Introduction

1. In South Africa, newspaper editors grapple over whether to report that a presidential spokesperson has died of AIDS. Does reporting the cause of death violate the mans privacy? Should AIDS be treated differently than other diseases? Are public officials afforded fewer privacy protections because of their jobs?
2.

Reporters in India, working for an Internet news site, pose as businessmen representing a fictitious company. Their goal is to document suspected corruption in the channels of military procurement. The reporters lay the groundwork for months, bribing defense officials and even providing them with prostitutes. Their investigation, documented on film, leads to resignations all the way up to the minister of defense. Does the end justify their means? Do reporters have a right to interview and cover subjects without identifying themselves as reporters?

3.

A war correspondent for Turkeys largest newspaper, determined to enter neighboring Iraq to cover the war in 2003 but unable to get a journalists visa, goes as a human shield. Human shieldscivilians who objected to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraqwere welcomed by the Iraqi government. By acting as a human shield, the reporter said, he was able to give his readers information that would have been censored if he had been there officially as a journalist. He never lied about his identity. But did his acting as a human shield compromise his independence as a reporter? Did the uncensored information he was able to share justify his means for obtaining it?

What would you do in these situations? These are real dilemmas faced by real journalists. Why should journalists and media managers care about professional ethics?

Journalists who adhere to professional standards, who strive to produce accurate reporting in an ethical manner, certainly gain professional satisfaction. They also earn credibility with their readers and viewers, and a reputation for reliability for their news organizations. A newspaper, TV station or radio station with a reputation for credibility and reliability has an excellent chance for commercial success. So, in addition to moral incentives for practicing ethical journalism, there are economic drivers as well. Finally, governments are less likely to try to impose standards on media if journalists hold themselves to high ethical standards. In many ways the need for professional ethical standards has never been greater. The advent of larger and larger mass media organizations, news cycles that have shrunk from days to hours or minutes, and a renewed awareness of the vital link between a free press and a free society have fueled interest in developing ethical standards. This has been particularly true in the countries of Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, countries that are newly democratic in many cases and confronting the burgeoning demands of global economics. In much of the developing world, the focus on more systematic approaches to journalism ethics has coincided, not accidentally, with the emergence of constitutional government and democratic political processes. Greater press freedom has allowed for more assertive, less defensive journalism and greater

consciousness of the need for standards to ensure quality and avoid abuse. Media ethics must emerge from those who write and edit the news, from the publishers and station owners, and from the workers who sell the advertising and subscriptions to sustain the business. Developing ethical standards is a personal exercise in part and a collective one too. But effective and meaningful ethical standards can never be imposed from an external source they must be an outgrowth of those who practice them everyday.