Ethical journalism lecture at VUB

On 8 May 2018 the EJN’s President, Aidan White, gave a lecture on ethical journalism at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Below are some highlights from the tweets from the students that attended the event.

“Impartiality is essential for ethical journalism but shouldn’t be taken the same as false balance.” @EJNetwork President @aidanpwhite on ethical journalism at #Brusselstalking pic.twitter.com/4FkHWX2yQE

— Brussels Talking (@BrusselsTalking) May 10, 2018

A specific law against fake news won’t work because we have to live with people who tell lies, spread rumours and cause gratuitous offence. That’s part of the price we pay for free expression 1/3 @EJNetwork

— Aidan White (@aidanpwhite) May 9, 2018

And anyway, there are plenty of laws already in place to deal with hate-speech, interfering in democratic elections, defamation, fraud and reckless deception that damages the rights of individuals, groups and the public at large. 2/3 @EJNetwork

— Aidan White (@aidanpwhite) May 9, 2018

A specific law against fake news won’t work because we have to live with people who tell lies, spread rumours and cause gratuitous offence. That’s part of the price we pay for free expression 1/3 @EJNetwork

— Aidan White (@aidanpwhite) May 9, 2018

“What makes journalism different is ethics”. Great lecture and discussion today with @aidanpwhite from @EJNetwork @BrusselsTalking @TomLawMedia @PatrickBijsmans @debatingeurope @Bruplajou @cafebabelbxl @Access_Info @giovannigruni #Brusselstalking #media #europeanpublicsphere pic.twitter.com/hiSKP1qD9I

— European Public Sphere (@EuropeanSphere) May 8, 2018

@aidanpwhite : “Disinformation is the deliberate fabrication of information with the intention to deceive. Systematic disinformation is designed to tell malicious lies and pollute our information landscape”. #brusselstalking #fakenews @BrusselsTalking @EJNetwork @debatingeurope pic.twitter.com/DZWyvQJty1

— European Public Sphere (@EuropeanSphere) May 8, 2018

There’s nothing you can say or do that is intolerable on the Internet. Where do we draw the red line for free speech? asks @aidanpwhite from @EJNetwork on today’s @BrusselsTalking #BrusselsTalking pic.twitter.com/2ChGOSMNZI

— Anna Claudia Pinheiro (@annacpg) May 8, 2018

In democratic societies you need to have the discussions asking what the limits of free speech are. We also need to ask ourselves how we can be better people when using the internet, says @aidanpwhite @EJNetwork at @BrusselsTalking #BrusselsTalking #BruDigiTalk24

— Sarah Markewich (@SarahMarkewich) May 8, 2018

Thank you @aidanpwhite @EJNetwork & @BrusselsTalking – I really enjoyed the lively & thought-provoking lecture tonight getting to the core of responsibility of journalists, platforms, users & society in general & thinking about solving major problems w/ humanity! #brusselstalking pic.twitter.com/HAOoQiOFpJ

— Sarah Markewich (@SarahMarkewich) May 8, 2018