"Neunzehn Jahre nach der »Windhoek Deklaration« für eine unabhängige und pluralistische Presse in Afrika ist vom anfänglichen »Wind des Wandels« im Medienbereich nicht viel geblieben. Die Presse- und Medienfreiheit wird sowohl durch dominante Regierungsparteien als auch durch die Nachlässigk
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eit von Medienschaffenden mit journalistischen und ethischen Standards in Frage gestellt. Sollen Medien glaubhafte Wächter über den demokratischen Prozess sein, muss die Qualität und Integrität ihrer Berichterstattung gesichert werden ohne journalistische Unabhängigkeit und das Grundrecht der Meinungsfreiheit einzuschränken. Die Selbstregulierung der Medien durch unabhängige Medienräte stärkt das Vertrauen in die Berichterstattung und liefert ein starkes Argument gegen staatliche Einmischung in die Pressefreiheit." (Seite 1)
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"Stephen Ward argues that present media practices are narrowly based within the borders of single country and thus unable to successfully inform the public about a globalized world. Presenting an ethical framework for work in multimedia, the author extends John Rawl's theories of justice and the hum
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an good to redefine the aims for which journalism should strive and then applies this new foundation to issues such as the roles of patriotism and objectivity in journalism." (Back cover)
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"The diversity of attitudes of Russian society towards television coupled with many plots and subplots emerged in the public arena providing us with an opportunity to consider them as an indicators of the maturity of civil society in Russia. It is also an indicator of the level of influence that rel
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igions have in the public sphere and the content of TV programs. I will base my judgment on public declarations by authorities of the idea that Russia strives to build a civil society, rather than examining in details the discussion whether the existence of a civil society in Russia is a fact. The current situation on Russian TV is a permanent source of concern for many people in Russia. Heated public debate about the necessity of social control over Russian TV programs was raised first by religious organizations and then supported by various groups of civil society. The current public debate over the moral control of TV has its roots in perestroika, a time when freedom of media was not accompanied by proper understanding of media responsibility in Russia." (Introduction)
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"With all the organized efforts to support media development and defend press freedom around the world, there has been remarkably little done in any concerted way to reduce the problem of corrupt journalism", states this report. Ristow proposes that international journalism organizations should issu
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e regular reports documenting instances in which journalists have received, or extorted, payment for news as a clear sign of acknowledging this "dark side" of the profession and take the lead in documenting, and publicizing, the pay levels of journalists around the world. Media development organizations should sharpen their focus on ethics training and support the creation and nurture of media accountability systems such as ombudsmen. News media owners, managers, and editors should adopt, publicize, and then stick to a firm policy of zero tolerance for any form of cash for news coverage - from simple "facilitation" payments to reporters to paid ads masquerading as objective news -, review pay policies and take the initiative in creating accountability systems on their own." (commbox)
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"Im interdisziplinär ausgerichteten „Handbuch Medienethik“ systematisieren renommierte Autorinnen und Autoren medienethisch relevante Konzeptionen und Begriffe und typologisieren relevante Praxisfelder. Jenseits der tagesaktuell aufgeregten Ethik-Debatten werden Fundamente und Stützpfeiler med
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ienethischen Denkens und Handelns analysiert. Dabei werden Begründungen, Institutionen, Anwendungsfelder, Spannungsfelder, Grenzbereiche und Länderperspektiven der Medienethik dargestellt und reflektiert." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Formal journalism ethics, as laid out in codes of ethics by journalism associations and the like, is part of a wider debate on media ethics that has been triggered in the Middle East due to the advent of global media in the region. This study compares journalism codes from Europe and the Islamic wo
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rld in order to revisit the widespread academic assumption of a deep divide between Western and Oriental philosophies of journalism that has played a role in many debates on political communication in the area. The analysis shows that there is a broad intercultural consensus that standards of truth and objectivity should be central values of journalism. Norms protecting the private sphere are, in fact, more pronounced in countries of the Near and Middle East, North Africa, and in the majority of Muslim states in Asia than is generally the case in Europe, although the weighing of privacy protection against the public's right to information is today a component of most journalistic codes of behavior in Islamic countries. Obvious differences between the West and many Islamic countries are to be found in the status accorded to freedom of expression. Although ideas of freedom have entered formal media ethics in the Middle East and the Islamic world, only a minority of documents limit the interference into freedom to cases where other fundamental rights (e.g., privacy) are touched, whereas the majority would have journalists accept political, national, religious, or cultural boundaries to their work. Despite existing differences between Western and Middle Eastern/Islamic journalism ethics and in contrast to the overall neoconservative (Islamist) trends in societal norms, formal journalism ethics has been a sphere of growing universalization throughout the last decades." (Abstract)
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"Ethics for Journalists tackles many of the issues which journalists face in their everyday lives - from the media's supposed obsession with sex, sleaze and sensationalism, to issues of regulation and censorship. Its accessible style and question and answer approach highlights the relevance of ethic
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al issues for everyone involved in journalism, both trainees and professionals, whether working in print, broadcast or new media. Ethics for Journalists provides a comprehensive overview of ethical dilemmas and features interviews with a number of journalists. Presenting a range of imaginative strategies for improving media standards and supported by a thorough bibliography and a wide-ranging list of websites." (Publisher description)
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"This book can only give an overview on practiced media ethics by making available memorable experiences of broadcasters in their daily work. Furthermore it provides an exchange of different views and ideas of broadcasters and offers useful links and further suggestions to get a closer look into how
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other broadcasting organisations set their Code of Ethics. The final intention of this publication is to inspire the broadcasters thinking on the necessity of a code of conduct for core journalistic values and ethical practices and encourages broadcasting organisations to develop a custom-made Code of Ethics in accordance to the means and needs of their specific organisations." (Preface)
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"1. The media development community should work within individual media houses to create in-house, publicly reported complaint systems rather than relying solely on outside press councils to do the job. 2. Funding groups should encourage media criticism, in forms such as local journalism reviews. 3.
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Press councils and ombudsmen should be adequately funded from a variety of sources (NGOs, media organizations, international donors) while safe-guarding their independence. 4. In the establishment of a press council, there must be an effective mechanism to avoid, or greatly reduce, the possibility that complainants will take advantage of defamation laws and take their issues to court rather than to the council. 5. To be effective, press councils and ombudsmen should focus on journalistic standards: ethical behavior (such as not accepting payment for stories), fairness, balance, and using appropriate and varied sources for information." (Summary of recommendations, page 7)
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"What emerges from the discussion of the Southern African media councils is a picture of relatively new institutions, struggling to find their place in a changing, difficult media and political terrain. They share many common challenges, as they contend with hostile governments, poor journalistic pr
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actices and a lack of resources. And yet there are significant differences between them. The strongest councils are undoubtedly those of Tanzania and South Africa. The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) is far and away the biggest, with a large number of staff involved in a wide range of projects. Besides adjudicating complaints against the media, it is actively involved in lobbying on media freedom issues, even having drafted alternative laws to put to government. It has a substantial publication programme, has developed regional Press Clubs and offered training. Its ethics committee seems to be well established and generally respected, as indicated by the fact that several very prominent people have used it. Respect among the media is high: although there have been some cases of rulings being ignored, these are exceptions. The media provide the council’s core funding, while an extensive additional programme of activities is funded by donors. In general, the MCT is an excellent example of how a body of this kind can work. The South African council is by far the busiest, even though it has a much smaller staff. It has chose to concentrate almost entirely on the adjudication function. Only recently has it added the defence of media freedoms to its aims, but it is still developing a sense of what this might mean in concrete terms. One of the factors restraining the council from leaping too quickly into this arena is the fact that South Africa has several other media groups, which are already active in the area. Sensibly, there is little appetite on the council for duplicating work that the SA National Editors Forum (Sanef), the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI), Misa and others are already doing." (Conclusion)
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