Indispensability of Media Ethics in the Age of Information Explosion

What can better signify the idea of freedom of expression than the Rigvedic thought “Let noble thoughts come to us from every side”. This was one of the guiding posts for Mahatma Gandhi throughout his journey of Freedom Struggle and later became the keystone of the arch of Indian democracy which upholds an individual’s right to freedom of speech and expression constitutionally. And Media in its widest definition is one of the flag bearers of the freedom of speech and expression.

Media in Information Age

• Media, plural of medium refers to communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are disseminated. Media includes every broadcasting and narrowcasting medium such as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail, telephone, fax, and internet.
• The principle objective of media in this age of information highways is not only to serve people with information in a fair, accurate, unbiased, decent and prudent manner and language but also to sense the pulse of the milieu through feedback, comments, letters to editors etc.
• Due to its indispensable role media is also called the fourth pillar of democracy which not only disseminates public opinion but also shapes it. Parliamentary democracy can flourish only under the observant lens of media as it not only reports but also acts as a bridge between the state and the public.

Legal Sanctions Behind Freedom of Speech

• Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution of India guarantees to the citizens, the right to “Freedom of speech and expression”  which implies that every citizen has the right to express his views, opinions, belief and convictions freely by word of mouth, writing, printing, picturing or in any other manner. The Supreme Court upheld the right to propagation of other’s views as well. However, the State can impose reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the freedom of speech and expression on the grounds of sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, contempt of court, defamation, and incitement to an offence.
• Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights promulgated by the United Nations in 1948 states that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression’, the right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek and receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.

Issues Plaguing Media at Present

In the present era of globalization, there is a visible spurt in form and expanse of media be it private channels, social media websites, blogs, newspapers, or videos. Media has taken over the reins of human life in totality and is influencing and reshaping the thoughts of people 24x7. The media today does not remain satisfied as the Fourth Estate, it has assumed the foremost importance in society and governance and has become all pervasive and powerful. But with greater power media failed to assume greater responsibility and now is plagued with uncountable ills such as:

• Paid News: The practice of cash or kind payment to journalists and media organizations by individuals and organizations so as to appear in their news articles and to "ensure sustained positive coverage".
• Fake News: A form of news consisting of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes.
• Partisan and Ideologically Biased Reporting: The entire media appears to be split in the middle into ideological camps of left and right with only suffocating constricted space for truly liberal, tolerant, and centrist ideas, if any.
• Corporate Meddling in Editorial Board Rooms: With the funnelling of huge corporate money into media houses these days, editorial teams seem to be bending backwards to please the pay masters.
• Unaccountable for Pandering Unverified News:  Many media outlets these days keep furnishing unverified news due to lack of a mechanism to make them accountable. The pen which once was considered mightier than the sword appears to be turning murkier than the sewage drain.
• Sensationalism and Click-bait Headlines: Any and everything under the sun is being presented to people in a manner where it becomes difficult to control the urge to click on the news item. And the manner in which it is presented is nothing less than sensational, under-researched and trashy just for few page views and likes.
• Vulturism and Rapaciousness: Any event however gory or heart-breaking is just a fodder for media persons these days be it hungry kids sleeping on pavement or a distraught person seeking justice. The responsibility of journalists appears to end the moment camera is off and the photo op is done and dusted.
• Media Trial: Even before the initiation of due process of law, media trial expressly declares or exonerates someone as a criminal or a saint on the bases of its own bias, vested interest or the race of breaking news.

