Media Ethics

Media Marketing – Lecture 10

Introduction

•Media ethics ( 媒體道德 ) are important because citizens rely heavily on media to make informed decisions in a democratic framework and because media credibility ( 公信力 ) is necessary to attract and keep an audience.

你信邊個…？

Who do you trust? 你信邊個…？

信我啦 !!!

Who do you trust? 你信邊個…？• □ Print journalists? 報章雜誌記者• □ Reporters and anchors for network television

news? 網絡新聞記者及主持• □ Reporters for special news programming, such as

newsmagazines? 特備節目記者• □ Reporters and anchors for local news? 電視新聞記

者及主播• □ Public relations practitioners who work for

nonprofit companies? 公關 ( 非牟利機構 )• □ Public relations practitioners who work for profit-

making companies? 公關 ( 牟利機構 )• □ Advertisers? 廣告人• □ Sources of news: Politicians? ( 政府新聞處 )• □ Sources of news: People who hold high positions

in the business world? (達官貴人 )

Press Responsibility新聞責任

Press Responsibility

•Changes in theories of press responsibility have evolved ( 形成 ) with changes in the role of government and the relationship between the individual and society. ( 新聞責任不斷的改變，某程度上基於政府之角色及社會與個人關係之改變 )

Press Responsibility

•Initially ( 起初 ), the press sought to provide information that individuals could use to make rational decisions ( 讓讀者作出理性決定 ).

Press Responsibility

•Initially ( 起初 ), the press sought to provide information that individuals could use to make rational decisions ( 讓讀者作出理性決定 ).

•As government assumed ( 承擔 ) increased social roles, the role of the media shifted from providing basic information to sorting information ( 資料分類 ) and presenting a balanced ( 平衡的 ) report in a context of meaning.

Press Responsibility• During the twentieth century, social

responsibility has become the dominant ( 主流的 ) theoretical model for media.

• Freedom carries concomitant obligations ( 自由是有附帶的義務 ), and the press enjoys a privileged ( 權利 ) position under our government, is obliged ( 有義務 ) ▫to be responsible to society for carrying out

certain essential ( 基本的 ) functions of mass communications in contemporary ( 現今的 ) society.

▫In addition, media should continue to be free from government in order to watch over government. ( 監察政府 )

Responses to Ethical Standards對道德標準之回應

Ethical Standards• Standards can be imposed through

agreements among professionals to behave in certain ways and to punish certain behaviors ( 道德標準好多時都來自不同的共識 ).

• 香港新聞從業員專業操守守則 – 草擬原文： “我們確信新聞從業員應竭力維護新聞自由，承擔社會責任，以公眾利益為依歸”，後來記協、攝協反對下，只好刪減 “承擔社會責任”及 “以公眾利益為依歸”

Ethical Standards

•Ethical standards are upheld ( 獲支持 ) by educating professionals in moral reasoning processes that help individuals and organizations make decisions about how to handle specific situation.

Industry’s Response (行家的反應 )Codes of Ethics (行規 )•Media organizations have established

codes of ethics to standardize media behavior. Although critics argue that many of the codes are shallow 容易明白 , the code guidelines still serve as reminders that ethical standards are considered important for credibility, profitability and the good of society ( 對公信力及社會利益的有好的幫助 ).

Industry’s Response (行家的反應 )Ombudsmen 監察者•The primary function of the ombudsman is to

represent the readers and to criticize the actions of the newspaper when the ombudsman believes it has done something wrong.

•An effective ombudsman will serve as the newspaper’s conscience ( 良心 ) and help to ensure that readers and the community are served and that ethical standards are observed.

Critics’ Response (評議者回應 )

News Council (e.g. Hong Kong Press Council 香港報業評議會 )

•A committee that reviews potentially unethical activities of news organizations, which would hear complaints against news media, investigate each complaint, pass judgment on the complaint, and publicize ( 公開 ) the judgment.

Hong Kong Press Council 香港報業評議會

Additional Information

•香港記者協會、•香港攝影記者協會、•香港新聞行政人員協會、•香港新聞工作者聯會

•香港新聞從業員專業操守守則

廣播事務管理局

Critics’ Response (評議者回應 )

Journalism Review 新聞學的監察•Only a small percentage of newspapers

have ombudsmen, and news media have failed to support news councils, but another forum for criticizing media behavior exists in the United States: the journalism review.

•For example, Columbia Journalism Review is published by Columbia University.

Journalism Review 新聞學的監察

Basic Ethical Standards in Media 基本的傳媒道德

Accuracy 準確性•Accuracy is not simple truth but the

reporting of information in a context (上文下理 ) that allows people to discern (看出 ) the truth.

•Some inaccuracies (不正確 ) can be

damaging. (一子錯，滿盤皆落索… )

Accuracy 準確性

Objectivity 中立性

•To be truly unbiased is an admirable (極好的 ) but unattainable goal (達不到的目標 ).

Objectivity 中立性

•To be truly unbiased is an admirable (極好的 ) but unattainable goal (達不到的目標 ).

• Journalists who accept objectivity as a goal need to be aware of their biases and then report and produce as objective a story as possible. (始於人就係人，絕對中立是不可能的，不過都要以依個為目標 )

Fairness and Balance 公平及平衡性

•Fairness and balance often go hand in hand (連接 ) with accuracy and objectively.

•Reporters attempt to investigate the many sides of a story.

•In fact, stories need to take into account the range of different opinions. (作為記者，必須要對不同的人和事都以公平方式去報導 )

Accurate representation and absence of fakery 正確的表達及不要偽造•Because of the competition for viewers,

the line between entertainment and news was badly blurred (模糊不清 ). This may lead to misrepresentation and fakery.

