Moral Minefields: Legal and Ethical Dilemmas

Every day journalists are faced with moral, legal and ethical dilemmas when reporting to the public. It is a balance of the interests of the public and the public interest.
Journalists have a responsibility to report fair, balanced and objective stories, no matter what the medium is. Pearson (2001, p. 198) argues that ‘it is precarious where journalism challenges the boundaries of the law, particularly when a new law is being tested or law-enforcement agencies are under political pressure to rein in the behaviour of the media.’

When journalists are aware of the laws they are working within, an example is copyright, their job becomes more efficient and of a higher standard.
Pearson (2001) discusses that the law is a fickle thing that is subject to whims of the powerful and no two cases are ever the same.
Journalism law is an entity of its own and derives from having to report and publish. Journalism has to cover what can or cannot be mentioned legally in an article across all media outlets, whether it is broadcast, print or radio. The internet is proving to be more complicated, as it extends globally and each country has different legislation.
Pearson (2001, p. 199) summarises the laws to include those related to ‘defamation, court reporting, contempt of court and parliament, obscenity, media regulation, freedom of information legislation, intellectual property, trespass, and breach of confidence among others’, copyright is also important for journalists because they must always accredit if the work they use is not their own.

When dealing with legal issues it is important for journalists to remember that they actually have no rights and are viewed as ordinary citizens. At times there are exceptions due to the nature of a journalist’s role in society- to bring information into the public domain. Considering the nature of a journalist’s role they are only viewed in court as a citizen and while they are expected to report on matters with freedom of expression, to photograph in public places and attend court hearings all these rights are very restricted. The freedom of expression has limitations – such as you cannot defame a person, or use language that is not appropriate, such as swearing. ‘Put simply, journalists are afforded such rights if they perform their roles responsibly. When they begin to perform them irresponsibly, the balance of the law normally shifts in favour of the other citizens whose rights are being infringed’ (Pearson 2001, p. 200).

Sub judice ‘is just one version of the ancient law of contempt of court, which renders illegal any behaviour impairing or threatening the administration of justice’ (Pearson 2001, p. 210). Sub judice is a complicated process that all journalists should be aware of to avoid tarnishing a trial. Basically the idea is that a person cannot be prosecuted by ‘trial of the media’. During this time journalists can only report the bare facts, those that could be known by any eye witness, such as, were a body was found, that a bank was robbed, etc.

Freedom of Information ‘is a law designed to allow greater public access to information held by government departments’ (Pearson 2001, p. 203). While FOI can be helpful especially to investigative journalists the exemptions that are placed on some documents means that nearly all of it is blacked out. As journalists can claim that a story was published due to public interest, those withholding documents can claim that parts are not in the public interest. For a journalist this can make obtaining information a lengthy and frustrating process.

An obvious one and the most common is copyright law. Just like students can be punished for plagiarism a journalist can be as well. If a journalist uses the work of another author they must acknowledge the source. Journalists should be very rigorous in ensuring that all their work is their own because when you are publishing to a mass audience someone, somewhere will pick it up. IP Australia has very useful information about copyright and intellectual property.


Reference

Pearson, M 2001, ‘A Question of Legality’, in S Tapsall & C Varley (eds), Journalism: Theory in Practice, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 198- 212.