12th May 2015
By Stefanie Chernow

Ethical Journalism Newsletter: May 12th, 2015

News and Debates

Tanzania Media in the Frontline: Journalists Target Political Hate in Upcoming Election

Journalists and African media leaders from the region are meeting this week to highlight the role of media and journalism in combating hate-speech and intolerance in the upcoming election campaign.

The meeting, organised by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) and the Ethical Journalism Network (EJN), opens in Dar Es Salaam today (Tuesday) and comes after fresh regional conflict with recent terrorist attacks in Kenya and fears of genocidal violence in Burundi.

The meeting will involve a workshop at the Peacock Hotel on how journalists and media can help stop the spread of hateful political propaganda and will reinforce the Africa-wide campaign, Turning the Page of Hate, which was launched last year in Kigali to mark the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.

Among the speakers will be Mohammed Garba, President of the Federation of African Journalists and Imelda Lulu Urio, from the Tanzanian Legal and Human Rights Centre.

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Hate-Speech: A Five-Point Test for Journalists

Turning the Page of Hate in Media Campaign for Tolerance in African Journalism

How do journalists judge what is acceptable and what is intolerable? How do they embed in their daily work routine a way of assessing what is threatening? The following five-point test of speech for journalism in context has been developed by EJN advisers and is based upon international standards. It highlights some questions to be asked in the gathering, preparation and dissemination of news and information that will help journalists and editors place what is said and who is saying it in an ethical context.

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Is the news behaving more like advertising?

When it comes to personalization, could the extent to which newsrooms go in the name of “audience engagement” and “brand loyalty” have an insidious effect on public trust? (via Columbia Journalism Review)

Sensitive reporting in a time of catastrophe

The Nepal earthquakes leaves in its wake traumatised families that have lost everything in one fell swoop. Ethical journalism must place humanity above professional urgency. (via The Hindu)

We female journalists need to shame and expose France’s sexist politicians

One of 40 signatories to an open letter details shocking levels of relentless, and sometimes violent, harassment. (via The Guardian)

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