making them fail to carry some public interest duties that could be
beneficial for the society. Arguably, the justification for a limit on advertising could be to
share the advertising lot amongst the players in the media industry. But for the media
industry, competition is welcome, and a limit on advertising wouldn’t spur competition which
has for years defined the profession of journalism.

Limit on monopoly or cross-media ownership

In the quest to amass advertising revenue, and provide numerous means of accessing
information, media organizations have gone convergent (the acquisition of different media
platforms for disseminating information), where they are using a number of media platforms
to publish their information. Such an arrangement means audiences are likely to be fed with
information of different forms through the different media platforms. Although such a form of
ownership could have challenges of its own, media organizations do benefit by having the
assurance of a large number of media audience which they would use to woo advertisers.

The requirements for licensing for publishing

In some countries, dictatorial or democratic, would-be media organizations are required to

obtain a license before practising. The challenge with this is that some license stipulations are
conditional, and a failure to meet the conditions would mean a license wouldn’t be granted,
thereby depriving audiences of information that might have been helped them make better
political decisions.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

The enactment of laws that hinder journalism practice

Where institutional restrictions do not apply, the use of legal system to deter journalism
practice is common. It involves the enactment and the formulation of a legal system that has
laws that clearly prevent and restrict the gathering and dissemination of information by
journalists. And in some instances, where such laws already exist, there is usually the
reluctance or the rigidity to change them to help journalists have access to information
easily.

RESTRICTIONS WITHIN DEMOCRACIES

Modern democracies do not really give a picture of a democratic society, which looks at
media freedom as an essential component of its set-up. Most democracies are democracies
on paper, but not in practice. Clearly, countries that adopted democracy from the 19 th
century have not had institutional changes to meet the demands of democratic principles.
The legal and political framework is still the same, meaning journalism is still subjected to the
old system of laws that control the media, which were practically draconian in nature. The
modern media landscape has therefore been characterized by a functional
interdependence between the journalists and the politicians. The politicians seem to use the
media for exposure whereas the media rely on the politicians for ideas for news stories. This
image evidently shows that there has been a legacy of suppression towards the media
established during pre-democracy era, as well as a legacy of censorship on the media by
politicians in effort for them to build and maintain their image.

CLASHES OR MEDIA WARS

In scholarly circles, there has been an argument as to the extent of governments’ control on
the media. Since time in memorial, the media has always been targeted by the government,
perhaps this is because governments would always seek a positive portray and thus suppress
any dissenting voice through the media.

Some scholars have argued that government should not have any influence on media
operations, and that they should look at the government as an agent they can use to build
an informed citizenry about their achievements and plans. Issues of censorship should be
abolished as they demean the values of journalism’ independence. Governments should not
have any impact on media practice, and the influence should only come when journalists
operate unethically.

There is however a general consensus that in an effort to control the media actions and thus
make them accountable, there should be restrictions and obligations on their actions. This is
 Principles and the Role of the Media

because of the volatile nature of the profession of journalism. Achieving media

accountability does not mean the absence of media freedom. In the course of achieving
media freedom, the media shouldn’t be tightly controlled. The restrictions should be aimed
at aligning the media towards meeting public interest, and not necessarily used for
institutional interests. This means there has to be promotion of media freedom, as largely it
ensures audiences are informed of issues that matter in their decision making course.

This means, media accountability should be looked at from the angle of achieving a
balance between media freedom and restrictions to prompt journalists work towards
meeting public interest.

SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP JOURNALISTS AND POLITICIANS

The relationship between politicians and journalists is arguably said to be symbiotic, where,
each party in this existence benefits. Evidently, journalists need information to establish a
news story, and mostly, the main source of their information are politicians who are seen to
be critical to a society and its welfare. Politicians, in return tend to use the media to
communicate their ideologies, ideas and ideologies thereby gaining publicity.

Journalists cannot have a story without sources, and sources are a life-blood in news stories.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, it looks as though politicians are the biggest news makers, and
news regarding them command a higher degree of interest from the audiences, as the
saying goes – “you can ignore politics, but politics won’t ignore.” This means a society
revolves around politics and any political information is crucial for a society’s wellbeing. With
such a picture on the ground, it is common of journalists to use politicians as their main
sources of information. Using the same line of reliance, the politicians, looking at how the
media industry operates, looks at the media as a means to have their ideas known at a
cheap price and simply. It becomes easy therefore for a politician to be known and his
ideologies known through the media than through any other means.