A Prescription for Ethical Journalism

With so much power and strength, the media cannot lose sight of its privileges, duties and obligations. It enjoys the privilege to ‘question' others; has the right to collect information from primary authentic sources for disseminating to people in an unbiased way with the aim to inform and not to create sensation and harm. However, media is mandated to follow certain ethics in collecting and disseminating information viz., ensuring authenticity of the news, use of restrained and socially acceptable language for ensuring objectivity and fairness in reporting and keeping in mind its cascading effect on the society and on the individuals and institutions concerned.
Freedom of expression is no doubt a fundamental right but it has to be broadly guided and bound by societal duties and ethics. This involves a sensitive balancing act to protect the rights of individuals while exercising the right of expression. As Albert Schweitzer, a German Nobel Peace prize winner once remarked “The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings”.
Ethics is a code of values and principles which helps to live a moral life. Journalistic ethics are the common moral values that guide reporters. They lay out both the aspirations and obligations that journalists, editors, and others working in the field should follow to execute their work responsibly. These are essentially voluntary self-restraints to be practised by journalists, to preserve and promote the trust of people and to maintain their own credibility without betraying the confidence of people. In this light, following core ethical practices of Journalism are the least that our media persons are expected to internalise:

• Truth and Accuracy: Journalists cannot always guarantee ‘truth’ but getting the facts right is the cardinal principle of journalism. They should always strive for accuracy, prevent fudging and falsification of facts and figures; give all the relevant facts they have and ensure that the data has been checked thoroughly. When they cannot corroborate information, they should say so clearly instead of peddling misinformation.
• Fairness and Impartiality: Journalist should ensure that their stories are balanced even when there is no obligation to present every side because impartial reporting builds trust and confidence.
• Objectivity: Objectivity is not always feasible, and may not always be desirable (for instance in the cases of brutality or inhumanity), but appearance as well as reality of objectivity is crucial.
• Honesty: Never use dishonest means to obtain information.
• Independence: Journalists must be independent voices and should not act, formally or informally, on behalf of vested interests whether political, corporate or cultural. It’s their duty to declare to editors – or the audience – their political affiliations, financial arrangements or other personal information that might constitute a conflict of interest.
• Harm Minimization: Not every fact that can be published should be published. If the amount of harm that could come to private individuals—particularly children—as a result of disclosure exceeds the public good that would come of it, then news outlets might choose not to publish the story. This consideration is huge in matters of national security, where lives could be on the line.
• Public Accountability: A sure sign of professionalism and responsible journalism is the ability to be accountable. For this, it is necessary to correct one’s mistakes, express sincere non-cynical regret and provide remedies when the conduct is unfair.  News organizations should listen to their audience. To enable the public to hold them accountable, journalists should write under their own by-lines and accept responsibility for their words. When news outlets publish factual errors, they need to issue a correction.
• Respect for Privacy: Intrusion into the personal space of others while reporting is against the norm of decency and can also endanger people. Therefore, it is prudent to exercise some restraint in such sensitive matters.
• Tolerance: It is the duty of media not to discriminate or to inflame hatred on grounds such as race, nationality, caste, religion, or gender. Instead it should focus on coverage which promotes tolerance.
• Avoiding Libel: This is a legal as well as a moral imperative for journalists to not print false statements that damage a person’s reputation.
• No Medial Trial: Media should not forejudge the guilt of an accused or dismiss the charges and acquit a person blatantly as in this information age even judiciary is not immune to the whiff and wave of the nation. It has the potential, however small, to affect the due process of law as well as judicial proceeding.

Hold Power With Responsibility

These ethical prescriptions are not a noose to control media but are necessary for objective and just use of media for maintaining freedom of speech and expression in true spirit. Ethical principles cannot be treated as absolute rules of law cast in stone, rigidly enforceable in all situations, under all circumstances. These are flexible, general principles, with range and reach wider than law. The sanction behind them is moral and their motive-force lies in the conscience of the concerned media person.
Mahatma Gandhi, looked upon journalism as a means to serve people. He believed that the newspaper press is a great power, but just as an unchained torrent of water submerges whole countryside and devastates crops, even so an uncontrolled pen serves but to destroy. If the control is from without, it proves more poisonous than want of control. It can be profitable only when exercised from within. Keeping his words as the guiding light, it is now the responsibility of the media persons of current crop to live up to Gandhi’s belief and seek ethics within before without.