Journalism and Ethics

Can Journalists adhere to the PCC code considering the constraints and structure of the Media they work within?

(Press Complaints Commission)

Journalists have a duty of care to the people and subjects they are writing about and a responsibility to their own conscience. Journalism is all about stories. They must have eye catching headlines and easily digestible information so the eye of the reader can assimilate the editorial. They have to grab the reader; there is a lot of competition on the newsagent’s stand, on the TV and taking place on the vast World Wide Web. There is a temptation for a journalist and their editor to by pass checking all the information they receive in favour of the publicity of the story. This must be resisted if society is to hold on to any form of belief and trust of the media in general.


Piers Morgan editor of the Daily Mail accepted photographs of prisoners in Iraq being humiliated by British soldiers which were found out to be rigged. In an effort to have a news sensation he took a risk and lost he was sacked, and quite rightly too. But once those images have been seen and the words have been read and spoken it has already become a kind of truth because people remember it the way it has been sold to them, as truth. If they had been genuine then they should have been revealed to the public under ‘The public interest.’ section of the code. He abused the PCC code under section 1(i) Accuracy - The press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.


In 2004 Andrew Gilligan for the BBC on the today programme released information ‘in the public interest’ that Iraq was prepared to release weapons at forty five minutes notice. This information was the justification for us to go to war. He would not reveal his source The Hutton enquiry sometime later said the BBC was in the wrong. The NUJ supported them and said ‘The BBC was right to pursue the story and it was firmly in the Public Interest. It’s important that the political and financial independence of the BBC and its public remit
are maintained and the rights of journalists to protect the anonymity of their sources is respected and guaranteed.’


The situation culminated in the suicide of David Kelly possibly due to intolerable continual pressure of being in the public eye and from other unknown sources. Under section 4(i) Harassment of the PCC Code Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit. 4(ii) They must not persist in questioning, telephoning, pursuing or photographing. Another tragic death instigated by paparazzi harassment was that of Princess Diana’s demise in a car crash whilst being pursued by over zealous journalists on motorbikes. This caused the driver of the car to increase his speed in a desperate attempt to get away from them. Then something occurred and the car crashed killing the princess. Editors worldwide are prepared to pay high prices for exclusive reports or photos of high ranking celebrities which encourages contravention of the PCC code. Some of the journalists even took pictures as the passenger’s bodies lay mangled in the wreckage


The independent on the 26th of February 2008 broke a story that Prozac and two other widely used anti depressant drugs have little or no effect on the people taking them. The other press followed. This information was according to a study from Hull University that basically said tests they have done had showed that placebo tablets had as much effect as the drugs themselves. This has caused the medical profession to be concerned as many patients may stop taking their medication which would be dangerous to their health. To stop taking these type of drugs suddenly could cause depression and related symptoms to amplify and a spike in suicides may be seen in the near future, this is according to Dr. Raj Persad talking about the subject on the C4 Richard and Judy programme on the same day the papers published the story.


Would the journalists releasing this information use as a defence ‘The Public Interest‘ section of the code (ii) Protecting public health and safety. When in fact they may be endangering the publics health by suggesting in big headlines these drugs are of little use which could encourage people who need them to stop their medication with possible tragic consequences. I would like to see special provision within the code to restrict journalist releasing information based on studies that may not have been researched enough or the amount of time or numbers of people tested may not be sufficient to gain conclusive results. If they are quoting from such a study the detail of the validity of the study should be of equal prominence as an irresponsible headline. The Journalist would highlight the important information to qualify or contextualise the sentence they are quoting in their headline. Then the reader could make a more valued judgement.


Now Journalism has become more of a processing of information because of the time constraints and not enough journalists being employed for the amount of work required .Press releases are sent and taken as truth with little or no investigation as to the validity of the information. Big corporate bosses such as Murdoch dominate the Market and a kind of homogenous grey mass of media, which operates within the political constraints of government and the money needs of the owner. If a journalist goes against the wishes of his editor there are many more to take his place, this is a major disincentive to pursue a story. There should be as suggested by Andrew Gilligan in his NUJ lecture 2007 a publication that investigates the press itself. It could expose all the bad practice within the profession and investigate the actual truth of stories that have been badly handled, who they’ve been badly handled by and why, thus highlighting bad practice for all to see from inside the profession. This would encourage journalists to be more accurate in their reporting and more conscious of what they are saying and the effect their words are having. It would be a measure to ensure that all Journalists adhere to the PCC Code for fear of the shame they would suffer from the press if they didn’t.