Ethics in Journalism

We must consider how the Internet is shaping journalisim.


This is the era of post modern culture. Post modern culture is volatile, illogical, inventive and hedonistic. In almost every description of the modern age the Internet features as one aspect which embodies the era we are currently living in.

In general online news sites do follow the ethical rules that trained journalists try to follow. They even have an advantage in that they can warn consumers before they click on a link to a story. When an Irish newspaper published the photo of a Romanian man’s head encased in a plastic bag found in the Royal canal, there was a huge furore. This wouldn’t have happened online because they would have issued a warning before people could click on a link and see the photograph.

But I think the larger Internet has an old wild west feel to it that is seeping into mainstream journalism. The Internet can allow great things but it also allows:

• One cannibal to find another.
• The Klu Klux Klan, anti-semitic's, fundamentalist terrorists, paedophiles to communicate and spread their beliefs or perversions with one another in relative safety.
• Libel and copyright laws to be largely ignored.
• Plagiarism - it is possible to buy term papers.
• An intimate video involving Paris Hilton and her boyfriend (sorry no link) can be seen online.

I recently watched "Jamie’s School Dinners" on Channel 4. I was shocked and appalled at the rubbish that he and his family have to put up with from the tabloid media.

• Apparently his marriage was on the rocks.
• He had an affair with a waitress.
• He was physically abusing his wife.

Jamie Oliver has a wife, 2 young children, a restaurant to run and a host of media commitments. Yet he is giving his time to try and improve the health of Britain’s school children by replacing the junk food on the menu with healthy food. Jamie Oliver should be knighted for what he is trying to do but the print media continue to libel him. Why? Because it sells papers.

When he heard that a newspaper was going to print allegations about him beating his wife, he took action. He rang his lawyer and after much wrangling the story wasn’t published. In his words he said, "It cost a shit load of money and in the long run probably won’t make any difference". He then broke down.

I think the Internet’s dubious attitude to ethics is affecting journalism in general as shown by the example above. They think they can get away with anything. The Internet is having positive effects on ethics in Journalism but sadly also negative ones.

If you have any comments on this article or suggestions please e-mail me at oregandf@hotmail.com

Are Bloggers Real Journalists?

Journalism is a funny profession. Basically anyone that can write (even tenuously) is capable of being a journalist. There is no license or training required. It’s a bit like watching ER, feeling in a medical mood, putting on a white coat and heading down to your local hospital. So do bloggers devalue Journalism?

I don’t think so. Most of them are full of rather boring personal info like I have a dog called Ben who snores when he sleeps. Fascinating stuff but hardly life altering. Then again what is a "real" journalist? Is somebody who works for Heat magazine and writes about Kate Winslett piling on the pounds a real journalist?

Some bloggers though are doing the work of journalists. This can occur when the public are not happy with the service provided by "real" journalists or journalists have been censored by government. Here are just 2 examples.


Nepalese Bloggers Defy Media Clampdown by King


After the recent royal take-over in Nepal, King Gyandendra censored the media, arrested journalists and cut communications but bloggers kept on blogging.

• They wrote about the army closing down community radio stations.
• Journalists critical of the King being imprisoned.
• Newspapers running editorials on the weather.
• The corruption present in the new regime.

If that isn’t "real" journalism then I don’t know what is. For more details please go to the Online Journalism Review web site.

The battle over Terry Schiavo was a huge story over here so god knows what it was like in America. Although I knew the bare facts of the story i.e. her husband wanted to let her slip away and her parents wanted to keep her alive. But I didn’t grasp from the media over here the legal intricacies involved.

It must have been the same in America because a lot of people turned to lawyer Matt Conigliaro’s blog entitled Abstract Appeal. His plain language explanations of case Law struck a chord with the general public. Is he a "real" journalist? Definitely.

Are bloggers "real" journalists? Some are and some aren’t but in the 2 cases I’ve mentioned it must be both comforting and discomforting for "real" journalists to know that bloggers have got their back.

To learn more about Terry Schiavo (may she rest in peace), please click here.

Linear Story Telling versus Non-Linear

What is the point of basically having print newspapers online?

The Internet allows so many more possibilities than the plain linear format. A linear form means that the reader has no choice. They read the story from top to bottom and that’s it. Exactly as you would read a story in a newspaper. There is no possibility for the reader to learn more about an aspect of the story that particularly interests them.

A non-linear format means that the reader can dip in and out of a story as they please. If a celebrity like Sean Penn appears in a story and the reader wants to learn more about that celeb then they can click on a link and get his biography.

Non-linear storytelling breaks the story into several parts with links to other web sites or multimedia like video clips, sound clips, games etc. This also makes a story easier and more interesting to read online.

A Nielsen study in 1997 found that 79% of people scan content on the Internet when reading and only 16% of people read every word. Another survey discovered that people read up to 25% slower online. Non-linear storytelling obviously lends itself to the Internet.

Still though some news sites persist in copying and pasting from their print newspapers to their online version. The Irish Times web site is a prime example. This is called shovelware. The Internet is a totally different medium to print. So can you imagine Grainne Seoige reading straight from a newspaper story on television?

Leah Gentry the editorial director of the online LA Times calls, "the web a user driven experience that is suited by non-linear storytelling". I concur that a non linear format gets the most from the Internet and is what the consumer wants.