In such a relationship however, it looks as though it is the politicians that benefit especially
when journalism is not vibrant, independent and investigative. If journalism is weak,
propaganda takes its course and it is public interest that loses, eventually.

At times politicians would take advantage of this relationship, and draft and frame laws that
will allow journalists have access to positive information about them while making their
negative aspects hidden by the legislations and laws they will pioneer to enact and pass.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
12

IMPACT OF JOURNALISM ON POLITICS IN SOCIETY

People make political decisions, and generally, political decisions revolve around voting and
institutional change. In order to make such decisions, information is needed, and journalists
are best relied upon to perform that role. Through their analyses, commentaries, journalists
are able to influence voting decisions, and assist in bringing in political and institutional
change in a society. Principally, that is how journalism works in the political ream. In practice,
however, this might not be true and evident.

Research suggests that with an increasing number of sophisticated ownership, media

organizations are failing to perform their political role in the society. Arguably, it is evident
that such news organizations whose ownership is questionable seem to fail to provide
audiences with objective information, but instead act as propaganda agents, and in the
process not helping audiences make better political decisions.

Issues and things that might have changed if the media was to provide political information
to spur political change remain the same due to news organizations’ inability to perform their
role due to other political affiliations. This explains why, in their quest to provide political
information, the media should be independent and free from any affiliations, as such would
negatively impact the political role of the media.

PURPOSES OF JOURNALISM IN DIFFERENT SOCIETIES

The purpose of journalism, write Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel in the Elements of Journalism,
is not defined by technology, nor by journalists or techniques they employ. Rather, the
principles and purpose of journalism are defined by something more basic – the function
news plays in the lives of people.

News is that part of communication that keeps us informed of the changing events, issues,
and characters in the world outside. Though it may be interesting or even entertaining, the
foremost value of news is as a utility to empower the informed. The purpose of journalism is
thus to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions
about their lives, communities, societies and governments.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

That purpose might not be achieved due to a number of factors, ranging from news
organizations’ political affiliations, ownership issues as well commercial interests.

OBJECTIVE REPORTING

Definition of objectivity being open to interpretation

Objectivity could be defined as the central philosophical concept related to reality and truth
which has been variously defined by sources. Generally, objectivity means the state or
quality of being true even outside of a subject’s individual biases, interpretations, and
imaginings. In simpler terms, objectivity means lack of bias, judgement, or prejudice.
Maintaining one’s objectivity is the most important job of a journalist

Journalistic objectivity is a significant principle of journalistic professionalism. Journalistic

objectivity can refer to fairness, disinterestedness, factuality, and non-partisanship, but most
often encompasses all of these qualities.

Journalism need to be more objective, accurate and investigative in the way it presents
information and relays facts to the public. This objectivity in journalism helps the audience to
make up their own mind about a story and decide what they want to believe. There is a
necessity for reporters to present the honesty regarding the facts instead of always reporting
information in an honest format. In addition, to maintain objectivity in journalism, journalists
need to present the facts whether or not they like or agree with those facts. Objective
journalism needs to remain neutral and unbiased regardless of the writer’s opinion or
personal beliefs.

Journalistic objectivity requires that a journalist not be on either side of an argument. The
journalist must report only the facts and not a personal attitude toward the facts. Some
advocacy and civic journalists criticize the understanding of objectivity as neutrality or non-
partisanship, arguing that it does a disservice to the public because it fails to attempt to find
truth. They also argue that such objectivity is nearly impossible to apply in practice since
newspapers inevitably take a point of view in deciding what stories to cover, which to
feature on the front page, and what sources to use.

As a conclusion, objectivity is not possible because we all have our biases, including
journalists. However, the central principle still remains that, whatever the case, journalists
should remain independent of sides or parties when reporting on a conflict,
 Principles and the Role of the Media

CONFLICTING PERSPECTIVES OF OBJECTIVITY

NEUTRALITY VERSUS INQUIRY

It’s largely argued that objectivity excuses lazy reporting. Objectivity makes reporters passive
recipients of news, rather than aggressive investigators of news. This means, while reporters
have an obligation to remain neutral, they should also have the ability to inquire issues that
are obviously questionable rather than just watch and remain non-partisan.

