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5 July 2018
           
ETHICS: THE MEDIA'S USP

“Women over 65 years write very rude things on the internet.”

This somewhat surprising headline in Svenska Dagbladet was also the conclusion after one year of work by the Swedish network for research on hate on the internet, Nätverket Näthatsgranskaren. They too were surprised by this finding. Their best explanation was that these women are the true victims of fake news. They are not accustomed to fake journalism-like content, they are not trained in investigating the sources and, they believe in what they read.

How can professional media sustain and build crucial trust among their readers without letting fake news diluting their position? At a time when propaganda, misinformation, fake news and not least an increasing distrust in the established media in many countries, professional journalists should not be hesitant in communicating what they represent, what makes them professional and trustworthy. Can we apply business and public relations theory with the need for a USP in the newsroom?

EJN Board Member, 
Kjersti Løken Stavrum, the CEO of the Tinius Trust, writes in a recent booklet “Fighting Fakes — The Nordic Way” published by the Nordic Council of Ministers, that this is where journalism ethics as a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) has a part to play.

READ KJERSTI'S FULL ARTICLE HERE

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR BLOG

  • Refugee crisis: the immediate and lasting impacts of powerful imagesRecent images and footage of migrant children housed in wire cages near the United States’ southern border have fuelled global outrage. Apart from driving policy in the short term, do confronting images create change in public perception and willingness to act in relation to refugee issues?
  • Turkey: Elections in a fake news climateSnap elections in Turkey took place on June 25 against a backdrop of turmoil, conflict and crises, and amid a continued clampdown on freedom of expression and civil liberties, writes Beatrice White for the Green European Journal. 
  • Internet Reform: Facebook and a Fight Behind Enemy LinesAidan White reviews a new book outlining arguments for abandoning social media by Jaron Lanier, an internet pioneer who says we should reclaim the net for the sake of our sanity and our humanity.
Scroll down for our summary of global media ethics news.
READ MORE ON OUR INSIDE ETHICS BLOG

WHAT WE ARE READING

THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM

Can journalists counteract hatred toward the press? It starts with explaining what we do. (Poynter)
To rebuild trust, we need to change journalistic process (CJR)
ICFJ publishes a journalism ethics manual for the digital era (IJNET)
Are we all wrong about nearly everything? Fact-checking puzzles from Global Fact V (AfricaCheck)
Last chance to fill in the blanks on funding journalism’s future (Guardian)
Dear Journalists, Stop Being Loudspeakers for Liars, An open letter to newsrooms everywhere (Dan Gilmore/Medium)

IMAGES

Getty Images deletes Photo Gallery of World Cup ‘Sexiest Fans’ (iMediaEthics)
News media paid Melania Trump thousands for use of photos in 'positive stories only' (NBC)
Why Comics Are So Effective at Telling Refugees’ Stories (News Deeply)

GUIDELINES AND CODES

How ICIJ deals with massive data leaks like the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers (ICIJ)
In 2018, coherence is bad journalism, bordering on malpractice. How journalists can do a better job covering polarizing subjects--in ways that people will actually hear. (Nieman Lab)
There are a lot of rote tasks a good AI interviewer could do for you (CJR)
- The Rory Peck Trust has published a new Digital Security Guide for freelance journalists.

PLATFORMS

How to fix what has gone wrong with the internet (The Economist)
Facebook tweaks political ads policy, but not enough to satisfy irate publisher (DIGIDAY)
How do we reduce harm done by social media while protecting free speech? (The Times)

GLOBAL ETHICS NEWS

AFRICA

GHANA: Ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas has explained why he showed explosive documentary on corruption in football in Ghana to President Akufo Addo before airing it to the public. (Ghana Web)
NIGERIA: Nigeria's Grand Plan to Stop Fake News in 2019? Fight Fire With Fire. (African Arguments)

AMERICAS

MEXICO: Ahead of Mexico’s largest election, Verificado 2018 sets an example for collaborative journalism (IJNET)
US: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s spiked anti-Trump cartoons will get a D.C. museum exhibit (Washington Post)
US: The war against the press comes to the local newsroom (CJR)
US: Veteran journalist Rod Hicks named SPJ’s first Journalist on Call (Society of Professional Journalists)
US: By focusing on "civility" are we missing the real story? (PBS
US: Mainstream media grapples with a left-wing wave (CJR)

ASIA

AUSTRALIA: Daily Mail Australia Broke Suicide Reporting Guidelines (iMediaEthics)
INDIA: How The Quint is tackling misinformation in India (WAN-IFRA)
INDIA: As mob lynchings fueled by WhatsApp messages sweep India, authorities struggle to combat fake news (Washington Post)
INDONESIA: Ministry says money given to journalists 'form of appreciation' not bribery (Jakarta Post)
THAILAND: Media Warned Not to Repeatedly Interview Cave Survivors (Khaosod English)

EUROPE

UK: Times titles launch media literacy scheme in schools to help teach children how to spot 'fake news' (Press Gazette)

MIDDLE EAST

LEBANON: Lebanon jails journalist for insulting minister over treatment of Syria refugees (Al Araby)

EJN ANNUAL REPORT 2017/2018

The Ethical Journalism Network Annual Report for 2017 and the first months of 2018 covers a period in which the buzzwords “fake news” and “post-truth” provided a misleading but appropriate focus for the news industry.

In recent months the challenges of a flawed information landscape have been dramatically exposed with Google, Facebook and other internet giants being called to account for their failure to promptly deal with the pollution of the information landscape.

READ THE FULL ANNUAL REPORT

ETHICAL JOURNALISM NETWORK RESOURCES

The EJN's Trust in Ethical Journalism reports looks at how the communications revolution is continuing to pose more questions than answers over a public crisis of confidence, both in democracy and in sources of public information.

Can 2018 be the year when ethical journalism, a human instinct beyond encoding and algorithmic definition, finally gets the recognition it deserves?
DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT HERE

MEDIA AND TRAFFICKING GUIDELINES

 In May the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) published  guidelines on Media and Trafficking in Human Beings authored by the Ethical Journalism Network's Aidan White. 

The guidelines are available to be downloaded in Albanian, Arabic, Azerbaijani, 
Bosnian, English, Romanian, 
Russian and Turkish
This is the second ICMPD publication in collaboration with the EJN. “How does the media on both sides of the Mediterranean report on migration?” - a 17 country study for journalists and policymakers - was published in May last year.
READ THE GUIDELINES HERE

LATEST VIDEOS FROM THE EJN

After a screening of 'Another News Story' the Chair of the Ethical Journalism Network, Dorothy Byrne, who is the Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4, moderated a discussion with director / producer Orban Wallace, producer Verity Wislocki, and forced migration researcher Ahmad al-Rashid. You can also listen to the event as a podcast
Watch the EJN's Tom Law talk about how a fake news story triggered a major geo-political crisis in May last year and the effects are still being felt across the Gulf nations on Al Jazeera's Inside Story.
TAKE THE EJN'S ONLINE ETHICS COURSE

Visit the Accountable Journalism database of codes of media ethics
                      
SUPPORT THE ETHICAL JOURNALISM NETWORK
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