If you have any comments on this story please contact me at oregandf@hotmail.com

Recommended Link

For more information please check out NewMediaJournalism

New Journalism

The world needs a real media alternative.

The Internet offers this and its potential is only beginning to be seen.. To prove that the world craves more media options, I will use the example of September 11th 2001. A large proportion of people in America logged onto the Internet after the terror attack. Why? Because they felt cheated by the television, radio and print newspapers who failed to inform them of the rabid anti-Americanism present in parts of the world.

This was because the general media cut costs by removing a lot of their foreign corespondents. Subsequently the amount and quality of foreign news in America was low to non-existent. That is one specific reason to prove the need for a real media alternative. I am about to list general reasons why other options are needed and to show that journalism in print, radio and television form is being devalued.

• Oligopoly control has reduced press diversity - there has been a long term reduction in the number of competing newspapers and an increase in monopoly and chain ownership. Independent Newspapers owns just over 67% of Irish daily newspapers. There has been consolidation and centralised control of magazine, record, book and film production.
• Market entry for newcomers is restricted due to rising capitalisation costs. In Britain you need 20 to 30 million to start a national daily newspaper. 30 million to establish a cable television station and over 50 million to establish a new satellite television business.
• Media owners are not generally subject to the dictates of the market. They impose their convictions on personnel and thus on their audience or readers. Is it a coincidence that only one editor working for a Rupert Murdoch owned newspaper openly opposed the Iraqi war?
• Advertisers are essential to the media in general and can shape the media by weighing the economic value of audience

These are just a couple of reasons to prove that print, TV and radio journalism needs a new rival. There are many excellent web sites out there that have an original, fresh and thought provoking attitude. Indymedia is one example and I urge you to check it out. It is an example of what the Internet allows, what the media in general needs and what a large percentage of people crave.

Online Newspapers versus Print Nespapers

We are currently living in the Internet age. Although we are only beginning to see what the Internet is truly capable of. The days of 56k modems are nearly over. Broadband is becoming the norm and as technology improves so will the Internet’s capabilities. I think that in 20 years time, we will look back at the Internet in it’s current form and compare it to Commodore 64 games. At the time we all thought they were amazing but knowing what we know now, they were terrible. It is true that the Internet is in the process of changing the face of Journalism but the printed newspaper has taken on other new media competitors before and survived even thrived. Let battle commence.

Important Advantages of Newspapers

• It is a part of our culture and history. Buying a daily newspaper is a habit that people will find hard to give up.
• It is easier to read words on paper (less taxing on the eyes) than on a computer screen.
• People tend to trust news stories from respected broad-sheets more so than those from the Internet.
• Most well known journalists write for daily or weekly newspapers. If Kevin Myers wrote exclusively for www.Ireland.com (the Irish Times web site) then I think there would be a drop in the paper’s print sales.

Important Advantages of Online Newspapers

• Many online newspapers are free or significantly cheaper than what you would pay every day for a printed newspaper..
• On the Internet people can learn more about stories that interest them by clicking on recommended links.
• Online newspapers can be updated in a matter of seconds. This is ideal for breaking news or election stories.
• No matter where you are in the world you can read your favourite newspaper online (presuming of course you have Internet access)

In my opinion print newspapers still hold the upper hand. This was brought home to me recently when I was in Australia. I could easily have gone to an Internet café and read 3 or 4 Irish newspapers online. Instead I preferred to buy a weekly newspaper printed in Australia that gave a weekly summary of events in Ireland. Why? Because I could go into my local pub, have a few schooners and read my paper at leisure. Online newspapers - "It just ain’t the same".

I will be dealing with other topics that relate to this article like shovelware, scannability, linear and non-linear structure so please keep reading.

Recommended Link

For an excellent general web site and a particularly good essay by Jay Rosen on the press both online and in print please visit the Department of Journalism of New York University.

Opinion Poll

Do you prefer reading newspapers online or on old fashioned paper? Please e-mail me at oregandf@hotmail.com and in the subject box please type print or online. After 100 response I will publish the results.

I KEANO

Despite my current financial woes, next week should be a veritable feast of entertainment. On Tuesday I will be attending the critically acclaimed I Keano at the Olympia. Football and Comedy is rarely combined and the fact that Arthur Matthews, the guys from Apres Match and Mario Rosenstock are behind the production almost guarantee success. Its good reviews came from the usual theatre critics as well as The Sunday Tribune's chief sportswriter Paul Howard and The Sunday Independent's soccer correspondent Dion Fanning.
The names Roy Keane, Mick McCarthy and Saipan were the only words on Irish peoples lips in the Summer of 2002. It was not just male sports fans that were interested, it engulfed the whole country. Almost everybody had and has an opinion on what happened. I thought I would never say this but Marion Finucane and Joe Duffy's talk shows are a good barometer on what the plain people of Ireland are thinking and this was exemplified by the Saipan debate. Ireland's grannies, soccer moms, priests, bakers you name it were on the air and they all had an opinion. Even today if the subject comes up after a few pints the debate can go long into the night. It united the country in debate then and now it is being immortalised on the stage. It is in the form of a Roman/Greek tragedy. I saw it on Tuesday February the 22nd