DISENGAGEMENT VERSUS HAVING AN IMPACT

Whereas it is a requirement in objective reporting that journalists should not be attached to

any side in the story, an attempt should be made to make the story impactful to the public

BEING FAIR-MINDED BUT HAVING AN EDGE

While making an attempt at being free from any sort of bias, journalists should make
attempts at showing their position for a side that they rightly deem is right, and dooms the
wrong one.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
13

POWER RELATIONSHIPS AND THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

In most societies, political power has always been looked at in direct connection to the
media. Most media organizations have been established tools and apparatuses for political
establishments in the society. The work of journalists, based on such an arrangements was to
be submissive to the demands of those in power. In view of this, it is likely that the media can
present information that conforms to the interests of those in power. To make sure the media
systems conform to the demands of the political establishment, policy makers formulate
policies, codes, legislations and laws to make sure information flows within their demands
and needs.

The new technologies however have brought a different dimension to how this arrangement
could be viewed. In practice, the unconventional nature of new technologies and its
associated features like the internet has the potential to challenge this establishment, and
ensure that audiences get balanced and public interest information, not information that
subscribes to the interests and philosophies of those in power (ruling elites).

New technologies are largely uncontrolled, thereby giving an opportunity to journalists,

through them, to disseminate information that couldn’t be acceptable through the
traditional media platforms.

The non-restrictive nature of such media platforms also allows journalists to solicit
user0gnerated information through social media comments and use such to build a news
idea for a story.

Audiences are also at liberty to use these technologies to react to the content they get from
journalists unlike the older establishment which considered audiences as passive receivers of
news.

SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL AND POLITICAL OUTCOMES ASSOCIATED WITH ELECTRONIC

INFORMATION

Consumption of electronic information has its own impacts on a societies social, political,
cultural and economic angles.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Consumption of electronic information from a social perspective makes it easy for audiences
to participate and react to the information received. Principally, electronic information
facilitates the active audience principle

From a political perspective, electronic information is likely to promote active politics where
audiences are able to react towards content and debate over issues of national interest.

The cultural relations are also likely to be cemented virtually through electronic information,
in the sense that audiences can share cultural aspects on platforms that facilitate electronic
information.

Economically, consumption of electronic information is few in most developing societies. So,

while it could be important information, its consumption is limited as audiences could not be
in possession of those devices needed to receive the media contents.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISTIC ACTIVITIES

Although there are standards in journalism that define the standard of operating in the
media industry, there have been observable differences in practice and at times application
of the standards, and at worse, the development of new standards that are locally-suited.
The difference in such differences could be attributed to a lack prosper consideration to a
uniform practice for operation in the industry. It could be argued that the relationship
between media organizations is faulty and complex, since there is evidence to suggest
media organizations operate differently, and such a difference is problematic and building a
clear image of journalism.

The international nature of the media control system is faulty because there is no legal
backing to support its application. It is rather a system of self-regulatory control with no legal
support. In view of this, there couldn’t be a central or consistent system of control.

Even though media practice is expected to be universally uniform, it still shows that there are
differences because in some countries journalism is nationally based. This means practice
conforms to the demands of the prevailing such as legal, cultural as well as political pressure.
Journalism, surprisingly, responds to the needs and expectations of the environment, and
because it is mostly reactive, it will respond differently to different environments, and
because of differences in environments, it means journalism will also be applied differently.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

INTERNATIONAL TREATIES THAT AFFECT JOURNALISM

1. The UN Declaration of Human Rights

2. The Human Rights Act (2000) - Article 10 and 8

3. European and American Conventions on Human Rights

THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT (2000)

The Act ‘gives further effect’ to rights and freedoms guaranteed under the United
Declaration of Human Rights. What this actually means is that it does two things:
 Judges must read and give effect to legislation (other laws) in a way which is
compatible with the Convention rights;
 It is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a
Convention right.

ARTICLES IN THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT THAT RELATE TO JOURNALISM

ARTICLE 8: RIGHT TO RESPECT FOR PRIVATE AND FAMILY LIFE

The article states that everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his
home and his correspondence in the following words:
There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such
as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of
national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention
of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights
and freedoms of others.

ARTICLE 10: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The article rightly states that everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall
include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without
interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States
from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.
The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be
subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and
are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity
or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals,
 Principles and the Role of the Media

for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of
information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the
judiciary.

HOW THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT (2000) PROTECTS JOURNALISTS’ SOURCES

ARTICLE 10 AND PROTECTION OF JOURNALISTS’ SOURCES

Article 10 is a vital for editors and journalists as it gives everyone the right to freedom of
expression which includes the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart
information and ideas without state interference. The police and other public authorities must
be accountable for the significant power that they wield, and article 10 has brought forward
a number of terrifying attempts to prevent journalists from doing their job freely and without
intimidation or threat. Without the protections of article 10, investigative campaigns and
undercover journalism would be vulnerable to censorship and suppression of independent
reporting. Protection of sensitive sources – one of the ethical cornerstones of news reporting –
has been challenged by the state in a number of high profile cases in recent years and
article 10 has been the primary defence drawn upon to allow journalists to continue to
protect their sources.

Article 10 includes the right to communicate and to express oneself in any medium, including
through words, pictures, images and actions (including through public protest and
demonstrations).

The type of expression protected includes:

• Political expression (including comment on matters of general public interest)
• Artistic expression; and
• Commercial expression. For obvious reasons political expression is given particular
precedence and protection. Artistic expression – vital for fostering individual fulfilment and
the development of ideas – is also robustly protected. Commercial expression will be given
enhanced protection when it raises matters of legitimate public debate and concern.
To ensure that free expression and debate is possible, there must be protection for elements
of a free press, including protection of journalistic sources.

The right to free expression would be meaningless if it only protected certain types of
expression – so (subject to certain limitations) the right will protect both popular and
unpopular expression, including speech that might shock others.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Interferences on free expression usually involve restrictions on publication; penalties for

publication (such as criminalising speech or awarding damages).

ARTICLE 8 AND PROTECTION OF JOURNALISTS’ SOURCES

Article 8, which protects the right to respect for a person’s private and family life, their home
and correspondence has been a cause for some concern among journalists and editors.
However, this right is subject to proportionate and lawful restrictions and publication of
information may occur if it is in the public interest. Furthermore, there are many situations in
which Article 8 can protect journalists from broad police powers and allow them not only to
use information gained from confidential sources but also to protect those sources from
identification. Specifically, the right to privacy covers respect for private and confidential
information, particularly the storing and sharing of such information and the right not to be
subject to unlawful state surveillance.

The right to a private life is a broad-ranging right that is often closely connected with other
rights such as freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of association and the
right to respect for property.

The obligation on the State under Article 8 is to refrain from interfering with the right itself and
also to take some positive measures, for example, to criminalise extreme breaches of the
right to a private life by private individuals.

Balancing rights The right to respect for a private life often needs to be balanced against the
right to freedom of expression. For example, a public figure may not necessarily enjoy the
same respect for their private life as others, as public concern might justify the publication of
information about that person that would in another context be a breach of their privacy.
The concept of a right to a private life encompasses the importance of personal dignity and
autonomy and the interaction a person has with others, both in private or in public. Article 8
also provides the right to respect for one’s established family life. This right is often engaged,
for example, when measures are taken by the State to separate family members (by
removing children into care, or deporting one member of a family group). Right to respect
for the home includes a right not to have one’s home life interfered with, including by
unlawful surveillance, unlawful entry, arbitrary evictions etc. Finally, everyone has the right to
uninterrupted and uncensored communication with others – a right particularly of relevance
in relation to phone-tapping; email surveillance; and the reading of letters.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

ROLE OF JOURNALISM IN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

On the international scene, the roles of journalism include, but not limited to the following

Surveillance – the news and information role of the media. The media provides and feeds
audiences globally with information about events happening in different regions of the
world. Surveillance is seen in two ways

(a) Beware surveillance – where the media informs people of impending or incoming
danger

(b) Instrumental – where the media provides people with information that is beneficial in
their day to day lives, i.e stock market changes

Linkage - Modern media is expected to connect people of different origins and from
different societies of the world through programs that do so. The BBC’S world have your
say is an example of the media achieving this function

Socialization or transmission of values - Values are transmitted from one are of the world to
another, and the media plays an important role in that process.

