Ethical Issues within the media industry are much more
difficult to judge than legal constraints. This is because there is no set guidelines
as to what is and isn’t acceptable in the extent of ethical constraints, this
is because ethical issues are based on judgements. These constraints mean that
you are working within the accepted norms of society. You are believed to
behave in what is considered the right way without offending anyone. Many
ethical concerns are upraised by groups of specific people. These groups may
find the publication either harmful or offensive, due to how the minority are portrayed.
The main ethical concerns in the media industry are:
Protecting under 18s
It is important to protect the privacy of children no matter what, this can be done by the parent or guardian of the child consenting them.
Power to influence the public
This is where the company are able to twist the truth around to make the public believe something that is not neccesarily true, this is often applied in newspaper articles as journalists stretch or twist the truth to recieve a reaction from the public. There's boundaries that can't be crossed in Television so that peoples opinions don't affect the publics opinions.
Interviewing vulnerable people or children
It is important to be aware of or not interview a person that looks like a vulnerable subject. For example of someone is doing an interview and the interviewer asks deep and personal questions that could have a negative affect on the interviewee from previous or current situations. The interviewer has to make sure that the questions that are asked aren't too personal or sensitive. This applies to children aswell as they may not know any better or have a clear understanding on it.
Intruding on individuals privacy
This is where you have set boundaries that you have to stick to when it comes to the Media Industry, you do not want to invade someone else's personal space. For example when the french newspaper company took indecent images of the Duchess of Cambridge whilst she was on holiday and published them without her knowledge and consent of the images.
Anything that would cause harm or offence
In the Media Industry you have to make sure that you dont cause any harm or offence to the listeners or viewers, this is because they could have suffered from a problem that could be the topic of a programme but could be offended by how the programme portrays that problem. Or if someone has epilepsy the programme would have to make sure that there is warning message at the beginning of the show warning the viewers of 'flashing lights'. Television companies also provide helplines at the end of their emotional or traumatic story lines so that if anyone has suffered from it they can have someone to talk too who understands.
Ethical Issues in Radio
In the radio sector their are a lot of ethical constraints that everyone in the industry needs to be aware of so that any of the content on the show can't offend or upset the audience. Constraints can limit your production depending on the content that it consists of and if anyone is sensitive about it. The target audience must be kept in mind so that you know what content include for example if the radio show was just for adults listeners then it would be aired throughout the night and it if it was for young ages then it would be aired throughout the day. Language must be kept to a minimal this includes no swearing or racial abuse whilst on air, of a show uses racial or ethnic abuse this could possibly offend listeners and they could get upset over it, this will lead to complaints being made about the show which you could end up loosing your job. When you work in radio you must be really sensitive on topics and content of your show so that you don't upset or offend anyone. You have to always treat your listeners with respect, for example when you are on air having a phone call with one of the listeners you must always be polite and show respect towards them. You have to include a wide range of different content that will suit your audiences taste for example when playing music you should include a variety of choices based on your targeted audience. You have to ensure that you are working within the accepted social norms when working in Radio.
Code of Practice
A set of written rules which explains how people working in a particular profession should behave. A set of guidelines and regulations to be followed by members of some profession, trade, occupation and organization, it does not normally have the force of law. If any of the rules below are broken then it means that the person who has broke them will either get suspended or fired, the case could also be took into the courts hands.
The editors’ code of practice is the rules that they have to
abide by when publishing an advertisement they have to make sure of;
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Accuracy
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Opportunity to reply
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Privacy
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Harassment
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Intrusion into
grief or shock
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Children
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Children in sex cases
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Hospitals
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Reporting of Crime
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Clandestine devices and subterfuge
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Victims of sexual assault
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Discrimination
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Financial Journalism
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Confidential sources
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Witness payments in criminal trials
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Payment to criminals
Many advertisements have been banned by the ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) as they have been thought to give off the wrong impression to people or cause offence. When thinking of the ethical constraints that you could come across in the creative media industry, you need to take the following into consideration:
- Representation of age, gender, race, diasbiltiy and religion
- Protecting under 18s
- Using off the record information
- Power to influence public opinion
- Interviewing vulnerable people or children
- Intruding on individuals
- Anything that could cause offence or harm
- For example; Wonga's 'Mr Sandman' advertisement was took off the screen shortly after being aired due to giving off the wrong impression that taking a high-interest loan could be done lightly.The ASA quoted that 'We considered that the claim gave the impression that a high-interest short-term loan was not a financial commitment that required a great deal of consideration and that impression was also compounded by the claims about the simplicity of the application process."
- A controversial Paddy Power advert became the most complained about UK advertisement of all time, the ASA said that they received over 5000 complaints about the ad. Paddy Power had been offering bets on the outcome of Oscar Pistorious trial, offering money back to all who bet if he walks free from court. The ASA came to their decision of banning the ad after they had over 120,000 supporters on an on-line petition.
- Controversial advertisement vans have been banned by the ASA after telling illegal immigrants to 'go home' this was against the ethical constraints as its representing race and religion offensively. The ASA received 224 complaints against the Home Office campaign earlier on in the year, the slogan was said to de 'distasteful' and 'irresponsible'.
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The BBFC stands for the British Board of Film Classification. The BBFC is a non- governmental organisation which is funded through the film industry, this is responsible for the national classification and censorships of films in the UK. They classify different films depending on the content in them. They categorize film in the following way: U, PG, 12, 12A, 15, 18, R18.
The Advertising Standards
Authority is the UKs most independent regulator of advertising across all types
of media. They apply the advertising codes which are written by the committees
of advertising practice. There work includes acting on complaints that are made
about the media product and proactively checking the media to take action
against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements.
