Abstract
The paper presents the results of the monitoring of St. Petersburg newspapers held in January-May 2015. The monitoring included qualitative and quantitative study of the content and evaluation of all the materials published in St. Petersburg newspapers. Special attention was given to such sections as Society, Politics, Law, Economy. The purpose of monitoring regional press was to detect errors or misstatements in the media sources, including online media. Semantic distortion was found in 204 publications. Violations of journalism ethics give rise to the problem of information distortion and, as a consequence, useless, poor-quality information deforms the reality communicated to the audience. Systematizing the violations of ethical principles of journalism give a clear picture of the present-day Russian mass media and open up the ways to improve self-regulatory mechanisms. The study reported here is unique as it is the first research focusing on ethical violations in Russian mass media. The results of the study are used as case studies to analyze ethical conflicts, as materials to promote professional standards for journalists investigating corruption schemes, etc. The monitoring data is included in the study that will be discussed at the permanent international seminar on the ethics of journalism Ethics of Mass Communication: Research in Russia and abroad. The first seminar was held on October 3-4, 2013 at the High School of Journalism and Mass Communications, St. Petersburg State University, with the support of the German House of Research and Innovation in Moscow and the Consulate General of Germany in St. Petersburg.
Highlights
Scientists in the West and in Russia addressed the problem of information distortion as a result of violations of ethical standards by journalists
The paper discusses the results obtained during the media monitoring, in particular those which refer to the violations of ethical principles of journalism and selfregulatory mechanisms
There is a major obstacle that prevents newspapers from providing their readers with qualitative information. These are the officials who are the source of the media information, but at that consider journalists as an obstacle for the performance of their work, despite the fact that the duty of public officers to provide information to the media is enshrined in the Constitution (CRF, 1998) and the law “On Mass Media of the Russian Federation (Article 38)
Summary
Scientists in the West and in Russia addressed the problem of information distortion as a result of violations of ethical standards by journalists. According to Zarefsky, “But if we do not engage our values in argument, we cannot make designs democratically. We must either rely on some kind of force-the coercion of military power, the weight of authority, or the threat of reprisal-or we must settle for pure relativism, according to which no one value is preferable to any other. The history of the last century is littered with object lessons suggesting that we must not settle for these alternatives” (Zarefsky, 2014: 5). The problem often lies in the criterion of an argument, in its blamelessness. This idea is applicable in building up the argumentation in journalistic discourse
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