OVERLAPPING ROLES OF THE MEDIA

Depending on the needs and the expectations of the people towards the media, journalist
serve different functions and perform a myriad of roles in different societies. The functions
could be in line with the requirements of the societies in mention and could differ from
society to society.

Generally, the media are expected to be an entity responsible for the provision of
information for decision making purposes. Journalists, therefore, collect and publish
information for public consumption. The society relies upon the media for information to
make decisions.

RULES AND ETHICS OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM AND IMPACT ON JOURNALISM PRACTICE

Investigative journalism has not been fully developed in some countries. This is largely
attributed to the lack of institutional support towards this important form of journalism. Legally,
most countries still harbour laws and legislations that hinder journalists’ access to information,
thereby making it hard for journalist to have access to information for investigative journalism
purposes.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

And worse still, punishments for breaking the law in the accuse of gathering information are
unforgivable even though the news gathering adventure might have been done out of
public interest.

Some societies also have litigious individuals that are so powerful to the extent that they
would bribe their way out in winning defamation cases. Such and other examples show that
it could be difficult to establish a vibrant investigative journalism format in many societies
where such occurrences are common. Observably, a large number of countries pose that
challenge.

THE ROLE AND CONVENTIONS OF JOURNALISM IN DIFFERENT SOCIETIES

The information audiences or the public get is provided by the media/journalists. And the
quality or truthfulness of such information is highly dependent on the way the media is
enabled by the government to present and frame issues.

If the media is free and accorded necessary rights to gather and publish information, the
information audiences will get will be aligned towards the truth, and audiences will benefit
due to that. The issues audiences will be talking about in the public domain will be influenced
by the information the media will provide to them.

The general expectation of the public is that the media should work towards achieving
public interest as well as be accountable to the public. Doing so, however, will depend on
other factors, such as the legislations and other decisions the government can make towards

EXPLORING THE IMPLICATONS OF THE STATUS OF JOURNALISM IN DIFFERENT SOCIETIES

The status of journalism rests on its ability to objectively provide information to the public.
Such a status could be lost if the media does otherwise. This means the status journalists enjoy
in the society as the qualified sources of information for the society has an implication on
them and demands that they operate within the established functions the society expects
them to operate.

This status could be lost if the media starts to work in accordance with other interests different
from the interest of the public.

And is also being lost due to the coming in of the internet where the play-ground (the
internet as a media platform) is open to all, thus making it hard for audiences to differentiate
between those that are professionals and those that aren’t.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

PERCEPTIONS OF JOURANLISM AS A PROFESSION

Journalism is said to be profession because it has definite codes that define practice and
conduct on the ground. These codes are to act as principles to guide journalism practice,
and ensure there is uniformity of practice. A look from outside this profession could indicate
that journalism is not really a profession, owing to the fact that what journalists primarily do
(gathering and dissemination of information) is something every Jim and Jack would do. But
that has seemed to be on the paper. In practice it is a bit different. Journalists are not
actually operating in accordance with their defined principles, and therefore bringing in
issues of differences in operation. This has prompted some scholars to argue that perhaps
journalism is not a profession, since it is hard to clearly define the principles of journalists
based on their actions since they fail to achieve uniformity of practice and largely fail to
work towards meeting their professional principles.

MEDIA SYSTEMS OF GIVEN COUNTRY BEING SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ABSOLUTE FREEDOM OF

EXPRESSION AND ABSOLUTE SUBORDINATION TO THE STATE

In most democratic dispensations, the media are faced with a number of challenges, when
in fact, they were not expected to. The dawn of democracy for some scholars meant the
birth of total media freedom, but that hasn’t been the case. While it would be pure hatred
and ignorance to ignore efforts towards media freedom, it hasn’t however been enjoyed to
the maximum and according to expectations. Research has shown that even under
democratic principles and its associated features like press freedom, journalist still find it hard
to have access to information. This has been attributed to issues of readiness at the time
when democracy was being adopted. Many defined democracy as a form of leadership
style change and not one that also needed institutional changes, for example changes to
forms of legislations.

