Ethical Journalism Newsletter: June 19, 2015

A Reminder

Hate-Speech: A Five-Point Test for Journalists

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

The killings in Charleston were no doubt a horrific hate crime. While the details of the motivation are still unknown, over the coming days the media will unravel this story. But where there are hate crimes there is likely to be hate speech. Here is a refresher on the EJN five-point test for journalists on covering hate speech.

Continue …

Ethical News And Debates

The male voice choir still dominates media coverage

A survey covering media in eight countries on four continents shows that it’s still a males’ world in public radio and television. The survey reveals that on audiovisual networks, male voices will be heard 66 percent of the time on public radio and 60 percent in public television.

Continue …

Why did some British papers underplay the Charleston shooting?

Would UK national newspaper editors have given greater coverage to the church massacre if the shooter had been black and the victims had been white? (Read more on The Guardian)

Tips for reporting on diverse communities that aren’t your own

Trying to excel at covering diverse communities might include new techniques or resources. Sherry Yu of Temple University, Michael Matza of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Sabrina Vourvoulias of AL DÍA News suggested these tips to improve overall reporting on the issue. (Read more on Investigative Reporters and Editors)

Newsroom diversity: Why we should care

Does it matter who reports the news and comments on it? Does it make a difference if top editors of news organizations include plenty of women as well as plenty of men, and black and Hispanic journalists as well as white ones? Any regular reader won’t have to think hard to guess where I come down on that issue. (Read more on the New York Times)

Shock European court decision: Websites are liable for users’ comments

In a surprise decision, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg has ruled that the Estonian news site Delfi may be held responsible for anonymous and allegedly defamatory comments from its readers. (Read more on Arstechnica)

UN: Online anonymity, encryption protect Rights

On June 17, 2015, the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of expression presented his report on the use of encryption and anonymity in digital communication to the UN Human Rights Council. The report urged countries to ensure that people are free to protect the privacy of digital communications by using strong encryption and anonymity tools. (Read more on Human Rights Watch)

Correction

In our last newsletter, the EJN mistakenly gave the credit to IFEX for the article “Digital safety tips for journalists covering the Baku 2015 European Games“. The original article was a joint initiative by IFJ/EFJ and they should have been noted as the source. We apologize and regret the error.

Are you following the EJN?

Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube!