In the cut-throat news gathering environment of 24 X 7 television and newspapers,
journalists are no less accountable than
politicians, according to a new code of conduct drawn by a leading English business daily Economic Times which seeks to make news reportage as objective and accurate as possible.
The Economic Times and ET Now Code of Conduct, posted on the Internet June 17, has placed all
journalists in the media
organisation's new business channel ET Now and in the flagship print edition, Economic Times, in the ambit of an ethical code that monitors financial conduct as well.
It requires all journalists to disclose their investment portfolio to a company appointed external auditor and details a sub-section that attempts to remove any possible conflict of interest and attempts to profit from privileged information that a news organisation is privy to.
It also stipulates guidelines for journalists' conduct vis-a-vis new gathering, interactions with sources and bans preferential treatment to any party.
The code cracks the whip on plagiarism terming it a “sackable offence” and lays down stringent quality checks for content.
Journalists have to win over the confidence of the audience with unbiased reportage, says the code - a fact that both members of the journalistic fraternity and readers agree.
“Readers need to know if a newspaper has a code of conduct for journalists and what is it like so that the public can hold the journalists to their own count. Almost all business papers, including the Business Standard has a code of conduct. Financial journalism often courts controversy and such codes can tackle conflicts of interest?” veteran columnist and media watcher Sevanti Ninan told said.
Sanjeev Sharma, a senior professor of Electronics and Information and Technology in US, who reads the Times of India everyday on the Internet felt, “it was a reporters' job to take the news to people and they were in no way less responsible than the politicians who run the country.”
“The news has to be accurate so that a reader is not misled,” he said.
A senior editor at the Economic Times said all the journalists in the organisation has signed the code. “This is an important exercise in the new 24X7 breaking news environment we find ourselves in. Our reporting and analysis is entirely independent of our advertising and investment departments,” said the editor on condition of anonymity.
Earlier, HT Media's business daily, Mint had evolved a code of conduct during its launch in 2007 and the The Hindu has a Ombudsman or a reader's editor.
“What makes the ET code of conduct more purposeful and relevant is the fact that a journalist has to disclose his pr her investment. In the kind of complex business environment and volatile sensex we are living in, it is very important to know the anchors' or the journalists' business investment portfolio before heeding their advice, especially in a 24X7 news channels. One must know on what basis anchors have been chosen. There have been instances when journalists holding personal trade portfolios have advised on investment trends,” veteran journalist Shailaja Bajpai said.
According to her, the code was a kind of self-regulation and “much better than government monitoring.”
Journalists of all countries are governed by ethical codes though many pf them fail to address all the dilemmas that the fraternity confronts.
The Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi of US, first adopted its code of ethics in 1926 and revised it in 1996. The code says the “new media must guard against invasion of a person's right to privacy”. But there is not definition of privacy. It, however, advises journalists to seek the truth, minimise harm, be independent and remain accountable to every party- including readers while presenting news.
The National Union of Journalists code of conduct that has been governing journalists in Britain and Ireland in 1936 lays down 12 commandments that touches upon almost every aspect of quality reportage. It applies to the television as well.
“In this competitive world, it is always welcome to have a code of conduct for journalists. I remember the Times of India used to have an Ombudsman, but they could not carry out what he suggested. I think such rules should be imposed from top to the bottom and the editors should follow it first. Personally, I think its a good idea for journalists to disclose his assets so that it is available on the Internet. And a voluntary organisation like the Press Council can act as a watchdog and such codes must apply to all television channels, including the news networks,” former editor and columnist Kuldeep Nayar said.
Former editor S. Nihal Singh said for an business paper like The Economic Times, it was a good idea for journalists to disclose their equities so that they do not use confidential information to play the equity market.
--Madhusree Chatterjee