The media are therefore to a certain extent said to be somewhere between absolute
freedom of expression and absolute submission to the state or those in power.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEDIA SYSTEM AND POLITICAL SYSTEM

A media system of a given society is largely defined by its political system. A dictatorial
society, will most likely have a media system that act as a mouth piece or force aimed at
alleviating the ruling political system. Media system will therefore be subjected to censorship
and other systems of control such as the requirement for licensing
 Principles and the Role of the Media

A democratic society will be characterised by a media system under libertarian or social

responsibility where the media are free. The role of the media will therefore be to represent
factions and other interests or public interest in the case where the media system conforms
to public interest

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING (PSB)

The public service principle looks at media outlets whose primary mission and responsibility is
public service. In many countries, funding comes from the government. The British model has
been widely accepted as the universal definition. The model embodies the following
principles:

 Universal geographic accessibility

 Universal appeal

 Attention to minorities

 Contribution to national identity and sense of community

Public broadcasting is not synonymous to state broadcasting since they are not sanctioned
by governments

Research has shown that a Public Service principle of the media has been difficult to
internalize in other countries due to legal, political and cultural differences. In most countries,
PSBs might have been established, but its implementation changed into a state broadcaster
where a public service broadcaster is being used as a state machinery or apparatus to
maintain power.

This situation could be attributed to the legacy established under dictatorial eras where the
media were under the control of the government, and in some developing nations, that
meant, in its development agenda, the government used the public service broadcaster to
serve the people, but the handling was meant to put aside any dissenting voices that could
distract the government’s agenda for development. This meant that it became difficult for
PSBs to operate as they are expected to, and after adoption of democracies, the situation
on the ground did not change. Worse still, the funding of PSBs by the government through
tax-payer’s money meant that the government has total control over it, and thus making
them becoming state machineries, purposely established to paint the government or the
ruling elite in positive light.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

MEDIA AS THE FOURTH ESTATE

The media are considered the fourth estate, meaning they are looked at in theoretical terms
as an institution alongside other branches of government whose main aim is to provide
checks and balances to control politicians and prevent them from misusing their powers.
Under such a principles, the media’s role is not only limited to questioning those in power, but
also :

To be a main source of information, as well as providing a vital link between the government
and the polity or the public.

This principle regards the media as the precondition or prerequisite for government’s
accountability as well as social accountability. Ideally, the media comes in as an
independent entity whose role is more of a watchdog, checking over the actions of those in
power, and ensuring their conformity to their duty requirements and demands. In the
absence of the media, it is argued, it is difficult to check the actions of the government, as
there’s no independent reporting body. The presence of the media therefore comes in to
provide the system of checks and balance, thereby making the government accountable.

ROLE OF MEDIA IN SHAPING IDENTITY AND CHALLENGING ORTHODOX

In some countries with a public service form of media system, the role of the media is not only
limited to the provision of information or its associated functions like linkage and socialization,
but also to help shape identity of certain elements of the society. It could be shaping the
identity of a country, nation or group or people or certain intangible aspects of the society
like language. Through its reporting and analyses, the media angles the stories in an effort to
direct people towards a certain line of thinking that can help build an identity about
something or some people or groups of people.

Not only are the media expected to shape identity, but also to challenge some existence on
the ground. If at all the society has established norms that are proven to be dangerous to the
well-being of the society, the media should come in and present reports, analyses and
interpretations that show how dangerous an orthodox establishment. Such orthodox
establishments could be culture or religious beliefs.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

ROLE OF JOURNALISM IN CONTEMPORARY WORLD

In a globalised and advanced world, the role of the media has been seen to be a bit
different. Focus hasn’t just been on provision of information, even though that could be key
to journalism practice, but the media, owing to the demands and the international
landscape and its characterises, journalists are prompted to venture into other aspects that
have largely defined modern journalism in a contemporary world.

The media are expected to be linkage between and among people of different countries. A
globalised world presents a chance for people of different regions to connect, through the
media, and the internet technology has made this a bit easier.

Journalists have also been relied upon as the entity in the society that can facilitate the in
interaction people need by offering platform for the interaction of people of different origins.

