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Media should realize the responsibility vested on it by the society and the impact it can have on the society. To play the respected role media gets in the public eye a set of ethical code should be used. Ideally the following principles can be followed to maintain better standards in broadcast journalism.
Principle one: judge news basing on the impact it may have on the society. If the positive impact is more than negative the topic is news worthy.
Principle two: make sure that the sensitive topics are presented without interpretations and opinions. That will help public understand an event or behavior pattern and use their produce to judge.
Principle three: do not show or write those things that can have disturbing impact on the society. Showing dead bodies in the TV closely or writing the modus operandi of a social ill such as adultery or prostitution etc should be not in direct terms but merely indicative.
Principle four: be sensitive to the demographic of the viewers or readers. Do not carry objectionable topics on main pages or at prime times, which can attract the attention of the young who cannot make judgments about the information they receive.
Principle five: try to focus on research to find out what positive topics sell like negative topics. It is easy to impact the basic instincts and sell but it may be a popular practice to alert viewers about public crowding or impact of wrong driving habits.
Principle six: our journalists do not lack prudence or maturity. Just use your journalist’s brain more than the marketer’s brain. If this is continued tomorrow’s journalists will just be marketers and their creativity can do more harm than what is happening today because today’s journalists have the ethic taught by their seniors.
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