Issues Relating to Factual Programming

5 Core Values of Journalism

Accuracy: the truth can be replaced by accuracy, meaning that all facts stated are precise and correct, it is unethical for the journalist to portray information that is incorrect just to support a point trying to be made.

• “No deceptive handling of the facts.”- Aiden White- Director of Ethical Journalism Network.

Independence: When one becomes a journalist, they become the soul responsible of the words written, verbal, or any information that that they  broadcast.

• “When transmitting information, you become an independent individual.”-Aiden White- Director of Ethical Journalism Network.

Impartiality– A journalist has to ensure that there is more than one version of the story being told, therefore this has to be recognised to avoid the story being completely bias.

• “Looking and thinking what are the other sides of this story”- Aiden White- Director of Ethical Journalism Network.
• “Impartiality will help bring the story as a whole”- Aiden White- Director of Ethical Journalism Network.

Question of Humanity– There are always consequences to your words and actions, therefore, the way one communicates must be done with caution as these words could cause harm to certain people reading the article. For example, any type of hate speech or graphic media shown (however it does depend on the context of the article, graphic media might be justified).

• “Expected to be aware of the consequences of what you publish and what you broadcast”- Aiden White- Director of Ethical Journalism Network.
• “Journalism should be part of a humanitarian process”- Aiden White- Director of Ethical Journalism Network.

Accountability-  the fact or condition of being responsible for one’s own actions.

• “Engage with audience and correct our mistakes”- Aiden White- Director of Ethical Journalism Network.

For example, the case of Chelsea Manning, a transgender woman, who prior to her transition, served in the US military as an intelligence analyst. She had access to classified databases and later on, leaked this information to Wiki Leaks. Her story was followed heavily by the media, however, they tended to focus on the fact that she was transgender and brought up negative information on her part, however journalists (who clearly support the governments privacy) writing this story  did not support the fact that she leaked this information and seemed to to take it more personally. The majority of the articles being written about her failed to recognised both sides of the story and often picked up on the fact she was transgender, when in reality, this fact was completely irrelevant to the story.