Media Ethics - Principles and Practices in Macedonian Journalism

Abstract

In the era of democratization of institutions in all spheres of social living and globalization on a large scale imposed by the rapid technical-technological development and modern communication, the issue of media ethics has become all the problematic and has been connected with the moral responsibility of journalists and the application of professional standards and criteria. In the countries with young democracies and transition of systems of social establishment among which is also the Republic of Macedonia, the behavior of the media and the rules of conduct of professionals were often prescribed and imposed by others: the government, the state, the ruling political parties or the media close to them. Respecting professional standards and criteria, especially in research journalism, is often reflected in media practice with certain misfortunes for journalists, administrative barriers, bans and court prosecutions. With the new national media laws, the fundamental human right to be appropriately informed is limited and repressed, and thus there is a maximal affirmation of a new, made-up and artificially construed right without any basis arising from the relevant international legal regulative. Journalistic ethics must firstly call upon the public which the media content is intended for, upon the goodness of those who are in dire need of the announcement and the content that can deeply influence their lives, in a good or a bad way. The ethic code of journalists and other media professionals is only the second name of the rules of conduct based on which the journalistic profession is founded. These rules make sense only if they arise from a broader social context that characterizes the acceptance of a certain system of universal values.