Internet Reform: Facebook and a Fight Behind Enemy Lines | New EJN events + our weekly round up of global media ethics news
7 June 2018
INTERNET REFORM
Last week a new book was published outlining arguments for abandoning social media. Jaron Lanier’s Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now is a powerful call from an internet pioneer who says we should reclaim the net for the sake of our sanity and our humanity.
His reflections are timely, and they come from a man who has seen the rise of Internet power from the inside. He warns about addiction and obsessive behaviour and asks us to think again about our future in the new landscape of information and communications.
The arguments for radical change are not new and they echo concerns expressed by the Ethical Journalism Network in recent years. We have been prominent among those highlighting the downside of cyberspace – the abusive behaviour of social media networks; the ruthless exploitation of our privacy and identity; and the flawed culture of communications it has shaped that makes many of us obsessive, selfish and intolerant of opinions we don’t like.
‘Got an angry Muslim for me?’: Investigative journalist Zoë Papaikonomou and organizational anthropologist Annebregt Dijkman examine why Dutch news media still fail to become more culturally diverse in their new book.
Pushing Back Against Hate Propaganda: Journalists need to understand how hate propaganda actually works, according to EJN adviser Cherian George.
In defence of the public editor: In the wake of ESPN and others dumping their internal ombudsmen, Chris Elliott argues that ombudsmen can play a vital role in building trust with audiences and therefore securing the future of journalism. Their existence is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Scroll down for our summary of global media ethics news.
OPPORTUNITIES
Our friends at Africa e Mediterraneo are hosting their annual International Summer School on Migration and Asylum in Bologna, Italy from 9-14 July. This year the focus will be 'Labour Integration of Migrants and Refugees'. Find out more and how to apply here.
EJN ACTIVITIES
As part of the Ethical Journalism Network's Ethics in the News series of events at the Frontline Club the EJN will be hosting a screening of The Workers Cup, a film that takes us inside the labour camps of Qatar, on Tuesday 26 June 2018.
The screening, which is timed to coincide with the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, will be followed by a debate - moderated by our Chairperson, Dorothy Byrne - on how media report on human rights issues connected to major sporting events.
Five years ago, Edward Snowden's leaks change journalism Last year, Ewen MacAskill, who broke the story of mass surveillance by the US government for the Guardian, wrote in our Ethics in the News report that Snowden is a role model for whistleblowers and journalists everywhere. The anniversary has triggered a raft of new coverage and analysis: - 5 years ago, Edward Snowden changed journalism (CJR) - The surreal moment the Guardian destroyed the Snowden files (Guardian)
ETHICS & GUIDELINES
Guidelines for working with whistleblowers
Julie Posetti recently wrote a book for UNESCO about threats to journalism based on whistleblowers & confidential sources. Now she is leading a project developing new guidelines for working withwhistleblowers withReuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, the International Center For Journalists, and the World Editors Forum within the World Association of News Publishers.
The case for quarantining extremist ideas Joan Donovan and Danah Boyd argue in the Guardian that when confronted with white supremacists, newspaper editors should consider ‘strategic silence’.
PLATFORMS & TRUST
- The tech giants’ empire must fall – but they won’t go without a fight (Guardian)
- Facebook to remove trending news section and show background detail about news publishers and articles in source credibility drive (Press Gazette)
- Facebook Gave Device Makers Deep Access to Data on Users and Friends (NYT)
- A HuffPost Reporter Was Bombarded With Threats. Twitter Suspended Him (HuffPost)
- Navigating the age of misinformation & fake news (WAN-IFRA)
GLOBAL ETHICS NEWS
AMERICAS
US: How journalism got so out of touch with the people it covers (CJR) US: Ms. Barr, Ms. Bee and Performative Outrage (PBS) US: Fox News accused of 'propaganda' after implying praying players knelt for anthem (Guardian)
Media Matters study finds 5,000 people may have died from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Cable news focused on Roseanne instead.
AFRICA
- What American journalists can learn from their African colleagues (CJR) GHANA: Investigative film crew faces death threats, harassment (CPJ)
ASIA
CAMBODIA: NEC dismisses CPJ’s ethics code criticism (Phnompenh Post) INDIA: Videos allege Indian media houses promised to favor Hindu nationalism in exchange for cash (Global Voices) MALAYSIA: After black magic, censorship and detention comes new dawn for Malaysian press (ICIJ) PAKISTAN: Pakistan is experiencing a media boom from an explosion of somewhat more independent newspapers and broadcast outlets (PakObserver) PAKISTAN: Military Censorship and Threats to Journalists Rise in Pakistan (OCCRP) PHILIPPINES: Golden Pen of Freedom Awarded to Maria Ressa of the Philippines (WAN-IFRA)
EUROPE
Where Are The Women Journalists In Europe’s Media? (EJO) GERMANY: Fact-checking around the world: Inside Germany’s Wafana (IJNET) ITALY: Selfie in front of maimed woman at train station sparks ethics debate (ABC)
MIDDLE EAST
New York Times podcast ‘Caliphate’ faces backlash over ethics (Arab News)
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.
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?
Last month the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) published guidelines on Media and Trafficking in Human Beingsauthored by the Ethical Journalism Network's Aidan White.
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.
Watch EJN Adviser Bill Orme address an informalhearing at the United Nationsas part of the preparatory process for an international conference for migration to adopt a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
