31st May 2016
By Stefanie Chernow

Ethical Journalism Network Newsletter – 31 May 2016

News

A Police Siege and then Suicide- A Thai Lesson in Ethical Choices

Reporting on suicide gets to the heart of a key journalistic principle – to show humanity in our work and respect for the audience – and this week a shocking live broadcast on national television in Thailand opened up a national debate on standards that resonates around the world.

Read the full article here. (EJN)

Irish Press Ombudsman reveals complaints in 2015: half related to truth and accuracy

Almost half of the complaints received by the Press Ombudsman in 2015 were to do with truth and accuracy, according to the office’s annual report.

Truth and accuracy was the largest cause of complaint last year.

Privacy, including the privacy of children, was the second largest cause of complaint and distinguishing fact and comment was the third largest.

Read the full article here. (The Irish Times)

Teaching the Agony of Ethical Dilemmas at DePaul University

“There is real agony to ethical dilemmas as we strive to be both competitive and excellent,” said Carol Marin, one of Chicago’s most respected journalists, as she launched DePaul University’s Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence.

Marin will be co-director of the new center with her longtime television producer, Don Moseley. Both recently won Peabody Awards for their coverage of the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, the third Peabody for Marin and the second for Moseley.

Read the full article here. (Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists)

Conflict, Ethics and Arab Media: facing up to hate speech

Arab media aren’t facing up to their responsibility of not fanning the flames of hate speech and sedition, and should exert more effort to mitigate conflicts they help provoke.

Read the full article here. (HuffPost Media)

Guardian reviews freelance policy after reporter fabricated stories

The Guardian is reviewing its freelance policy after one of its freelancers was reported to have fabricated stories and interviews. Thirteen articles written by Joseph Mayton were unpublished.

Read the full article here. (Press Gazette)

Conflict of Interest: What Does it Mean?

“What counts as a conflict of interest?” Interestingly, the SPJ code is relatively silent on this.

It does say that journalists should “avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived,”and “disclose unavoidable conflicts.” But the code does not provide further details about what would make a conflict unavoidable, nor does it offer a precise definition of what it means to say a conflict of interest exists.

This is not a criticism of the code itself; it is a reason why ethical professionals sensibly seek advice from time to time.

Read the full article here. (Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists)

Thiel-Gawker Fight Raises Concerns About Press Freedom

The story of Gawker versus Hulk Hogan — or, perhaps more accurately, Peter Thiel — has some asking whether press freedom in the United States is in peril if a scorned billionaire can help deliver a crippling blow to a media company.

Read the full article here. (NYT)

Russia, Pakistan, Others Block UN Access For Press Freedom Group

Russia, Pakistan, and Azerbaijan were among a group of countries that blocked giving United Nations accreditation to the media freedom watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists.

A UN committee that accredits such non-governmental groups voted 10 to 6 on May 26 to deny the group consultative status, which it needs to attend open meetings and conferences, including the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Read the full article here. (Radio Free Europe)

Here are the 7 questions the press needs to ask Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s characteristically “rollicking” and dissembling press conference yesterday in North Dakota, ostensibly to celebrate wrapping up the Republican presidential nomination, didn’t include this question: Why does the press do such an awful job of interrogating him?

Read the full article here. (Poynter)

Activities

European Conference Marking Statewatch’s 25th Anniversary- Civil Liberties, the State, and the European Union

10:00 – 17:00, Saturday 25 June 2016

Resource for London, 356 Holloway Road, London N7 (map)

For 25 years Statewatch has been working to publish and promote investigative journalism and critical research in Europe in the fields of the state, justice and home affairs, civil liberties, accountability and openness. We invite you to join us in London on 25 June 2016 at our Conference where there will be:

Workshops and discussions on the refugee crisis in the Med and in the EU; mass surveillance; the EU’s crisis of legitimacy and accountability; the policing of protest and criminalisation of communities; racism, xenophobia and the far right; strategies of resistance and the defence of civil liberties.

PROGRAMME: PDF

http://statewatch.org/conference/

European Media Coverage of the Refugee Question- Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMED)

As part of the Institute of the Mediterranean’s series of conferences on Migration around the Mediterranean, the Ethical Journalism Network’s Advisor, Jean-Paul Marthoz, the EU Correspondent for the Committee to Protect Journalists, will be attending a roundtable on the European Media coverage of the Refugee question in Barcelona on 20 June 2016. The roundtable discussing will include an exploration of the Ethical Journalism Network’s recent report: Moving Stories – International Review of How Media Cover Migration. The debate will focus on how the refugee issue has been approached from the different European countries, what the dominant narratives are, what are the ethical considerations media professionals need to have when dealing with refugees, and how media professionals have coped with the situation. Journalists who have experience of covering migration will also be taking part.

Read more information about the event here.

Second European Media and Information Literacy Forum

The Ethical Journalism Network’s director, Aidan White, will be participating at the Second European Media and Information Literacy Forum in Riga, Latvia from 27 June 2016 – 29 June 2016. Watch the EJN’s Director, Aidan White, speaking at the first event in the series in Brussels here.

Read more information about the event here.

EJN Participating in Inaugural Aegean Summit in Athens, Greece – Creating an Annual Meeting Point for Independent Media Startups & Journalists: Europe, Mediterranean & MENA Cross-Border Collaboration

The Ethical Journalism Network’s director, Aidan White, will be speaking at the inaugural Aegean Summit in Athens on July 1st. The event hopes to become a forum for new and independent media in the Euro-Mediterranean & MENA with international speakers and participants.

The EJN will be participating in the session on the second day of the summit focusing on how migration & refugee crisis is being covered in the region’s media, referring to the findings from the EJN’s Moving Stories report on how media cover migration. The session will also explore how to work collaboratively to improve media literacy, responsible communications, tackle hate speech & intolerance, and strengthen self-regulation of independent media.

Read more about the event here.