Sadly this is not always the case in our national press. There is a saying in the world of journalism that you may or may not come across. This is ''Never let the truth get in the way of a good story'' - writes Barbara Scott from the UK.
Newspapers are good at pushing the agendaI read with interest your report on the lecture you gave on Ethics in Journalism. My years working for the newspaper industry fired up an interest in journalism that has never gone away. I worked as an editorial assistant which brought me into contact with journalists covering everything from local news to obituaries! Although the paper I worked for was local it was, nonetheless, very popular and had a large circulation. On the whole the journalists I worked for did have a very strong sense of ‘fair play’ when it came to reporting stories. Especially so if it was of a controversial or sensitive nature.
Sadly this is not always the case in our national press. There is a saying in the world of journalism that you may or may not have come across. This is “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story”! This is often the case when it comes to reporting sensational stories. We have what are referred to as ‘Red Top’ newspapers. These are the sort of papers that thrive on sordid tales, usually to do with politicians or celebrities, that they cynically describe as ‘exposures’. The Red Top label refers to the newspaper’s logos which are, as you may have guessed, splashed in red across the top. They are also called tabloids. So when you hear the term ‘the tabloids’ you automatically know that it is being used in a derogatory way.
Some of the stories serve a good purpose for example exposing corruption in politics and business. Others just cater for the type of reader who enjoys stories of sexual misconduct of football players or pop and film stars. I suppose you could argue that they are only doing their readers a service by showing how weak and shallow these people are but in reality it is all down to money. The more outrageous the story the more readers they get. That is when journalistic ethics go out of the window.
Britain prides itself on its freedom of the press and freedom of speech. However, more and more we are seeing this freedom being abused by unscrupulous editors. They have no qualms about ruining a person’s reputation and even if they are sued (and they often are) they take it as something that goes with the territory. What are a few thousand pounds in compensation compared to hundreds of thousands in revenue? As long as there are people who enjoy reading this sort of drivel and journalists to feed it to them the ‘ethics of journalism’ will always be at risk.
Sadly this is not always the case in our national press. There is a saying in the world of journalism that you may or may not have come across. This is “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story”! This is often the case when it comes to reporting sensational stories. We have what are referred to as ‘Red Top’ newspapers. These are the sort of papers that thrive on sordid tales, usually to do with politicians or celebrities, that they cynically describe as ‘exposures’. The Red Top label refers to the newspaper’s logos which are, as you may have guessed, splashed in red across the top. They are also called tabloids. So when you hear the term ‘the tabloids’ you automatically know that it is being used in a derogatory way.
Some of the stories serve a good purpose for example exposing corruption in politics and business. Others just cater for the type of reader who enjoys stories of sexual misconduct of football players or pop and film stars. I suppose you could argue that they are only doing their readers a service by showing how weak and shallow these people are but in reality it is all down to money. The more outrageous the story the more readers they get. That is when journalistic ethics go out of the window.
Britain prides itself on its freedom of the press and freedom of speech. However, more and more we are seeing this freedom being abused by unscrupulous editors. They have no qualms about ruining a person’s reputation and even if they are sued (and they often are) they take it as something that goes with the territory. What are a few thousand pounds in compensation compared to hundreds of thousands in revenue? As long as there are people who enjoy reading this sort of drivel and journalists to feed it to them the ‘ethics of journalism’ will always be at risk.
Editor's Note: The issues are so many that we tend to forget or ignore what should be done to overcome the challenges, Barbara you are right. Journalists sometime have themselves to blame for certain things, freedom of speech, as they say must not tempt to shout FIRE, FIRE in the Cinema hall to raise false alarm. So what would happen if people lose their lives and others are injured? In the end, what would you say? Freedom of speech? I suppose.
As regard your comment on what I would call intrusive journalism, I think we have had enough of that recently, and it seems this is the way the press is tilting towards for all the wrong reasons.
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