Journalists are also expected to be interpreters of information and events and issues. In aa
contemporary world, audiences seem to be busy, and would not want to digest issues and
events on their own, and they look up to the media to come to their rescue.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Chapter
14

REPORTING OF HUMANITARIAN ISSUES BY THE MEDIA

According to the manual for Centre for Innovation and Learning, when disaster strikes,
information saves lives. In fact, people need information as much as they need, water food
and medicine. This shows how important journalism is in humanitarian issues. The media plays
an important role during an emergency or a disaster by providing crucial information

The media has a key role to play in a humanitarian crisis situation, one that goes beyond the
simple documentation of a disaster. When populations are struggling for basic needs and
rights, media can provide a basic crucial resource, information. During a crisis, journalists can
provide a better understanding of what is happening, what help is available, and how
people can better take care of themselves.

With the help of reliable, relevant, targeted information, people can better survive a major
humanitarian crisis and eventually begin to rebuild their lives.

Standard coverage of humanitarian situations often reflects the immediacy of modern

media, only focusing on the crisis at hand, and not considering a more expansive scenario.
But solid reporting on a major incident must include a variety of information including history,
analyses, educational outreaches, personal research and first hand accounts. This
information should come from a wide variety of sources, resources and stakeholders like the
government, NGOs, UN agencies, local aid organizations affected communities.

Information and communication are key tools for saving lives in an emergency response.
They help communities in crisis by allowing them to know what’s going on around them, to
organize, to coordinate, and to identify sources of support and assistance.

Information and communication are also vital for aid organizations in assessing what people
need and where, and to tell people how they can best access urgent assistance. Equally
important, information and communication function to give communities a say in the events
affecting them, to express their needs, to say what is working, and to make suggestions as to
how an emergency response can be improved

Local media play a critical role in bringing important information to communities affected by
disaster. Local media outlets are known and trusted by the communities they serve, local
 Principles and the Role of the Media

journalists in turn understand the needs of their own communities and know where to go –
and whom to talk to – to find out what is going on. They can also ensure that community
voices are raised on critical concerns.

However, reporting on an emergency is not like ordinary reporting. Time is short, the situation
is urgent and often chaotic. Local media organisations and journalists themselves may well
be affected by the disaster, looking for relatives and friends and seeking help.

Emergency response often involve large international and national aid organizations and
governments agencies with their own operational and communication systems with which
local media are unfamiliar. This is an enormous challenge that often creates serious obstacles
to good information and communication and can make it much harder for an emergency
response to be as effective as possible. Information and communication save lives, poor
information and ineffective communication put those lives at risk.

The roles of local and international media I an emergency response, while they overlap in
some areas are for the most part radically different. International media serve international
awareness telling audiences across the world what has happened and what the impact has
been on the local population. Pictures and testimonies from the ground thus help aid
organizations to raise the profile of the crisis and to garner funding for the response effort.

Local media in contrast must meet the immediate detailed information needs of local
audiences. The very people who have been affected by the emergency, including
neighbouring communities close enough to deliver immediate help. Where local media
perform this role effectively, they can save lives and help local recovery take place much
faster.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

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BRU – Definition of Public Service Broadcasting. Retrieved 13 October, 2020/

Crosbie, V. (2002). What is new media? Retrieved from http:www.sociology.org.uk/as4a.doc

on 12 June, 2020.

Flew, T. (2002). New Media: An Introduction. London: Oxford Press

Jenkins, H. (2002). Interactive Audiences? In the New Media Book (ed.) D. Harris. London:
BFO publishing

Public Broadcasting – Why, How? UNESCO and World Radio and TV Council. Retrieved 17
August, 2020.

Quintanilla, J. (2014). Reporting on humanitarian crises. A manual for trainers and journalists
and an introduction for humanitarian workers. Inter News: Centre for innovation and learning.

Robert, R. (2007). Normative Theories of the Press. Retrieved on 02, November, 2020.

Schultz, J. (1998). Reviving the Fourth Estate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

The 5 principles of ethical journalism. Ethical Journalism Network.

www.ethicaljournalismnetwork.org retrieved 30th October, 2020.

Webster, D. (1992). Building Free and Independent Media retrieved on 13th November, 2020.
 Principles and the Role of the Media

Do your best,

and God will do the rest