Accurate representation and absence of fakery 正確的表達及不要偽造•Because of the competition for viewers,

the line between entertainment and news was badly blurred (模糊不清 ). This may lead to misrepresentation and fakery.

•The integration of design and production has saved magazines millions of dollars and cut production time ( 製作同設計同家 – 排版問題 ). Technology also has allowed publishers to print split runs ( 分開報導 ) and use selective binding ( 選擇性遵守 ).

Truth 真實性

•Although journalists cannot always ensure that their stories are true, they can make an extra effort to be truthful and to avoid lying. (雖然唔知道自己所講是否絕對正確，不過要肯定是事實之全部 )

Integrity of sources 資料來源的真實性

•A journalist’s story is only as good as his or her sources. (作為記者，必須要確保所得的資料來源的可信性 )

• In 1981, a twenty-six year old Washington Post reporter, won a Pulitzer Prize for a front-page article called “Jimmy’s World”. Jimmy was an heroin addict. Soon after receiving the award, Cooke confessed that she had concocted the story. Jimmy did not exist. She returned the prize and left the Post.

Avoiding conflict of interest 避免自我興趣或取向的抵觸•Outside business, social and personal

activities and contacts can subtly (巧妙 ) influence the ability of mass media professionals to conduct objective reporting.

•This is called conflict of interest. For example, an animal rights activist not to cover comprehensively(包括一切 ) and fairly a story on animals and scientific experiments.

• (地產報導 – 請記者去外國參加記招， conflict of interest)

Ethical Situations and Dilemmas 道德的兩難

Ethical Situations and Dilemmas •Some situations are variations ( 變動 ) on

common dilemmas ( 兩難 ).

•Because these dilemmas recur ( 重提 ) often, personnel in many news organizations have developed consistent ways of dealing with them.( 廣告部 VS 新聞部 )

Business and Media Content – 商業角度及媒體內容 廣告 VS 新聞

•Most media outlets are businesses, and many depend heavily, if not entirely, on advertising revenue which often creates ethical dilemmas for people who create media content (e.g. 蘋果與長實 ).

Business and Media Content – 商業角度及媒體內容 廣告 VS 新聞

•Businesses can affect the content in a variety of ways, but the most effective impact is created through advertising. ( 由廣告落手 )

•Advertisers can withhold advertising in what is called an advertising boycott ( 廣告抵制 ), or they may seek favorable treatment by buying advertising.

Business and Media Content – 商業角度及媒體內容 廣告 VS 新聞

•Just how advertising and business pressure affects content depends on the ethics of the individual journalists and managers ( 要視乎你老細在乎什麼… )

•廣告收入定自由新聞，成為了傳媒一個兩難地方

Freebies and Junkets 免費的招待 – 公關 VS 新聞•One element of a respectful relationship

between journalists and public relations professionals has been an acknowledgment that public relations is most effective when it is based on accurate ( 準確 ) and convincing ( 令人信服 ) information and that journalist can best act with integrity ( 誠實 ) when they are not indebted to specific organizations or people.

Freebies and Junkets 免費的招待 – 公關 VS 新聞•If journalists are accepting free trips,

movie passes or other perks, they are less likely to report a story with full objectivity. ( 傳媒若要得到從公關而來的可靠免費消費，就必須如實報導，相反，公關亦必須如此 )

Anonymous Attribution 不公開的來源

• Public relations professionals and advertisers often make use of the anonymous source ( 對資料來源不多公開 ), claiming that a product is “first in the city” or “rated number one” without attributing the information or discussing the research behind the claim.

• It then falls to the consumer either to accept the claim or to doubt ( 懷疑 ) it and the credibility of related information. (無 Source就No Talk~! 廣告及公關想做第一，但無 Source 只令人懷疑其可信性 )

Anonymous Attribution 不公開的來源

Checkbook Journalism 支票新聞學•News organizations, both broadcast and

print, sometimes pay sources for story ideas and information. ( 用錢收買資料來源 )

Checkbook Journalism 支票新聞學•News organizations, both broadcast and

print, sometimes pay sources for story ideas and information. ( 用錢收買資料來源 )

•Such checkbook journalism used to occur

mostly in entertainment, but with the lines blurring between news and entertainment, journalistic standards quickly can take second row. (e.g. 陳健康事件 – 記者付錢給當事人去『製造』新聞 )

Trends

Trends •As media companies compete for readers,

viewers and listeners, organizations are tempted to (有興趣於 ) emphasize sensational content to get attention, thus accelerating the trend toward infotainment (資訊娛樂 ).

•This might lead to sensationalism and news programs that contain little hard news (實質新聞越來越少 ) and many consumer and entertainment oriented features (變得娛樂性高於新聞性 ).

Trends

•Specialization gives the advertisers more power over content because the media company becomes more dependent on a few advertisers. (廣告商專門化 – 公司往往依賴主流的數間 4As 廣告公司，廣告的道德成關注 )

Advertising

Trends

•Companies with high profit margin requirements might be less likely to write or broadcast negative information about their advertisers and more likely to give in to advertisers boycotts (抵制 ).

Tutorial – Media EthicsMedia Marketing

Basic Ethical Standards in Media 基本的傳媒道德

Media Ethics

Trend

全民開講

•一份報章的內容，會受以下四類人的影響：辦報人、編輯或記者、讀者、廣告商。你怎樣去理解他們的關係？到底誰才能左右報章的內容？誰對報刊的影響最大？

 •傳媒對個人、社會產生了巨大的影響力，到底它為我們帶來的好處較多，還是壞處較多？